Geology 101 - Physical Geology » Fall 2020 » Deserts

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Question #1
What is the driest place on Earth?
A.   Sahara Desert, North Africa
B.   Great Sandy Desert, Australia
C.   Atacama Desert, Chile
D.   Death Valley, California
Question #2
How much does it rain here on average per year?
A.   A little less than 1 centimeter per year
B.   It has never rained here
C.   2-3 meters per year
D.   A little less than 1 meter per year
E.   A little less than 1 millimeter per year
Question #3
Where do most deserts occur?
A.   The Furious Forties
B.   Tropic of Capricorn
C.   Both A and B
D.   The equator
E.   Tropic of Cancer
Question #4
What is the significance of the gypsum bed of boulders?
A.   It shows that magma has upwelled here in the recent past
B.   It shows that the land is subsiding
C.   It shows there hasn’t been any heavy rain since it formed
D.   It shows the presence of an ancient ocean
Question #5
What provides the age of the gypsum beds?
A.   Fossils
B.   Greenschist
C.   Radiometric decay rates
D.   Thermo luminescence
Question #6
What is the age of the Atacama Desert?
A.   150 million years
B.   225 million years
C.   242-250 million years
D.   50 million years
E.   15 million years
F.   1 million years
Question #7
How old are the extinct coastal zone volcanoes?
A.   225 million years
B.   19 million years
C.   195 million years
D.   50 million years
E.   405 million years
Question #8
When did the Andes first form?
A.   150 million years ago
B.   10 million years ago
C.   350 million years ago
D.   316 million years ago
E.   5 million years ago
F.   50 million years ago
Question #9
How does the copper deposits relate back to the Atacama Desert?
A.   Copper accumulates as a salt deposit in hot dry locations.
B.   Because of the lack of rain fall, there is no way means to rust or erode the copper.
C.   It actually does not relate it is just a coincidence
D.   The Atacama formed from a massive volcanic eruption and the volcano left the copper in its wake.
Question #10
What is the temperature difference between Atacama and Death Valley?
A.   15 degrees
B.   30 degrees
C.   20 degrees
D.   40 degrees
E.   25 degrees
F.   35 degrees
Question #11
How does the Humboldt Current make the Atacama Desert so dry?
A.   The current blocks any storms from moving in off the ocean into the landmass.
B.   The current comes from the equator, bringing cold water that creates a cold fog, then hot air moves above it, and this prevents air flow making it near impossible to rain in Atacama Desert.
C.   It brings cold water from Antarctica that creates a cold fog, then hot air moves above it, and this prevents air flow making it near impossible to rain in Atacama Desert.
D.   The current comes from Antarctica, bringing warm water that dries out preventing rain
Question #12
What happens in the Mojave Desert when it rains?
A.   Volcanic eruption
B.   It is so hot all the water evaporates before it hits the ground
C.   Nothing there is so little rain to begin with
D.   The sudden impact causes earthquakes
E.   Flash floods
Question #13
How does Evenstar determine the age of the rocks in the Atacama Desert?
A.   How much Potassium 40 is inside orthoclase feldspar
B.   Radiometric Carbon 14
C.   How much Helium 3 is inside pyroxenes
D.   How much Argon and Neon is present in the granites
Question #14
How long have the oldest boulders been at their current position?
A.   167 million years
B.   117 million years
C.   23 million years
D.   2 million years
E.   3,000 years
F.   57 million years
Question #15
What is the same age as these boulders?
A.   The Andes Mountains
B.   The Philippines
C.   The Humboldt Current
D.   The Torval Mountains
E.   The California Current
Question #16
The rain shadow effect relates back to?
A.   Rivers
B.   Lakes
C.   Mountains
D.   Oceans
Question #17
How old is the grass in the nest?
A.   over 11,000 years old
B.   over 119,000 years old
C.   19 million years old
D.   over 16,000 years old
E.   100 years old
Question #18
What did NASA scientists find in 2005?
A.   A meteorite impact
B.   A green micro-organisms living in a rock
C.   An unknown species of kangaroo rat
D.   A source of uranium
Question #19
What is the only source of water?
A.   Waste from airplanes
B.   Animal urine
C.   Fog
D.   Salt
Question #20
What can salt due to this water source?
A.   It limits the flow of surface water
B.   It blocks water from entering the desert
C.   It extracts water vapor from the atmosphere and sucks it into the rock

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