1) The amount of water remaining in a soil after the soil is allowed
to drain is the
a) wetting point
b) vestigial water
c) groundwater
d) permanent wilting point
e) field capacity
2) Organic matter tends to accumulate in wetland soils because of
a) high biological productivity
b) greater infiltration rate
c) coarse texture of the soils
d) low availability of oxygen
e) both (a) and (c)
f) both (a) and (d)
3) The low pH of water in many evergreen forests may be reflected in the presence of a(n) ______________ in the forest soils.
a) A horizon
b) B horizon
c) C horizon
d) E horizon
e) O horizon
4) Runoff can only occur when
a) there is no depression storage
b) there is no interception storage
c) there is no infiltration
d) the rate of infiltration is greater than
the rate of precipitation
e) the rate of infiltration is less than the rate of precipitation
5) The thin layer of soil and angular rock fragments covering bedrock in the vicinity of the college is most likely
a) outwash
b) ablation till
c) basal till
d) marine clay
e)delta sand deposits
6) The more clay-sized material is present in a soil, the greater the
a) field capacity
b) content of organic matter
c) cation exchange capacity
d) oxygen availability
e) both (a) and (c)
f) both (b) and (c)
7) On the side slopes of a hill, the O and A horizons may be ___________ than in more level areas.
a) deeper
b) darker
c) more sand-rich
d) thinner
e) richer in organic matter
8) Most human impacts to a well-developed A horizon in its natural condition will tend to ultimately
a) increase the rate of vegetation growth
b) increase the clay content
c) increase the rate of runoff
d) increase the amount of interception storage
e) increase the amount of groundwater recharge
9) Most clay soils in Maine are derived from
a) fine fragments of rock material ground by
glacial action
b) wave erosion during high post-glacial sea level
c) weathering of the bedrock directly beneath the soil
d) outwash deposits
e) ablation tills
10) The greatest proportion of organic matter in a soil is generally present in the
a) C horizon
b) B horizon
c) E horizon
d) A horizon
e) O horizon
11) Soil horizons form principally as a result of
a) glacial action
b) the nature of the parent material
c) the release of oxygen from plant roots
d) the downward movement of water through
the soil
e) the amount of organic matter present
12) The highest cation exchange capacity is generally associated with
a) organic matter
b) clay
c) silt
d) sand
e) quartz
13) Soil formation results, in large part, from the addition of _______________ to the top of a column of parent material.
a) water
b) clay
c) organic matter
d) iron oxide
e) both (a) and (c)
f) both (a) and (d)
14) The colors of the B horizon reflect the
a) abundance of oxidized metal compounds
b) high organic matter content
c) low oxygen availability
d) nature of the parent material
e) high pH of the soil
15) The association of soil particles into larger clumps and the shape and size of those clumps is generally called
a) soil texture
b) soil horizons
c) soil gradation
d) sorting
e) soil structure
16) When plant roots are no longer able to remove water from the soil, the soil has reached
a) field capacity
b) a soil moisture deficit
c) its permanent wilting point
d) low oxygen availability
e) high saturation
17) The color of most soil horizons generally is due to
a) surface stains on the mineral particles
b) the natural color of the miner grains
c) the low pH of rainwater
d) organic matter
e) the nature of the parent material
18) The best-sorted coarse sediment is generally found in
a) outwash
b) ablation till
c) basal till
d) marine clay
e) delta sand deposits
19) Most rock fragments in basal till are angular rather than rounded, indicating that the rock was
a) resistant to weathering
b) not transported by flowing water
c) sedimentary rock
d) primarily granite and metamorphic rocks
e) primarily dropstones
20) The percentages of sand, silt, and clay in a soil sample define
the
a) soil texture
b) soil horizons
c) degree of weathering
d) soil structure
e) organic matter content
21) The greatest amount of recharge to groundwater occurs
a) in winter
b) in spring
c) in summer
d) in autumn
e) during large storms
22) The structure of an undisturbed A horizon tends to be
a) firm
b) sandy or gravelly
c) platy
d) loose and open
e) too variable to characterize
23) Rainfall or dew wetting leaves and grass blades may be said to be
a) higher in pH than soil moisture
b) part of the soil moisture deficit
c) in interception storage
d) in depression storage
e) reducing the infiltration rate
24) Infiltrated water will only reach groundwater
a) in sand and gravel deposits
b) in areas where bedrock is exposed
c) once the material it passes through is
at field capacity
d) if there is no basal till layer
e) in wetlands
25) One difference between basal till and ablation till is that
a) ablation till is more poorly sorted
b) basal till contains more rounded rock fragments
c) basal till is deposited in a marine environment
d) ablation till is less dense and less compact
e) ablation till is not associated with mountain glaciers
GEOLOGY OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
QUIZ 2
1) In an artesian well,
a) the water level is below the ground surface
b) the water level is within a confining layer
c) the water level maintains a constant elevation
d) the water level is within an unconfined aquifer
e) the water level is above the ground surface
2) The term porosity refers to
a) the average velocity of water in an aquifer
b) the effective pore pressure on soil
c) the volume of pore space
d) the compressibility of water
e) the magnitude of dispersion
3) A pollutant travel time of at least 2500 days is often considered acceptable for
a) bacteria
b) toxic metals
c) nitrate
d) community water supplies
e) hydrocarbons
4) By definition, a public water supply must provide water to a system serving at least
a) 15 people
b) 25 people
c) 30 people
d) 45 people
e) 60 people
5) The zone of contribution (or zone of capture) is always
a) within the zone of influence
b) equivalent to the zone of influence
c) larger than the zone of influence
d) equivalent to the watershed area
e) greater than the watershed area
6) A well supplying water to a golf course clubhouse and restaurant with 17 employees would
a) not be a public water supply
b) be a community public water supply
c) be a transient public water supply
d) be a non-transient public water supply
e) be required to test for chronic pollutants
7) The highest permeability would most likely be in
a) sand
b) gravel
c) silt
d) clay
e) bedrock
8) Bedrock wells may go dry because
a) they are not connected to a large network of fractures
b) they are not connected to fractures with a sufficiently large
storage volume
c) they are not located in areas with a thick layer of saturated
glacial sediment above the rock
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
9) All surface water bodies
a) are associated with confined aquifers
b) are areas of groundwater recharge
c) are areas where the water table elevation
is higher than the ground surface
d) are perched
e) are located within a zone of contribution
10) Transient water systems are generally required to test only for
a) bacteria and nitrate
b) toxic metals
c) evidence of acute contaminants
d) evidence of chronic contaminants
e) both (a) and (b)
f) both (a) and (c)
11) Effective porosity will always be
a) equal to porosity
b) equal to or less than porosity
c) equal to or greater than porosity
d) unrelated to the value of porosity
e) greater in materials with lower permeabilities
12) Many wetlands in Maine occur in areas with clay soil, so that the wetland may reflect the presence of a(n)
a) perched water table
b) confined aquifer
c) unconfined aquifer
d) zone of remnant glacial-era sea water
e) artesian zone
13) Compared to a well pumping at the same rate from an unconfined aquifer, a well pumping from a confined aquifer will generally
a) have a smaller zone of influence
b) have the same-sized zone of contribution
c) have a smaller zone of contribution
d) have a larger zone of influence
e) obtain all its water from induced recharge
14) The material most likely to have the lowest porosity is
a) gravel
b) bedrock
c) sand
d) clay
e) till
15) The well supplying a grade school with 200 students and teachers would
a) not be a public water supply
b) be a transient public water supply
c) be a community public water supply
d) be a non-transient public water supply
e) be required to sample only for bacteria
16) Which glacial sediment would be most likely to form a confining layer?
a) outwash
b) ablation till
c) basal till
d) delta deposits
e) rock-flour clay
17) A water-soluble pollutant is spilled and enters the groundwater at a point upgradient from a drinking-water well. Because of the effects of dispersion,
a) the arrival time of the pollutant at the well will be equal to
the Darcy velocity times the distance to the well
b) once it reaches the well, the concentration
of pollutant at the well will gradually increase to a maximum value
c) the pollutant may be absorbed onto the soils of the aquifer
d) once it reaches the well, the concentration of pollutant at the
well will jump to a constant value
e) the pollutant may sink through the aquifer
18) To be considered an aquifer, a material must
a) store water
b) maintain wetlands, streams, and brooks
c) discharge water at a useful rate
d) have a high field capacity
e) both (a) and (d)
f) both (a) and (c)
19) A light, non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) like gasoline will
a) sink into the groundwater
b) float on the top of the groundwater
c) mix well with the groundwater
d) not be found in bedrock wells
e) not be found in groundwater
20) Streams and wetlands within the zone of influence of a well supplying a large water bottler may be affected by
a) effective porosity
b) induced recharge
c) dispersion
d) diffusion
e) the Lisse Effect
21) The various types of public water supplies are primarily classified based on
a) the number of people served
b) the age of the people served
c) the quality of water in the area
d) the length of time the well operates
e) the risk to the people served
22) In a confined aquifer,
a) perched wetlands are common
b) the water table is generally just below the ground surface
c) the water table is higher than the top
of the aquifer
d) flow occurs in fractures
e) the water table is above the surface of the ground
23) In an unconfined aquifer, the hydraulic gradient may usually be considered equal to
a) the ratio of porosity to permeability
b) the average water velocity divided by the effective porosity
c) the slope of the bedrock surface
d) the slope of the water table
e) the rate of change of permeability along the flow path
24) The material with the greatest porosity is
a) bedrock
b) clay
c) basal till
d) ablation till
e) outwash
25) In Maine, groundwater movement in bedrock generally occurs by
a) flow though caverns
b) flow through spaces between sediment particles
c) diffusion flow
d) flow in underground streams
e) flow through fractures
GEOLOGY OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS QUIZ 3
1) The limiting nutrient in freshwater lakes is
a) nitrogen
b) phosphorous
c) potassium
d) calcium
e) sodium
2) Silt fence primarily tends to trap sediment by
a) increasing recharge volume
b) increasing the magnitude of the cohesive force
c) reducing the velocity of water flow
d) minimizing the force of raindrop impact
e) minimizing peak flows
3) The term interflow refers to
a) groundwater discharge to streams
b) direct overland flow
c) controlled flow from a detention basin
d) shallow subsurface flow
e) the flow volume recorded on the ascending limb of a hydrograph
4) The immediate effect of decaying algae on lake bottom waters is
a) increase in manganese concentration
b) decrease in phosphorous concentration
c) increase in dissolved oxygen
d) decrease in dissolved oxygen
e) enhancement of cold-water fisheries
5) The process of erosion differs from the process of sedimentation in that
a) erosion refers to the volume of sediment deposited in a resource
b) sedimentation refers to the volume of sediment removed from a
construction site
c) erosion generally occurs at lower elevations in the watershed
d) sedimentation often relates to impacts
on a waterbody
e) erosion often relates to impacts on a waterbody
6) Sedimentation of waterbodies is an example of
a) aquatic-life criteria
b) point-source pollution
c) nonpoint-source pollution
d) industrial discharge
e) baseflow
7) Assuming adequate precipitation data for the watershed, during any period of 365 days, the probability that a 25-year storm will occur is approximately
a) 1%
b) 4%
c) 10%
d) 12.5%
e) 15%
f) 25%
8) Most phosphorous reaches surface water
a) through atmospheric deposition
b) from industrial discharges
c) through groundwater
d) attached to soil particles
e) from leaking storage tanks
9) The detention time required for settling a particular amount of sediment can be determined using
a) Darcy’s Law
b) The Rational Method
c) TR-55
d) SWMM
e) Stokes’ Law
10) Conversion of a watershed that is mostly pasture to lawn areas most likely causes
a) decreased runoff due to greater interception storage
b) increased runoff due to increased initial abstraction
c) decreased runoff due to decreased infiltration rates
d) increased runoff due to decreased depression
storage
e) decreased runoff due to better erosion control
11) For the purposes of erosion control, why would you try to minimize the distance that runoff would flow across the ground surface between sediment traps?
a) both (c) and (d)
b) both (c) and (e)
c) reducing shear force
d) reducing rainfall impact
e) reducing flow velocity
12) For the purposes of controlling peak runoff, why would you try to minimize the distance that runoff would flow in channels rather than across the ground surface?
a) increase time of concentration
b) increase shear force
c) increase pollutant removal
d) both (a) and (c)
e) both (b) and (c)
I accepted answer (d), because of the number
of people that gave that answer, but there is not really a connection between
control of peak runoff (which was the question) and pollutant removal.
13) In the Universal Soil-Loss Equation, the term LS refers to
a) rainfall intensity
b) soil erosivity
c) the uninterrupted slope length
d) the storm recurrence interval
e) the conservation practice used at the site
14) Compared to a natural watershed with soils derived from outwash, a watershed with soils derived from marine/lacustrine rock-flour sediment will generally have
a) greater peak flows but lower runoff volume
b) greater runoff volume but lower peak flow
c) greater runoff volume but delayed peak flows
d) greater runoff volume and earlier peak
flows
e) greater peak flows and more recharge
15) Because of the effects of cohesive forces, the soil particles
eroded at the lowest water velocity tend to be
a) coarse sands
b) clays
c) silts
d) gravels
e) fine sands
Because of some ambiguity in the way people
may have copied the graph, I accepted silts
on this one, but fine sand is the preferred answer.
16) Dense vegetation cover reduces erosion rates because it
a) reduces rainfall impact force
b) reduces depression storage
c) reduces shear force
d) reduces cohesive force
e) both (a) and (d)
f) both (a) and (c)
17) The most rapid flow of runoff occurs as
a) depression flow
b) sheet flow
c) Hortonian overland flow
d) Shallow concentrated flow
e) Channelized flow
18) The principal effect of properly-applied mulch on erosion rates is to
a) reduce the effects of cohesive forces
b) increase the effectiveness of shear forces
c) reduce the effects of dispersive forces
d) decrease the flow velocity
e) decrease the effectiveness of raindrop
impact
19) If a forested watershed is logged, runoff rates are likely to
a) increase due to additional interception storage
b) decrease due to reduced depression storage
c) decrease due to increase groundwater recharge
d) increase due to reduced interception storage
e) increase due to additional baseflow
20) Sizing culverts to manage peak flows may be most efficiently
done using
a) the Rational Method
b) Stokes’ Law
c) Darcy’s Law
d) TR-55
e) HEC-2
21) The maximum shear force exerted by runoff occurs during
a) shear flow
b) sheet flow
c) channelized flow
d) shallow concentrated flow
e) Hortonian overland flow
I accepted (b) also, because of some ambiguity
in the question; the shear force per unit area may be less during sheet
flow, because of the low flow velocity, but over a very large area of sheet
flow, the net force applied to the entire area of soil might be
greater.
22) A hydrograph is a graph comparing
a) stage versus time
b) runoff versus stage
c) shear force versus time
d) volume versus stage
e) stage versus erosion rate
23) Stormwater management systems often put channelized runoff into
sheet flow in order to
a) increase pollutant removal
b) increase flow velocity
c) decrease peak flows
d) guarantee that runoff from the site reaches a stream before the
flood peak
e) both (a) and (c)
f) both (a) and (d)
24) The function of detention basins such as that at the bottom of
the campus watershed is usually to
a) control erosion rates
b) trap sediment
c) control runoff volume
d) control runoff rate
e) both (b) and (d)
f) both (b) and (c)
25) The effect of unregulated development in a watershed is generally
to
a) increase the rate of runoff
b) increase the volume of interception storage
c) increase the volume of depression storage
d) increase the volume of runoff
e) both (a) and (c)
f) both (a) and (d)