VERSION 1 GEOG 101

THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND

SEMESTER ONE 2019

Campus: City

GEOGRAPHY

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

(Time Allowed: TWO hours)

NOTE: Answer ALL questions from Section A, ONE question from Section B and ONE
question from Section C.

Answer Section A (multiple choice questions) on the teleform answer sheet.

This exam is worth 50% of your final grade.

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SECTION A
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Mark the most correct answer on the teleform answer sheet provided. (1 mark each)

1. Which of the following statements is correct?

a) Drainage density is generally low in uplifting terrains
b) The drainage pattern associated with a volcano typically has a rectangular pattern
c) A map showing a landscape with a high drainage density has widely spaced contours
d) When a third order stream joins a fourth order stream, the river downstream continues
as a fourth order stream

2. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

a) Endogenic processes directly influence exogenic processes
b) Convection cells in Earth’s core are the primary control on plate tectonic movement at
the Earth’s surface
c) Tectonism, isostacy and volcanism are directly related
d) Endogenic processes are primarily constructional (create landforms), while exogenic
processes are primarily agents of down-wearing (eroding and reworking landforms)

3. What are the primary drivers of erosion at the Earth’s surface?

a) Geologic forces, climatic forces and gravity, with human activities impacting upon
these factors
b) Weathering and denudation
c) Glaciers, rivers and coasts
d) Source to sink sediment flux relationships

4. What are the three primary forms of plate boundary?

a) Oceanic, continental and atmospheric
b) Convergent, divergent and transform
c) Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary
d) Folding, faulting and lateral displacement

5. The hydrological cycle operates as a closed system. What does this mean?
a) Dams have altered the continuity of flow in river systems, such that transfer of water
to the oceans has been stopped
b) The volume of water on the planet is finite, with a balance maintained between
different stores
c) Exchange between components continues until each component is full
d) Climate change now adds more water to the Earth system, increasing rainfall in
tropical areas

6. Which of the following is NOT a component of the hydrological cycle which supports
the generation of runoff?
a) Hydrographic flow
b) Percolation
c) Infiltration
d) Throughflow

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7. In a flood hydrograph, baseflow refers to:

a) The lowest water level at which flow still occurs
b) Sub-surface (hyporheic) flows
c) Maintenance of water supply from soils and groundwater stores so rivers continue to
flow after rainfall and flood events
d) The lowest flow level that transports sediment at a given channel cross-section

8. How do we differentiate bedrock and alluvial rivers?

a) Bedrock rivers are made up primarily of depositional features, while alluvial rivers
have primarily erosional landforms
b) Bedrock rivers have self-adjusting morphologies, while alluvial rivers have forced
morphologies.
c) Bedrock rivers laterally adjust, while alluvial rivers vertically adjust.
d) Bedrock rivers have forced morphologies, while alluvial rivers create their own
morphologies

9. For a river with a smooth concave upward longitudinal profile, which of the following
statements is true?
a) Bed material coarseness typically increases downstream
b) Channel width, depth, and mean flow velocity increase further downstream
c) The volume of sediment stored on the valley floor decreases downstream
d) Discharge decreases systematically downstream as slope is reduced

10. Anastomosing rivers are prominent in central Australia because:

a) Fine-grained sediments form cohesive banks, encouraging multiple channels with low
width-depth ratios
b) Suspended load rivers on low slopes have multiple mid-channel bars that freely adjust
c) The plate-centre location creates high sediment availability which creates stable rivers
with multiple channels
d) The glacial history of Australia induced high sediment availability and gentle slopes
which creates suspended load rivers

11. In the Hjulstrom diagram, sand is shown to be the material size that is most readily
entrained by rivers because:
a) There is more of this material than any other
b) Flow depth is greater in sand-bed rivers
c) The hydraulic efficiency of flow is minimised in sand-bed streams
d) Individual grains are non-cohesive but small enough to be easily picked up (entrained)

12. Using the Lane Balance Diagram as a guide, if the sediment load of a river was
increased, how would the bed of the river respond?
a) Degrade
b) Aggrade
c) Erode
d) There would be no change

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13. Floodplains form from combinations of which of the following processes?

a) Within-channel (lateral accretion) and overbank (vertical accretion) processes
b) Aggradation and degradation
c) Secondary circulation cells and palaeoflood deposition
d) Total stream power and shear stress

14. The approximate extent of sea level lowering induced by eustatic adjustment at the time
of the Last Glacial Maximum was:
a) 10 m
b) 300 m
c) 800 m
d) 130 m

15. Which of the following is NOT a feature created by glacial erosion?

a) Cirque
b) Moraine
c) Glacial Trough (U shaped valley)
d) Arete

16. What is the name given to the two types of glacial deposit?
a) Eskers and kames
b) Till (drift) and stratified deposits (outwash)
c) Lateral and terminal moraines
d) Erratics and glacial flour

17. Isostatic uplift refers to:

a) Removal of materials from the crust as a result of endogenic processes, which reduces
the weight of the crust and allows buoyant rock to rise (like a wooden block in water)
b) Addition of weight to the crust as a result of exogenic processes, which allows
buoyant rock to rise (like a wooden block in water)
c) Removal of materials from the crust as a result of exogenic processes, which reduces
the weight of the crust and allows buoyant rock to rise (like a wooden block in water)
d) Addition of weight to the crust as a result of endogenic processes, which allows
buoyant rock to rise (like a wooden block in water)

18. Weathering is which of the following?

a) The removal of rock material from mountains by mass flow, wind, ice or water.
b) Sediment movement and/or deposition.
c) The in-situ break down of rock material by chemical or physical processes.
d) The carving of landform features in rock by moving ice or water.

19. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

a) Direct human activities are intentional, purposeful.
b) Indirect human impacts are largely unintentional, and may result in significant off-site
consequences.
c) Most rivers have responded to multiple, cumulative impacts of human disturbance.
d) In assessing river evolution, human disturbance should be separated from natural
disturbance.

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20. Researchers say that the world is now in a ‘no analogue state’. This means that:
a) The natural world can be recreated through technological endeavours
b) Human activities will not allow the emergence of novel ecosystems
c) The future will be different, in ways we do not necessarily know
d) What happened in the past provides a good guide for what is likely to happen in the
future

21. Which of the following is correct?

a) Only objects above the freezing point of water emit radiation
b) Cooler objects emit more radiation than warmer objects
c) Hotter objects emit radiation at shorter wavelengths
d) Radiation emitted is a logarithmic function of surface temperature (in degrees K)

22. Globally averaged, which of the following is correct?

a) About 50% of solar radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere and clouds
b) About 50% of solar radiation is absorbed at the surface
c) About 50% of solar radiation is reflected back to space
d) About 50% of solar radiation is reflected back to space from clouds

23. The equation Q* = QG + QH is incomplete. What is the missing term on the right side?
a) + QF
b) + QE
c) + K
d) - K*

24. The ground heat flux involves which energy transfer mode?
a) Radiation
b) Conduction
c) Convection
d) Radiation when Q* is positive, otherwise convection

25. In the southern hemisphere, what direction does wind flow relative to the isobars of a
high-pressure system?
a) Clockwise and outwards
b) Anti-clockwise and outwards
c) Anti-clockwise and inwards
d) Clockwise and inwards

26. Monsoons are caused by which of the following?

a) Asymmetric heating of land and sea
b) Latitudinal migration of the ITCZ
c) Summertime reversal of the trade winds
d) Equatorward contraction of the Hadley cells

27. The westerlies typically increase rainfall on west coasts at what latitude?
a) Near the equator
b) Near the Tropics (Cancer and Capricorn)
c) Polar latitudes
d) Mid-latitudes

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28. With respect to the trade winds, which of the following is typical?
a) They extend the equatorial wet zone polewards on east coasts
b) They bring rainfall to mid-latitude east coasts
c) They extend the equatorial wet zone polewards on west coasts
d) They bring rainfall to mid-latitude west coasts

29. How is past climate most commonly reconstructed from pollen?

a) Pollen is used to infer the plant community, which is then used to infer climate
b) Pollen is used for radiocarbon dating abrupt changes in the sedimentary record, from
which past climate is inferred
c) Indicator species are used to determine abrupt biome shifts
d) Pollen types that can survive temperature extremes are used to infer minimum and
maximum temperatures

30. Based on analysis of pollen, a last glacial maximum (LGM) temperature depression of
minus 10°C has been deduced for the South American Andes. This is based on:
a) Pollen-based reconstruction of the position of the treeline since the LGM
b) Absence of significant pollen trapped in glaciers at the LGM
c) Large amounts of alpine pollen in coastal lakes at the LGM
d) The LGM presence of Dryas octopetala pollen at high elevation

31. What is the Southern Oscillation?

a) An extreme El Niño
b) The abrupt oscillations in climate associated with El Niño
c) The oscillation in ocean upwelling off South America
d) The atmospheric component of ENSO

32. El Niño events typically affect Auckland’s climate in what way?

a) Warmer and wetter
b) Colder and drier
c) Colder and wetter
d) Warmer and drier

33. In the last 140 years, how much has global surface air temperature risen by?
a) 5°C
b) 0.1°C
c) 1°C
d) It hasn’t

34. How does variation in the tilt of the earth’s axis mainly influence climate?
a) Changes total radiation receipt
b) Changes the timing of perihelion and aphelion
c) None of these answers are correct
d) Changes the seasonal distribution of radiation receipt

35. Which of the following statements about radiocarbon is incorrect?

a) It is produced in the upper atmosphere
b) It is produced by cosmic bombardment of nitrogen
c) It has a half-life of about 17,530 years
d) It is assimilated in photosynthesis

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36. Where were water levels relatively high during the mid-Holocene?
a) Throughout most of north Africa north of the equator
b) Only in the Sahel region
c) In southern Africa
d) In the eastern Sahara but not in the west

37. How does large-scale deforestation affect climate?

a) Warming from release of CO2 and cooling due to change in albedo
b) Warming from release of CO2 and warming due to change in albedo
c) Cooling from release of CO2 and warming due to change in albedo
d) Cooling from release of CO2 and cooling due to change in albedo

38. Which of the following is a significant contributor to urban heat islands?

a) Lower L*
b) Heightened evaporation from parks and fountains
c) Greater day-time heat storage
d) Higher K*

39. According to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (2013), the human influence on the
climate system is now what?
a) Uncertain
b) Indistinguishable from background natural variability
c) A myth
d) Clear

40. Under what conditions do kauri tend to lay down their widest rings?
a) Cool, wet
b) Cool, dry
c) Warm, wet
d) Warm, dry

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SECTION B
Answer ONE question. (20 marks)

41. Outline the relationships between tectonism, volcanism and isostasy.

42. How does landscape connectivity vary in New Zealand and Australia, and how does
this affect patterns and rates of sediment conveyance from the mountains to the sea?

43. How and why is the catchment the key scale for scientifically-informed river
management?

SECTION C
Answer ONE question. (20 marks)

44. Draw a diagram showing the radiation components of the global energy budget and
explain what determines their relative sizes.

45. Discuss the character and causes of climate change over the last 20,000 years.

46. What is an El Niño event and how does it evolve?

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