1. Which natural disaster is most catastrophic-leading to the highest number of deaths worldwide?
a. Earthquakes
b. Floods
c. Sinkholes
d. Volcanic eruptions
e. Landslides
2. A flood is best described as water
a. waterfalls over a lake sill
b. infiltration and recharge of groundwater
c. overflow beyond the banks of a channel
d. saturation leading to earth flows
3. What is the principal force that makes things move downhill?
a. Gravity
b. Water
c. Suction
d. Coriolis
e. Magnetism
4. Where is the bed of the stream channel the steepest? Get the scoop on streams here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6sWiPAu708
a. Braided
b. Headwaters
c. Mouth
d. Meandering
5. Which erosive substance is most responsible for the shaping of earth's surface topography?
This video is key for this unit...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6sWiPAu708
a. Subsurface water
b. Wind
c. Surface water
d. Glaciers
6. When camping in the desert, where is a good idea to set up camp?
a. in a slot canyon
b. in a wash or arroyo (dry channel)
c. on a plateau at a moderate elevation
d. at the bottom of a narrow valley
e. on a ridge
7. Where is the erosion rate in a stream the highest? Get the scoop on streams here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6sWiPAu708
a. Headwaters of the river
b. Meandering section of the river
c. Braided section of the river
d. Mouth of the river
8. Stream discharge is defined as the quantity of water flowing past a specific channel location per unit time.
To calculate the discharge of a stream you need to measure the:
a. grain size of the sediments in the channel (bedload)
b. amount of dissolved load carried by the stream.
c. channel width and depth and the flow velocity.
d. composition of the sediments in the stream (bedload)
9. Where is the discharge of a stream greatest? Get the scoop on streams here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6sWiPAu708
a. Meandering
b. Mouth
c. Braided
d. Headwaters
10. Which factor causes a stream to loose power and deposit its sediments (or aggrade)?
a. an increase in channel width
b. an increase in slope
c. an increase in flow velocity
d. an increase in discharge
11. Which is not a type of stream sediment? Awesome info on surface water and floods here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_BypVAw5Zc
a. Suspended load
b. Dissolved load
c. Surface load
d. Bed load
12. What/where is ultimate base level for most streams? Be sure to understand all the details in this short video. This is very relevant for the field trip! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RSii3fhQYQ
a. All of these
b. Ocean
c. Waterfall
d. Lake
e. Dam
13. Which depositional landform that is created due to a significant decrease in slope and velocity where a stream flows into an ocean or lake?
a. floodplain
b. delta
c. alluvial fan
d. natural levee
14. What is a 100 yr flood?
a. The amount of discharge that has a 1/100 probability of occurring each year.
b. The amount of discharge that happens every 100 years.
c. The amount of discharge that can be expected during the next 100 years.
d. An estimate of a river's flooding potential based on models without field data.
15. Why does urbanization (the building and expansion of buildings, parking lots, streets, sidewalks, gutters, driveways, etc.) increase the chance of flooding during a rainstorm?
a. Urbanization lowers the peak discharge of streams and increases the lag time after a rainstorm.
b. Urbanization raises the peak discharge of streams and decreases the lag time after a rainstorm.
c. Urbanization raises the peak discharge of streams and increases the lag time after a rainstorm.
d. Urbanization lowers the peak discharge of streams and decreases the lag time after a rainstorm.
16. Flood plains are __________.
a. areas not commonly developed for housing and businesses
b. areas that the river has abandoned due to meandering
c. areas that will flood again
d. are areas that are often developed for housing
e. both answers A and B
f. both answers C and D
17. What main characteristic of a region makes a stream running through it meander? Get the scoop on streams here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6sWiPAu708
a. Shallow slope gradient (along-channel change in elevation with map distance)
b. Abundant vegetation
c. Steep slope gradient (along-channel change in elevation with map distance)
d. More resistant bedrock
18. Consider this diagram of river channel. At which location, would the flow velocity be highest?
a. A
b. B
c. C
19. Be sure to understand the material in this quick video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a3r-cG8Wic. What is expected to occur at location C?
a. Stream velocity will be high and erosion is likely occurring
b. Stream velocity will be low and erosion is likely occurring
c. Stream velocity will be high and deposition is likely occurring
d. Stream velocity will be low and deposition is likely occurring
20. Near which feature is the maximum velocity in a stream is located?
a. cutbank
b. point bar
c. shallowest section of the channel
d. floodplain
21. ____________ is an abandoned, cutoff, meander loop.
a. A misfit stream
b. A point bar
c. A delta
d. An oxbow
22. What is not a common occurrence associated with a stream flooding event? Awesome info on surface water and floods here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_BypVAw5Zc
a. Net decrease in stream discharge
b. Formation of natural levees parallel to the channel
c. Sedimentation across the floodplain
d. Increased erosion (sediment transport) rate for bedload
e. A shift in the channel location
23. Subsidence causes flooding because
a. the coastline drops relative to the wave height (controlled by sea level)
b. levees drop (along with the land surface) below the elevation of the river during large storms (controlled by sea level)
c. homes drop below the water table
d. A and B
e. B and C
f. all of these
24. Flood control on land changes deltas, in which way? Choose the best answer.
a. causes the delta to subside and build further out into the ocean
b. all of these
c. causes the delta to change it's position
d. causes the delta to build in size (width and length)
e. causes the delta to become entrenched
25. The flooding of much of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina was due to what?
a. much of the city being below sea level
b. inadequate infrastructure for a storm of that magnitude
c. levee demolition to relieve the pressure on other areas
d. answers A and B
e. answers A and C
26. How many years has flooding been an issue for New Orleans?
a. The first time the Ninth Ward in New Orleans flooded was during Hurricane Katrina
b. The past 200 years
c. The past two decades
d. The past 50 years
e. The past 100 years
f. The past 300 years
27. Let's compare and contrast today's problems in the SF bay delta with ongoing problems in the Mississippi river delta, which were instrumental in the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Which of the following is true for both regions:
https://serc.carleton.edu/research_education/katrina/understanding.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/american-aqueduct-the-great-california-water-saga/284009/
https://peakoil.com/geology/one-earthquake-could-cut-off-70-of-californias-water-supply
https://www.water.ca.gov/swp/docs/SWPmap.pdf
https://www.capradio.org/articles/2013/10/07/californias-water-supply,-a-700-mile-journey/
a. Ocean waves during violent storm surges inundate and erode the coastline and the levees that span the river network.
b. Earthquake rupture and liquefaction threaten to further reduce the height of levees and sever aqueducts that bring drinking water to vast communities for many months.
c. In most cases, levees spanning river networks were not designed by an engineers, and due to pumping and flood control, the levees are actively subsiding below high river flow levels.
28. Choose the number one reason why dams don't protect residents from floods:
California's Floods of 2017
https://californiawaterblog.com/2017/02/26/californias-floods-of-2017-so-far/
Flood Disaster in Australia : Documentary on Flash Floods in Australia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMHRpK2yjis
a. Headward erosion of streams can damage dams and cause failure.
b. Dams fail catastrophically due to poor seismic engineering.
c. Landslides and rockfall adjacent to dams cause breaches and catastrophic failures.
d. Dams have a limited capacity to hold back water.
29. Choose the primary stream process responsible for spillway failure that jeopardized the Oroville Dam and necessitated evacuation of communities downstream:
a. Lateral erosion
b. Bar migration
c. Headward erosion
d. Bedload aggradation
30. What do hurricanes need to form, be sustained, and increase in strength?
a. Conjunction of high pressure systems near the equator.
b. High levels wind shear.
c. Large, warm bodies of water.
d. A cold front advancing into warm dry air.
31. Which best describes a storm surge?
a. Rapid growth in a storm system.
b. A local increase in the sea (or lake) level due to low atmospheric pressure and wind pushing water towards shore.
c. The sudden panic of people in the path of a storm resulting in traffic jams.
d. When storm winds suddenly gain strength.
32. What does it mean to say that a stream has a discharge of a 50-year flood?
a. This is the amount of discharge that can be expected during the next 50 years.
b. This is an estimate of flooding potential based on models without field data.
c. This is the probability a certain discharge will occur, based on past data
d. This is the amount of peak discharge that happens every 50 years.
33. With days of advanced warning, why did so many people die in Hurricane Katrina?
a. Many under estimated the power of the storm and tried to ride it out
b. Much of the local population was unable to leave due to poverty
c. All of the above
d. Mismanagement by local and federal authorities
e. Local infrastructure inadequate for public safety.