VERSION 1 GEOG 101

THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND

SEMESTER ONE 2017

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. What wavelength separates shortwave and longwave radiation?

a) 0.3 µm
b) 30 µm
c) 300 µm
d) 3 µm

2. Which of the following best explains how radiatively-active trace gases in the atmosphere
keep the surface warmer than it would be without them?
a) Ozone absorbs most radiation at wavelengths less than 0.3 µm
b) The atmosphere is relatively transparent to shortwave radiation but opaque to
longwave radiation
c) CO2 absorbs most radiation at wavelengths less than 0.3 µm
d) Some incoming shortwave radiation is backscattered to space

3. Which of the following equations is correct?

a) Q* = K↓ - K↑ + L↓ - L↑
b) Q* = K↓ + K↑ + L↓ + L↑
c) Q* = K↓ - K↑ - L↓ - L↑
d) Q* = K↓ + K↑ - L↓ + L↑

4. The ground heat flux involves which energy transfer mode?

a) Radiation
b) Conduction
c) Convection
d) Radiation when Q* is positive, otherwise convection

5. At the global scale, the surface receives more radiation than it emits. Which of the
following accounts for the imbalance?
a) Seasonal cycling of the ground heat flux
b) Surface latent and sensible heat fluxes
c) Surface latent heat flux and surface warming
d) Surface sensible heat flux and volcanic heat input to the atmosphere

6. Which of the following is an example of a simple “convective loop”?

a) Sea breeze
b) Orographic wind
c) The furious fifties
d) Katabatic wind

7. Which of the following is the equatorward surface return flow of the Hadley Cell?
a) The ITCZ
b) The monsoons
c) The trade winds
d) The jet streams

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8. Monsoons are caused by which of the following?

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

9. With respect to the seasonality of surface air temperature, which of the following is
typical?
a) It increases with longitude and distance from the ocean
b) It increases with latitude and distance from the ocean
c) It decreases with latitude and distance from the ocean
d) It decreases with longitude and distance from the ocean

10. Which of these locations is not predominantly a “Marine West Coast” climate?
a) SW Australia
b) Ireland
c) Tasmania
d) New Zealand

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

12. A major ecological community extending over large areas in which the dominant plants
have a similar physiognomy is called what?
a) Niche
b) Biome
c) Plant community
d) Ecosystem

13. The boundary between forest and grassland biomes is primarily controlled by which of
the following?
a) Precipitation
b) Radiation
c) Temperature
d) Windiness

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

a) Pollen types that can survive temperature extremes are used to infer minimum and
maximum temperatures
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 is used to infer the plant community and the community is used to infer climate

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15. The Agulhas Current is which of the following?

a) Warm, northward flowing current, off the eastern coast of the USA
b) Warm, southward flowing current, off the eastern coast of southern Africa
c) Cold, northward flowing current, off the western coast of South America
d) Cold, southward flowing current, off the eastern coast of Canada

16. What is characteristic of an El Niño event?

a) Pressure decrease over Indonesia
b) None of these answers are correct
c) Stronger trade winds
d) Floods in Australia

17. When did the last ice age reach its maximum (i.e. coldest temperature)?
a) 2,000 years ago
b) 200,000 years ago
c) 20,000 years ago
d) 2,000,000 years ago

18. What is the Holocene?

a) The correct name for the Little Ice Age
b) The name of the last inter-glacial
c) The name of the current inter-glacial
d) The name of the medieval warm period

19. 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

20. 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

21. What sedimentary evidence indicated an arid perennial lake at Oyo about 8,000 year ago?
a) Crude bedding and bleached Aeolian sands
b) Highly deformed muds
c) Finely laminated muds
d) Influx of savanna pollen

22. How can large-scale deforestation affect climate?

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

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23. Which of the following is not likely to enhance the urban heat island (i.e. maximise
∆Tmax)?
a) Winter
b) Cloudy
c) Night
d) Calm

24. According to the IPCC 5th assessment report (2013), the human influence on the climate
system is now what?
a) Uncertain
b) Clear
c) Indistinguishable from background natural variability
d) A myth

25. According to the analysis of kauri tree rings which of the following is a plausible element
of New Zealand’s future climate?
a) Reduced impact of ENSO events due to reduced tropical influences
b) Increased impact of ENSO events due to ENSO becoming more active and/or a
strengthening of the teleconnection to the New Zealand region
c) Increased impact of ENSO events due to reduced tropical influences
d) Decreased impact of ENSO events due to ENSO becoming less active and/or a
weakening of the teleconnection to the New Zealand region

26. A full moon is associated with:

a) opposition
b) conjunction
c) quadrature
d) None of these answers are correct

27. The period when the moon is closest to the Earth is known as:
a) Aphelion
b) Apogee
c) Perihelion
d) Perigee

28. In a micro-tidal environment we would NOT expect to find:

a) mud flats
b) a barrier island
c) river deltas
d) a spit

29. Which of the following correctly lists these different types of waves in order of longest to
shortest wave period?
a) Tide, tsunami, infragavity wave, wind wave
b) Infragravity wave, wind wave, tsunami, tide
c) Tsunami, tide, wind wave, infragravity wave
d) Wind wave, infragravity wave, tide, tsunami

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30. The arrival of alternating sets of higher and lower waves is called:
a) surf beat
b) wave period
c) a stationary wave
d) wave celerity

31. The orbital motion of water particles under a wave:

a) extends down to a depth that is half the wave height
b) has a velocity that increases with depth
c) is not evident in deep water
d) becomes more elliptical as the wave approaches the shore

32. Which of the following may result in the formation of edge waves?
a) Wave diffraction
b) Wave reflection
c) Wave refraction
d) None of these answers are correct

33. The velocity of a longshore current is NOT related to:

a) wave height
b) the angle of wave approach
c) sediment size
d) the orbital velocity of water particles

34. Which of the following depicts the components of a beach-dune system in the correct
order (moving from land to sea)?
a) Beach face, low tide terrace, trough, berm
b) None of these answers are correct
c) Beach face, berm, trough, low tide terrace
d) Berm, beach face, low tide terrace, longshore bar

35. The turbidity maximum refers to:

a) the binding together of clay and silt particles as they encounter saltwater
b) the mixing of fresh and saltwater
c) the peak of suspended sediment within an estuary
d) the infilling of an estuary by sediment

36. Which of the following is a key requirement of a partially-mixed estuary?

a) A large tidal range
b) A very wide estuary mouth
c) A large river flow
d) A small tidal range

37. The hydraulic pressure applied by a broken wave to a rocky coast is called:
a) wave hammer
b) wave compression
c) wave abrasion
d) wave shock

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38. Bio-erosion:
a) involves chemical dissolving of rocks by marine organisms
b) is most common below the high tide mark
c) All of these answers are correct
d) involves the mechanical burrowing of marine organisms into rocks

39. Which of the following statements in relation to sea level is not true?
a) 18000 years ago global sea level was approximately 120 metres lower than it is today
b) The last time sea level was higher than it is today was approximately 120000 years
ago
c) All of these answers are correct
d) The sea level on the east coast of Canada reached its current position 2500 years ago

40. Isostatic rebound results in sea level:

a) fall
b) rise
c) stillstand
d) regression

41. The Holocene epoch:

a) refers to the period 1.8 million to 10000 years ago
b) refers to the period 5.3 – 1.8 million years ago
c) falls within the tertiary period
d) refers to the last 10000 years (or more accurately the last 11700 years)

42. Storm surge =

a) tidal height + wave frequency
b) wave angle + water depth
c) pressure set up + wind set up
d) weight height + swash velocity

43. Which of the following is an example of accommodation (in the context of coastal
management)?
a) Elevating buildings
b) Building a sea wall
c) Re-planting sand dunes
d) Doing nothing

44. Dune rehabilitation is ‘particularly’ popular with coastal managers because:

a) it can involve the local community
b) it provides a long lasting solution
c) it provides a quick fix
d) it always works

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45. Which of the following statements in relation to Ekman transport is incorrect?

a) The average net movement of water is at a 45 degree angle to the original wind
direction.
b) The initial movement of water is to the left in the southern hemisphere.
c) The speed of the water decreases with depth.
d) At a certain depth water movement will cease.

46. Which of the following is responsible for moving warm water towards the poles?
a) Thermohaline circulation
b) Western boundary currents
c) The Antarctic Circumpolar Current
d) The trade winds

47. The mixed layer of the ocean typically:

a) has a higher salinity than the water below
b) has a lower temperature than the water below
c) increases in winter
d) None of these answers are correct

48. According to Inman and Nordstrom (1971) a coastline where plate convergence takes
place offshore is classified as a:
a) trailing edge coast
b) collisional coast
c) marginal sea coast
d) leading edge coast

49. Which of the following is an example of a secondary coast?

a) A beach
b) A delta
c) A fjord
d) A drowned river valley

50. Which of the following correctly depicts the evolution of island types (due to subsidence)
in chronological order?
a) Coral atoll to barrier reef island to high volcanic island
b) Barrier reef island to coral atoll to high volcanic island
c) High volcanic island to barrier reef island to coral atoll
d) None of these answers are correct

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SECTION B
Answer ONE question. (25 marks)

51. Sketch the radiation components of the global energy budget and explain what
determines their relative sizes.

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

53. What is the role of the ITCZ in the past, present, and future climate of North Africa?

SECTION C
Answer ONE question. (25 marks)

54. Explain what causes beach erosion and deposition.

56. Explain the role of tides in the growth of shore platforms.

57. How have coastal managers typically responded to coastal erosion in the past?
Explain how such actions can impact the dynamic equilibrium of beaches.

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