Questions and Answers of Physical Geography Great Systems

Why is it that a rock that is brittle and breaks when we apply force to it with a laboratory machine can in nature behave as a plastic and bend into folds? Based on the graph in Figure 19.7, which
Using Figure 11.25 and the related text, describe the features of terracing, and list the major alterations to soil and water brought about by this agricultural method.Figure 11.25
Using Figures 11.5, 11.6, and 11.9 describe the pattern of human migration and identify the major geographic barriers they crossed en route. If humans entered North America via the Bering land bridge
What was the nature of the geographic setting in Africa where Homo sapiens originated and how would you describe the way they lived in this environment? Are there any humans around today who can give
Most scientists think early human migration out of Africa was spurred either by technological advances or climate change. What do they mean?
Why was the Pleistocene–Holocene transition period so critical for human existence?
Crop/animal domestication, farming, and diffusion were the three stages of the human transition from a nomadic lifestyle to one based on an agricultural land-use system. What role did the cultural
What are the founder crops and what geographic factors are significant to their role in early agriculture? What were the primary requisites for animal domestication?
The early cultural hearths arose in a variety of geographic settings. Describe the different geographic conditions in these ancient hearths and identify the particular geographic arrangement common
Agriculture spread beyond the original cultural hearths by human migrations, word of mouth, and stimulus diffusion. What is stimulus diffusion?
How did the spreads of the African bee and the rabbit in Australia change those biogeographical environments?
What major changes to the landscape accompanied the major population growth occurring during the Industrial Revolution?
Describe how the increase in automobile use is now affecting the urban landscape worldwide. Outside of urban areas, how has the automobile changed the landscape?
Referring to Figures 12.1 and 12.2 and the text, what are some of the forms of energy and/or matter contributed to soil by these four great systems: atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and
Should it surprise humans that the Earth is undergoing significant change during our time on the planet? Why? What factors have contributed to humankind’s inability to achieve balance with the
What has happened since World War II to the geographical nature of agriculture in the developed nations? What factors have contributed to this change?
If we view soil organic matter with a systems perspective, based on Figure 12.4, can you describe the relative balance of the system before and after agriculture? What would it take to restore
The soil mantle can be thought of as an input–output system. What factors are currently working to increase the outputs from this system?
Using the text and the map in Figure 12.8, identify the types of parent material you would expect to find in northern Missouri and southeastern Manitoba? What process is responsible for each of these
What is meant by the terms soil texture and loam, and where would you expect to find soils of sandy texture? Does texture have anything to do with moisture or fertility in soils?
Refer to Figure 12.10 and consider where the decomposing organic matter in soil originates from. Does soil house ecosystems, and if so, how do the food chains function? Describe one.Figure 12.10 3
Using figures 12.12 and 12.13, describe the sort of organic mass balance you would expect in soils under these four general climatic regimes:figures 12.12figure 12.13(a) Hot and rainy;(b) Hot and
Soil is a hydrologic system, which receives inputs of water, stores this water, and then loses (outputs) some or all of this water to other locations. Using the text and Figure 12.16, identify the
Identify the three general soil-moisture regimes in the world. With the assistance of Figure 12.19 and the text, determine the dominant vegetation types present in each regime.Figure 12.19
A soil’s cation-exchange capacity is an important factor in determining its fertility. Using Figures 12.21 and 12.22, describe the role of the positive and negative ions in cation exchange.Figure
What is the role of the atmosphere in soil enrichment?
Referring to Figure 12.24, how do you account for the differences in the relative locations of the zones of illuviation and eluviation in (a) and (b)?Figure 12.24
If all of the processes that work within a soil to create horizons are part of the soil system, what external systems drive the soil system and what do they contribute?
Reflect on the observation that soil is a tablet upon which is recorded the conditions and events at a place on Earth.
What are middens and what influence do these features have on soil?
What are soil-forming factors and how does time play into the operation of these factors?
Where are pedocals and pedalfers found in North America and why?
Name four major soil-forming regimes of the bioclimatic variety and relate each to a soil order in the US Comprehensive Soil Classification System.
How would you describe the soil-forming regime of a soil whose formation is dominated(a) By the buildup of sand in a dunefield.(b) By the buildup of water in low spots in the land?
Soil can vary measurably over areas as small as a park or a farm. Explain how this is possible.
What is a diagnostic horizon and what soil classification system is based on this concept?
Among the orders in the US and Canadian classification systems, which have good, moderate and poor agricultural potential and why?
Why are soils of the cryosolic order so widespread in Canada?
What sort of mismanagement and abuse of the soil resource were committed by these ancient civilizations: Roman, Mayan, and Sumerian?
Is it natural for land to lose soil to erosion? What is the average annual rate of soil loss from cropland in the United States and what are its effects? How is it that the United States maintains
If you had to advise a property owner how to curtail soil erosion on his/her land, what in general would be your first line of advice and why?
Describe how gullying erodes soil and how is it that soil erosion is a concern in global warming?
Can you explain why Earth is so different from Mercury and Mars as a hydrologic environment?
What are the two apparent sources of Earth’s water and what is the basis of the “snowballs” from space concept?
What is the difference in the percentage of Earth’s atmospheric, terrestrial, and oceanic water supplies? Which are freshwater and what is Earth’s largest supply of liquid freshwater?
What is the source of energy that drives the hydrologic cycle, and how is it that the atmosphere with only 0.001 percent of Earth’s water is able to produce so much precipitation?
How do you account for the fact that Earth’s landmasses produce only 14 percent of atmospheric vapor but receive 22 percent of world precipitation in return? What processes enable the continents
Nearly 90 percent of the water in the atmosphere comes from ocean evaporation. What geographic regions, conditions, and seasons produce the most vapor?
When precipitation falls on the land, how much (percentage) is lost to evaporation and how much goes into storage-flow systems? Name these systems and their respective water recycle times.
What is the relationship between ocean level and the world’s glaciers and ice caps? How much has sea level risen since the last major world glaciation and why? Is sea level expected to rise in the
In the development of hydrologic cycle concept what was the chief problem early scientists faced in rounding out the model and how was this problem finally resolved in the eighteenth century?
Can you describe the concept of a water-budget model and give several examples of such systems in nature? What are the inputs and outputs in a watershed’s budget? In a soil-column water budget? And
Can you describe the principal features of the hydrologic landscapes that develop under these regimes: humid, semiarid, and arid? How does water influence surface conditions in each?
What is a drought and how is the incidence of drought related to precipitation variability? How do you define desertification and what are the contributing factors?
What hydrologic changes were associated with the closing of the Tethys Sea and the emergence of the Himalayas? And what is the significance of today’s Great Salt Lake in terms of North America’s
Can you explain the effect global warming has on the water-vapor content of the atmosphere and how changes in atmospheric moisture can affect global warming? Why is global warming a concern for
Have humans had much impact on Earth’s hydrologic system? When did human impact begin, what are some of the more glaring examples, and what do you forecast for human alteration of Earth’s
Can you explain how the landscape functions as a buffer between terrestrial precipitation and streamflow?
What are the four systems that feed water to streams and how would you describe them in terms of relative rates and volumes of water delivery?
Can you define interception, depression storage, and infiltration and name several controls on infiltration capacity?
What is the coefficient of runoff and why does this value rise with land clearing and development?
Long-term records of streamflow show sharp differences between streams dominated by baseflow, and those dominated by overland flow. Can you explain this?
What is a hydrograph and how can it be used to analyze a stream’s response to a rainfall? Describe the basic hydrographs for a drizzle, a cloudburst, a long, moderate rain, and a long, hard rain.
Can you explain why large watersheds are described as nested hierarchies? Does the discharge produced by a watershed always increase with drainage area and distance downstream? Why?
What is the principle of stream orders and in a drainage network what is the natural progression in the number of streams from order to order?
Is it true that stream networks are the only natural phenomena that follow the stream order model and what controls the geographic pattern of drainage networks as they appear on maps?
Can you draft a list of the various features and conditions of drainage basins that influence streamflow and briefly define which tend to increase and decrease stormflows and flooding?
What is meant by the term stage and when a stream reaches flood stage does the water always cover the floodplain?
Briefly describe the central cause or causes of the Indus River, Grand Forks, and Mississippi floods. Could you write a short essay on the risk management lessons that should be learned from these
What are the external and internal watersheds? How much of the Earth’s land area is drained by closed basins and what are the geographic conditions that give rise to such basins? What are some of
What is a great watershed and why is the Amazon Basin such a singular geographic feature on Earth?
Can you explain why discharge does not increase proportionally with drainage area size in all great watersheds?
Can you define the difference in high- and low-runoff basins, give several examples of each, and define the circumstances that account for these differences in runoff production?
Can you name the nineteenth-century advances that led to greatly improved understanding of groundwater?
What is the difference between capillary water and gravity water? Between porosity and permeability? Why do some materials have high porosity but low specific yield?
What is the water table and how can it be used to illustrate the concept of hydraulic gradient? What are the two main factors in Darcy’s law?
What are typical groundwater velocities and how is it that groundwater discharge can be high when velocity is low?
Can you define the three basic processes of an aquifer system and describe the concept of dynamic balance in an aquifer?
Can you name the two basic classes of aquifers and sorts of materials that commonly are found in each?
What is an alluvial aquifer, an artesian flow, and a groundwater basin? What controls the size and shape of a groundwater basin?
How do cones of depression form and what causes the process known as upconing; what are the causes of the two main trends of groundwater levels in the Central Valley of California?
What are the principal sources of groundwater pollution and what is the origin of leachate?
Can you define the relationship between groundwater and streamflow and name the sort of ground materials that produce substantial baseflows in streams? What is karst drainage and how can it lead to
What are the seven main types of lakes? Which are the largest and which are the most variable in area and what accounts for this variability?
How do wetlands differ from lakes and what are the principal sources of water in different types of wetlands?
What has caused the vast majority of the loss of wetlands in North America during the past 50 years?
What land-use activity is responsible for most water use in the world? In the United States? What is the difference between consumptive and non-consumptive water use and what are the degradational
Why is there such a strong desire on the part of humans to build dams and divert streams? What are some of the environmental consequences of such actions and what is the expected trend of water use
How have the recent (since 1970) shifts in population within the United States changed the usage patterns of freshwater?
What is a nebular disc and what did it have to do with the origin of the terrestrial planets?
What was similar and dissimilar about the development of Earth, Mercury, and Mars as planets?
What evidence is there for past asteroid strikes on Earth, what were some of the geographic effects of big ones, and do such events remain a threat to the Earth today?
What are the key differences between the continental crust and oceanic crust on Earth?
What is isostasy, what does it have to do with the crustal elasticity, and the metaphor of a ship floating on the sea?
What are seismic waves and how have they helped us understand Earth’s internal structure.
What role does the asthenosphere play in the mantle with respect to the movement of the tectonic plates?
What is the main difference between the transfer of heat through rock via conduction, and that via convection? Why is this difference in the two heat-transfer mechanisms significant in the Earth’s
What are mantle plumes and, besides transferring heat, what influence do they have on the crust and the movement of continents and ocean basins?
What is a mineral and what are the major rock-forming minerals in the Earth’s crust?
Distinguish between felsic and mafic minerals, give several examples of each, and relate them to the igneous rocks commonly found in the continents and ocean basins.

Showing 1 - 100 of 340