Deck 18: The Topography of Arid Lands

Question 1

In arid lands, intricately rifled and barren terrain is called ________.

A) badlands
B) a bajada
C) barranca
D) a butte
E) alluvial fans

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The Arabic word for a dry desert stream bed is ________.

A) seif
B) bajada
C) barchan
D) reg
E) wadi

Answer 2

E

Question 3

One of the primary special characteristics of deserts is their ________.

A) complete absence of precipitation
B) lack of trees other than palms
C) prevalence of soil creep
D) basins of internal drainage
E) complete absence of vegetation

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The process of shifting loose particles by blowing them into the air or rolling them on the ground is called ________.

A) deflation
B) aggradation
C) the fluvial process
D) the arid cycle
E) sand motion

Question 5

A ________ is a desert which is covered with coarse gravel, pebbles, and boulders and from which all sand and dust have been removed.

A) wadi
B) erg
C) relict erg
D) reg
E) peneplain

Question 6

A fine-grained wind-deposited surface material with extensive deposits in the midlatitudes is ________.

A) reg
B) loess
C) erg
D) inselberg
E) plinth

Question 7

Rivers like the Nile or Colorado which rise in moist regions and then flow through arid landscapes are called ________ streams.

A) gibber
B) barchan
C) pediment
D) exotic
E) playa

Question 8

The wind-caused etching or pitting of rock surfaces is termed ________.

A) blowout
B) deflation
C) abrasion
D) traction
E) slip face

Question 9

________ is the Spanish world for "table" and is applied to flat topped landforms in the American West.

A) Barranca
B) Arroyo
C) Pediment
D) Mesa
E) Reg

Question 10

The world's longest expanse of coastal dunes is located in ________.

A) California
B) France
C) Bolivia
D) Brazil
E) China

Question 11

The best example of the remnant of a Pleistocene lake in the United States is ________.

A) Lake Powell
B) Great Salt Lake
C) Lake Mead
D) Lake Huron
E) Salton Sea

Question 12

Africa's best example of an exotic river is the ________.

A) Nile
B) Amazon
C) Orange
D) Rhine
E) Congo

Question 13

Variations in rock type and structure affect the slope and shape of landforms. These landforms are produced by ________.

A) exotic streams
B) solution
C) aeolian erosion
D) differential erosion
E) pediments

Question 14

A gently inclined bedrock platform is a(n) ________.

A) erg
B) reg
C) playa
D) pediment
E) hamada

Question 15

The single most important agent of landscape formation in deserts is ________.

A) wind
B) geologic uplift
C) solution
D) creep
E) water

Question 16

The main dune form in most deserts is crescent shaped and is migrating across a non-sand surface; it is called a(n) ________.

A) barchan
B) bajada
C) seif
D) transverse
E) alluvial

Question 17

In basin and range topography, the lowest areas are frequently occupied by a(n) ________.

A) barchan
B) playa
C) escarpment
D) bajada
E) seif

Question 18

A shallow depression from which an abundance of fine material has been deflated is known as a deflation hollow or ________.

A) seif
B) blowout
C) tombolo
D) barchan
E) swash

Question 19

Alluvial fans which have expanded and joined over time form a landscape feature known as a(n) ________.

A) plinth
B) bajada
C) slip face
D) sand plain
E) alkali flat

Question 20

A desert consisting of a large area of sand dunes is termed a(n) ________.

A) reg
B) erg
C) arroyo
D) wadi
E) salina

Question 21

Most alluvial fans are ________.

A) in mountain canyons
B) composed of poorly sorted debris
C) in the centers of basins
D) composed of bedrock
E) aeolian deposits

Question 22

The channel of a desert mountain stream is usually covered with ________.

A) transportable rock debris
B) bedrock
C) pediments
D) salt
E) none of the above

Question 23

During recent geologic time, Death Valley was occupied by a large lake called ________.

A) Lake Bonneville
B) Lake Manly
C) Lake Tahoe
D) Lake Mead
E) Lake Powell

Question 24

Most blowouts are ________.

A) microscopic
B) small
C) about a mile across
D) created by wind deposition
E) created by fluvial processes

Question 25

The steeper leeward side of a sand dune is called a ________.

A) gibber
B) slip face
C) bajada
D) playa
E) seif

Question 26

A densely-packed stream network on erodible sedimentary rocks produces ________.

A) badlands
B) mesas
C) pediments
D) caprock
E) pinnacles

Question 27

Of the states below, ________ has the greatest extent of interior drainage basins.

A) Nevada
B) Maine
C) Wyoming
D) Michigan
E) Arkansas

Question 28

The most common landscape forms in the dry western U.S. are the basin and range and the ________.

A) mesa and scarp
B) claypan
C) playa
D) bajada
E) hamada

Question 29

Mesa-and-scarp topography is most closely associated with ________.

A) extrusive vulcanism
B) metamorphism
C) erosion
D) deposition
E) faulting

Question 30

Because of short steep canyons on the east side of Death Valley no ________ are found there.

A) salt pans
B) bajadas
C) mesas
D) pedestal rocks
E) horsts

Question 31

In the creation of rock escarpments in dry lands, much of the undermining is accomplished by a process called ________.

A) erosion
B) sapping
C) particulate sorting
D) sandblasting
E) evapotranspiration

Question 32

Sand dunes are composed mainly of individual grains of ________.

A) quartz
B) sodium
C) calcium carbonate
D) loess
E) lime

Question 33

Rounded hills or mountain prominence surrounded by extensive plains and basins are ________.

A) salines
B) mesas
C) wadis
D) inselbergs
E) grabens

Question 34

The wind rolling pebbles across the desert surface is an example of ________.

A) creep
B) traction
C) deposition
D) abrasion
E) scree

Question 35

In general, large boulders will not be found on ________.

A) pediments
B) arroyos
C) bajadas
D) playas
E) any of the above

Question 36

Dry lake beds with especially heavy salt concentrations are most properly called ________.

A) arroyos
B) wadis
C) playas
D) salinas
E) all of the above

Question 37

Desert pavement is another term for a(n) ________.

A) reg
B) erg
C) hamada
D) wadi
E) playa

Question 38

Flattish erosional platforms with no well-defined scarps or edges are ________.

A) plateaus
B) stripped plains
C) badlands
D) buttes
E) mesas

Question 39

The Great Salt Lake is a remnant of ________.

A) Lake Mead
B) Tulare Lake
C) Lake Bonneville
D) Salton Sea
E) Mono Lake

Question 40

Another term for "wadi" is ________.

A) bajada
B) mesa
C) arroyo
D) loess
E) butte

Question 41

In arid regions, differential erosion tends to be best developed in areas of ________.

A) sandstone rocks
B) massive metamorphic rocks
C) sedimentary landscapes
D) massive igneous rocks
E) minimal weathering

Question 42

High salt concentrations give a striking whitish surface to ________.

A) salinas
B) wadis
C) alcove arches
D) pedestals
E) mesas

Question 43

One would find the piedmont angle at ________.

A) the bottom of canyons
B) a change in slope at a mountain base
C) the top of a mesa that is being sapped
D) the base of the resistant caprock layer
E) none of the above

Question 44

An arroyo is to a wadi as an inselberg is to a ________.

A) bornhardt
B) piedmont
C) desert
D) pediment
E) erosion surface

Question 45

Ergs are ________.

A) sometimes originated by non-desert conditions
B) absent from the Sahara
C) large, crescent-shaped dunes
D) usually composed of silt
E) notable for the absence of dunes

Question 46

Inselbergs are associated with ________ landscapes.

A) loess
B) mesa-and-scarp
C) basin-and-range
D) desert plain
E) karst

Question 47

The ________ zone at the base of desert mountain ranges is one of the most prominent areas of active fluvial deposition.

A) gibber
B) piedmont
C) wadi
D) deflation
E) none of the above

Question 48

Currently, the valley floor of Death Valley ________.

A) is covered with a deep, saline lake
B) gathers enough moisture to make a small, thick forest
C) is rising rapidly
D) is underlain by hundreds of meters of sediments
E) shows the influence of tightly folded rocks

Question 49

An aeolian form NOT unique to arid lands is ________.

A) the seif
B) loess
C) a pediment
D) the gibber
E) desert pavement

Question 50

Which is NOT a regional name for a wash or gully?

A) nullah
B) donga
C) wadi
D) gibber
E) coulee

Question 51

Basin-and-range topography is characterized by ________ found above the basin floor and underneath the alluvial fans.

A) mesas
B) playas
C) pediments
D) inselbergs
E) sand dunes

Question 52

Aeolian processes refer to those involving ________.

A) running water
B) ice
C) wind
D) groundwater
E) chemical weathering

Question 53

Many of today's desert lakes are best described by which phrase?

A) They were once much larger.
B) They are remnants of Pleistocene lakes.
C) They receive water from exotic streams.
D) They receive flow from nearby mountains.
E) all of the above

Question 54

The barren surface composed of consolidated material, usually of exposed bedrock, is ________.

A) desert armor
B) a hamada
C) a reg
D) an erg
E) none of the above

Question 55

Concerning desertification, which of the following is FALSE?

A) It is a problem in the Sahel.
B) It is associated with desert margins.
C) It has happened in the U.S.
D) Overgrazing is a direct cause.
E) Fortunately, it is a major problem only in Africa.

Question 56

A dark, shiny coat of iron and manganese oxides on pebbles, stones, and larger outcrops is known as ________.

A) a reg
B) desert varnish
C) pediment
D) a hamada
E) an erg

Question 57

It is now clear that desertification is

A) natural.
B) human-caused.
C) related to the enhanced greenhouse effect.
D) caused by a mix of natural and human circumstances.
E) intensified by the planting of shrubs and trees.

Question 58

Sapping is an erosional process closely associated with ________.

A) volcanoes in arid lands
B) playas
C) sand dunes
D) rock joints
E) metamorphism in arid lands

Question 59

Most desert streamflow eventually ________.

A) runs to the sea
B) becomes perennial
C) evaporates or seeps into the landscape
D) ends many weeks after a rain
E) flows into an exotic stream

Question 60

Rainfall in deserts

A) totals just as much as in humid areas.
B) is incapable of moving much material.
C) is usually associated with slow runoff.
D) is usually intense.
E) lasts for many days when it does come.

Question 61

________ is a notable characteristic of mesa-and-scarp topography.

A) Folding
B) Vivid color
C) Soil creep
D) Erosion of igneous rocks
E) A high average annual rainfall total

Question 62

Sand grains are generally made out of ________.

A) granite and shale
B) pebbles
C) quartz and gypsum
D) loess
E) clay

Question 63

In a "true sandstorm," ________.

A) terrain is heavily eroded
B) the moving sand rarely reaches head level
C) the chipping of paint is rare
D) sand falls out of clouds in a manner similar to precipitation
E) human structures are rarely damaged

Question 64

In deserts, wind can be said to ________.

A) be absent
B) make many of the landforms
C) be more effective than elsewhere
D) create basin-and-range topography
E) do all of the above

Question 65

After the Sahara, which of the following is the world's major location of ergs?

A) the North American deserts
B) the Arabian desert
C) the European desert
D) the South American desert
E) the Antarctic "desert"

Question 66

"Dust Bowl" conditions in the North American Great Plains of the 1930s represented ________.

A) something that will not happen again
B) changes which occurred because the climate changed
C) an identical situation to the Sahel of the late 1960s
D) deforestation
E) desertification

Question 67

"Exotic" is a term closely associated with ________.

A) desert vegetation
B) desert soils
C) desert streams
D) desert climates
E) physical geography courses

Question 68

In the center of a desert basin what would one likely find?

A) a pediment
B) a scarp
C) fine-grained particles
D) inselbergs
E) canyons

Question 69

If a salty playa lake evaporates, a ________ might be left behind.

A) scarp
B) salina
C) wadi
D) gulley
E) pediment

Question 70

Which of the following is NOT associated with the work of the wind?

A) sandblasting
B) solution
C) deflation
D) traction
E) saltation

Question 71

________ represents the largest region with continuing desertification.

A) The North American Great Plains
B) The Sahara
C) The basin-and-range
D) The Sahel
E) The Amazon rainforest

Question 72

Where the landscape is covered by sand and the crests of the sand dunes are perpendicular to the wind, the dunes are labeled ________.

A) transverse
B) seifs
C) longitudinal
D) reverse
E) barchans

Question 73

Which of the following is NOT a specialized feature of desert environments?

A) Mechanical weathering dominates.
B) Soil creep determines slope development.
C) thin regolith
D) prevalence of impermeable surfaces
E) relatively intense precipitation

Question 74

Which of the following features is SMALLEST in area?

A) plateau
B) butte
C) mesa
D) stripped plain
E) pillar

Question 75

Which of the following is NOT a type of desert landform?

A) reg
B) erg
C) gibber plain
D) hamada
E) uvala

Question 76

Which of the below can be found in loess?

A) jointlike vertical cleavage planes
B) fine grain sizes
C) angular individual grains
D) a buff coloration
E) all of the above

Question 77

Which of the following is NOT closely associated with basin-and-range topography?

A) Nevada
B) Death Valley
C) deserts in the southwestern United States
D) mesas
E) faulting

Question 78

Great vertical escarpments are associated with ________ of sedimentary strata in desert climates.

A) solution
B) abrasion
C) sandblasting
D) differential erosion
E) tectonic upwarping

Question 79

The prime factors in desertification in the Sahel were a natural drought and ________.

A) an increase in forest cover
B) overgrazing
C) fence building
D) tribal wars
E) deposition of desert sand

Question 80

Badlands are closely associated with Badlands National Park in South Dakota and ________.

A) Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah
B) Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming
C) Yosemite National Park in California
D) Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee
E) Mt. Rainer National Park in Washington