Lab 14 Test Information
Description Purpose
The purpose of completing this lab assignment is to reinforce the concepts presented in this unit.
Lab 14 Test Information
Directions
- Download Google Earth, if you don’t already have it on your computer.
- Download the .KMZ Google Earth file: Deserts and Winds.kmz
- Browse through Google Earth tour as you complete the questions.
- Complete the activity, entering your answers in to the Blackboard activity.
- You can complete this exercise up to three times.
Grading
Your assignment will be graded according to how many answers you get correct. There are 105 possible points.
Instructions
Multiple Attempts This test allows 3 attempts. This is attempting number 1. Completion This test can be saved and resumed later only in accordance with your instructor’s test policy.
QUESTION 1
In textbook section 19.1, you learned that there are multiple reasons for land to be dry. Examine the first stop on the Google Earth tour, the Patagonian desert, and assess which of the following causes is likely the reason that southern Argentina is so dry.
- This is a subtropical desert near the Tropic of Cancer, where descending dry air precludes rainfall.
- This is a subtropical desert near the Tropic of Capricorn, where descending dry air precludes rainfall.
- This is a rainshadow desert, where moist air from the Atlantic moves westward, and has all the moisture extracted by coastal cities such as Buenos Aires.
- This is a rainshadow desert, where moist air from the Pacific moves eastward, and has all the moisture extracted by the coastal mountain ranges of the Andes.
- This is a west coast subtropical desert, caused by cold upwelling ocean currents (air chilled by contact with these cold waters is more dense and thus resists rising and triggering precipitation).
5 points
QUESTION 2
Same sort of question as #1: It’s time to assess another desert and determine its reason for existing. Examine the second stop on the Google Earth tour, the Sahara desert, and assess which of the following causes is likely to be the reason that northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula are so dry.
- This is a subtropical desert near the Tropic of Cancer, where descending dry air precludes rainfall.
- This is a subtropical desert near the Tropic of Capricorn, where descending dry air precludes rainfall.
- This is a rainshadow desert, where moist air from the Atlantic moves westward, and has all the moisture extracted by coastal cities such as Buenos Aires.
- This is a rainshadow desert, where moist air from the Pacific moves eastward, and has all the moisture extracted by the coastal mountain ranges of the Andes.
- This is a west coast subtropical desert, caused by cold upwelling ocean currents (air chilled by contact with these cold waters is more dense and thus resists rising and triggering precipitation).
5 points
QUESTION 3
Click the next stop on the tour – “Badwater, Death Valley.” Hover your cursor over various points in the area, and find the lowest elevation. Elevation at the point of the cursor is shown in the data bar on the bottom of the Google Earth screen, toward the right side. What is the elevation of Badwater? Express your answer in feet.
- About 2270 feet above sea level
- About 270 feet above sea level
- 0 (sea level, exactly)
- About 270 feet below sea level
- About 2270 feet below sea level
5 points
QUESTION 4
Examine Landform “A” (three examples are provided in Death Valley, each outlined in yellow). What landform is this?
- Delta
- alluvial fan
- bajada
- yardang
- inselberg
5 points
QUESTION 5
Examine Landform “B” (it is outlined in orange). What landform is this?
- delta
- alluvial fan
- bajada
- yardang
- inselberg
5 points
QUESTION 6
Considering that the mountains flanking Death Valley to the east and west are about the same size as each other, how do you explain the difference in landforms (your answers to the previous two questions) on either side of Death Valley?
- There must be less sedimentation happening in eastern Death Valley than in the west.
- The east side of Death Valley must be dropping (subsiding) more rapidly than the west side.
- The west side of Death Valley must be dropping (subsiding) more rapidly than the east side.
- The mountains to the west of Death Valley get more precipitation than the mountains to the east of Death Valley, resulting in more weathering of the bedrock, and therefore more sediment production.
5 points
QUESTION 7
Examine the next two stops on the Google Earth tour: The “barchan dunes” and the “parabolic dunes” in White Sands National Monument, in New Mexico. Which way is the wind blowing in this region?
- east to west
- west to east
- north to south
- south to north
5 points
QUESTION 8
Measure the distance between the two placemarks for “barchan dunes” and “parabolic dunes” in the White Sands National Monument region. (The measurement tool in Google Earth is at the top – it looks like a small ruler icon.) How far apart are they?
- 20 feet
- 2 miles
- 20 miles
- 200 miles
5 points
QUESTION 9
Considering this distance (i.e., your answer to #8 above), what variable is most likely responsible for the change in dune type over such a short distance?
- sediment supply increasing to the east
- sediment supply decreasing to the east
- change in wind direction
- more moisture, and therefore more vegetation to the east
5 points
QUESTION 10
Enter the GigaPan that’s the next item on the Google Earth tour. Explore it – it’s full resolution. What’s the name given to the flat white landform on the right side of the image?
- alluvial fan
- inselberg
- playa
- yardang
- star dune
5 points
QUESTION 11
Compare the two alluvial fans outlined in purple in the northern Owens Valley (11A and 11B). They are different colors. Why?
- One is an alluvial fan; the other is a delta.
- One is made of dark-colored sediment derived from dark-colored source rocks; the other is dominated by light-colored sediment derived from light-colored source rocks.
- One is colonized by people; the other one is pristine.
- One was deposited by wind; the other deposited by water.
5 points
QUESTION 12
part I) Explore the GigaPan at site 12 (Zion Canyon, Utah) and identify the sedimentary structures in the cliffs at the right. The sedimentary structures seen there are ____________.
- graded beds
- cross beds
- ripple marks
- mudcracks
5 points
QUESTION 13
part II) Examine each of the placemarks following the sedimentary structure GigaPan. Which of these four settings is most likely the sort of environment where the sedimentary structure you identified in the previous question would have formed?
- a river flowing into the sea
- a delta distributary
- a glacial moraine
- a field of sand dunes
5 points
QUESTION 14
What kind of dune is seen at the next stop on the tour?
- barchan
- barchanoid
- transverse
- longitudinal
- parabolic
- star
5 points
QUESTION 15
Examine Landform “C” (outlined in yellow). What landform is this?
- delta
- alluvial fan
- bajada
- yardang
- inselberg
5 points
QUESTION 16
Compare and contrast the tectonics of the Zagros Mountains of Iran and the Basin and Range province of Utah. Representative samples of the landscape of both sites are outlined in blue as the next two stops on the tour. How did they form?
- Both the Zagros Mountains and the Basin & Range are compressional, as indicated by anticlines and synclines at each site.
- Both the Zagros Mountains and the Basin & Range are extensional, as indicated by fault-block mountains at each site.
- The Zagros Mountains are compressional, as indicated by anticlines and synclines. The Basin & Range, on the other hand, is caused by extensional tectonics, as indicated by the fault-block mountains there.
- The Zagros Mountains are caused by extensional tectonics, as indicated by the fault-block mountains there. The Basin & Range, on the other hand, is compressional, as indicated by anticlines and synclines.
5 points
QUESTION 17
Examine the Aral Sea using the “history” slider at the top. Click the icon/button that looks like a clock with an arrow draped over it. Slide the bar all the way to the left, and then to various positions in time, going to the right. What has happened to the size of the Aral Sea over the past 40 years?
- It stays about the same size.
- It gets much smaller.
- It gets much larger.
- It grows and shrinks, grows and shrinks, on a regular basis, expanding and contracting every ten years or so.
5 points
QUESTION 18
Visit the Dead Sea next. This is the last stop on our Desert Tour. What is the elevation of the Dead Sea?
- 1363 feet above sea level.
- 13.63 feet above sea level.
- 13.63 feet below sea level.
- 1363 feet below sea level.
5 points
QUESTION 19
Explore the world’s deserts on your own in Google Earth now. Identify a feature, landscape, structure, or scene that you learned to recognize from this lab. Do not pick one of the sites we have already visited, but DO pick a similar phenomenon at a new site.
Take a screenshot of the site and save it to your computer as an image. Feel free to add any explanatory annotations to highlight the feature you’re focusing on. Rename that image with the name of the feature (e.g., “inselberg” or “fault block mountains”) and upload it here as your “answer” to this question. 5 points for uploading the image; 5 points for identifying it correctly.
1. Attach File
10 points
Click Save and Submit to save and submit.