Aspen University Physical Geography Questions

Professor N. AlaoSOC SCI 5B/ Physical Geography
UCI/Winter 2020
NAME
ID#
FINAL EXAM
Due Wed March 18, ( 9-10am)
NOTE: For all relevant problems, use the following lapse rates:
ELR: 6.4°C per thousand meters
DALR: 10°C per thousand meters
SALR: 5°C per thousand meters
Dew Point LR: 1.8°C per thousand meters
SECTION ONE
1. Match as appropriate
Loxodromes
Mercator
Temperature Inversion
Subtropical Jet Stream
Northeast Trade
Oblate Ellipsoid
Geostrophic Wind
Doldrums
Horse Latitudes
Pangaea
Pressure Belt
Epicenter
Asthenosphere
A. Wegener
Rift Valley
Dew Point
Pluto
Venus
Ptolemaic System
Topography
a. Geocentricity
b. Condensation
c. Continental Drift
d. Transform Displacement
e. Supercontinent
f. Subtropical High
g. 30°N
h. Meriodal Winds
i. lsobar
j. Rotational Centrifigal Force
k. Red Sea
l. Dwarf Planet
m. R,humb Line
n. Cylindrical Projection
o. Radiation Fog
p. Equator
q. Mantle
r. Relief
s. Terrestrial Planet
t. Zonal winds
SECTION TWO
Q2-Q7 SHORT ANSWER
2. Explicitly specify the facts of the Earth-Sun relationship employed by
Eratosthenes to estimate the circumference of the Earth.
3.
a. Specify the assumptions underlying the tricellular model of the planetary wind
system.
b. In the tricellular planetary wind system why does rising air move away from
the Equator towards the Poles?
4.
a. What is a lithospheric plate.? Name the 7 major lithospheric plates.
b. Explain the convection currents theory of plate movements.
5.
a. Define Lifting Condensation Level for a parcel of air.
b. Consider a parcel of air of temperature 30° at sea level with dew point
temperature of 18.5°C. Derive the lifting condenstation level (LCL) of this
parcel.
c. What is the parcel’s temperature at its LCL?
6.
a. Define: Pressure Gradient, Coriolis Effect
b. Suppose you were aboard a ship in the Atlantic ocean in the Northern
Hemisphere. Suppose a high pressure center is located north of you and low
pressure system is centered to your south. What would be the most likely
wind direction? Carefully state your reasoning.
c. Suppose at your location you observe a southerly wind in what compass
direction from your location is a high pressure center likely to be found
(consider two hemispheres)?
SECTION THREE: MULTIPLE CHOICE
7. Pangaea broke up during which geologic era?
a. Pre-Cambrian
b. Paleozoic
c. Proterozoic
d. Mesozoic
8. Which of the following metric units is the smallest
a. Nanometer
b. micron
c. millimeter
d. centimeter
9. A westerly wind means that the atmosphere:
a. would act to retard the speed of earth’s roation.
b. is moving faster than the earth is spinning.
c. is moving slower than the earth is spinning.
d. has the same velocity as the velocity of the earth’s rotation.
10. The thermally driven convection cell along the Equator is the:
a. Hadley Cell.
b. Ferrell Cell.
c. El Nino Cell.
d. La Nina Cell.
11. Evanston (II) (approximately lat 42°N) is located in the;
a. NET
b. SET
c. Westerlies
d. doldrums
12. At Barrow (Alaska) you would expect the prevailing wind to be:
a. northerly
b. easterly
c. southerly
d. westerly
13. The world’s largest deserts are found at lat 30° because:
a. the ITCZ is located there.
b. of the sindking air of the polar front.
c. of the doldrums.
d. of the sinking air of the subtropical highs.
14. The unit linear latitudinal distance along any longitude is constant.
a. True
b. False
15. The unit linear longitudinal distance along a given latitude:
a. is constant.
b. varies directly with the latitudinal value.
c. varies inversely with the latitudinal value.
16. Which belt of the general atmospheric circulation would most affect a
location such as Lincoln, Nebraska (lat 41°N):
a. Polar High
b. The Trades
c. ITCZ
d. Westerlies
17. Closely spaced isobars on a map indicate:
a. strong pressure gradient b. westerlies c. Equatorial storm d. none
18. Pressure isolines are called;
a. isohyet
b. isotherms
19. Where is the Coriolis effect strongest?
a. at the Equator
b. At the North Pole
c. Tropic of Cancer
d. Tropic of Capricorn.
c. isobars
d. isotim