The trend of annual fire related deaths in the U.S. over the last 20 years has

(a) increased, largely because the U.S. population has nearly tripled since 1900.
(b) increased, largely because of the large number of people living in wood-frame homes.
(c) increased, because of a combination of (a) and (b).
(d) decreased, despite population increase.

Which of the following was partially destroyed by a large fire in 1906?

(a) San Francisco
(b) New York City
(c) Chicago
(d) Detroit

Which of the following is least likely to occur in Kansas in the next 100 years?

(a) a magnitude 5. 5 earthquake
(b) an F5 tornado
(c) a volcanic eruption
(d) a thunderstorm dropping a hailstone more than two inches in diameter

When flooding occurs along a river, as you go further downstream

(a) the flooding gets worse as water piles up.
(b) the flooding gets less severe as water spreads out in time and space.
(c) the flooding is the same because the amount of water is the same.

Sinkholes in Kansas are least likely to be related to dissolution of__________.

(a) granite
(b) limestone
(c) salt

The Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary layer worldwide has a high percentage of the element
_______ in its clay, an enrichment about 300 times greater than the normal abundance.

(a) helium
(b) silicon
(c) iridium
(d) oxygen
(e) krypton

When space debris blazes through the Earth's atmosphere as a streak of light but vaporizes
before it hits Earth, it is referred to as a ___________.

(a) meteor
(b) falling star
(c) meteorite
(d) starlet

The part of Kansas that was glaciated about 700,000 years ago (i.e., Quaternary time) was

(a) the northwestern part.
(b) the northeastern part.
(c) the whole state.
(d) everything north of Interstate 70.

Assume that we have a 25-year flood here this year. What is the probability that a 25-year flood
will occur here next year?

(a) zero percent
(b) 0.5 percent
(c) 1.0 percent
(d) 2.5 percent
(e) 4.0 percent

In comparison to the inner planets, the outer planets have

(a) about the same mass density.
(b) higher mass density.
(c) lower mass density.
(d) Mass densities of the planets are unknown as nobody has been there to measure them.

In effect, the solar energy stored by plants during their growth is

(a) returned to the atmosphere when the plants burn during a fire.
(b) lost forever when the plants burn during a fire.
(c) used to produce ozone when the plants burn during a fire.
(d) returned to their roots when the plants burn during a fire.
(e) negligibly small.

A stream with very little bed load will result in what type of channel pattern?

(a) straight
(b) meandering
(c) braided
(d) dendritic

Urbanization usually results in an increase in flood frequency because

(a) less water is available for runoff to streams.
(b) less water is able to infiltrate into the ground, which creates more runoff.
(c) more water is used by humans and then discharged to streams.
(d) rainfall is enhanced in urban areas because of more particulates in the air.

The causes of mass extinctions that are related to plate tectonics include ___________.

(a) changes in seafloor spreading rates
(b) sea-level changes
(c) the numbers and sizes of continents
(d) continental positions and glaciations
(e) All of these.

“Snow-eater” winds that blow across the Great Plains from the Rockies are________.

(a) Wayward winds
(b) Restless winds
(c) Chinook winds
(d) Woodwinds
(e) Santa Ana winds

The process whereby wood degrades thermally and produces flammable hydrocarbons is

(a) pyrolysis.
(b) diffusion.
(c) katabatic.
(d) paralysis.
(e) radiation.

In terms of human casualties from fire, the single-most dangerous structure in the U.S. is the
_________.

(a) 15- to 30-story skyscraper
(b) family home
(c) elementary school
(d) multi-story apartment building
(e) private vehicle

Prescribed fires are designed to control ____________________.

(a) all forest fires
(b) forest fires on private lands
(c) fires in remote areas
(d) build-up of underbrush that frequently fuels wildfires

The extinction of most dinosaur species about 65 million years ago opened up ecological niches
for ___________________.

(a) amphibians
(b) bacteria
(c) mammals
(d) fish
(e) insects

The law of superposition holds that _____________.

(a) older fossils are found with younger fossils
(b) in undeformed strata, younger layers of rocks overlie older layers of rocks
(c) animal species come and go
(d) in undeformed strata, older layers of rocks overlie younger layers of rocks

From the standpoint of increasing the rate of evolution,

(a) sex is bad.
(b) sex is good.
(c) sex has no effect.

Fossils are most likely to be preserved in _________________.

(a) volcanic rocks
(b) plutonic rocks
(c) metamorphic rocks
(d) sedimentary rocks
(e) meteorites

At the end of August 1993, the upper Mississippi River basin had endured record high floods
yet this flood water mass did not significantly affect the lower Mississippi River basin because

(a) the input from the Ohio River flow was low.
(b) there was a drought in Louisiana.
(c) the southern levees were built higher during the summer before the water got there.

Hydrographs from urban settings in comparison to rural settings

(a) look just like those from rural settings.
(b) show floods are of higher peak flow in urban settings.
(c) show floods are of lower peak flow in urban settings.

With respect to channelization, straightening the channel

(a) increases the gradient of the stream bottom, making the water flow faster.
(b) decreases the gradient of the stream bottom, making the water flow slower.
(c) increases the gradient of the stream bottom, making the water flow slower.
(d) decreases the gradient of the stream bottom, making the water flow faster.

Which of the following conditions led to the 1993 flood in the mid-continental U.S.?

(a) the jet stream moving north and south more rapidly than normal
(b) a jet stream locked in place over north-central plains for an unusually long time
(c) an unusual amount of rainfall caused by the after-effects of hurricane Andrew
(d) one unusually large rainstorm over Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Minnesota

In 1976, a flash flood near Estes Park, Colorado, killed at least 139 people. This flood was on
(a) the Colorado River.

(b) the South Platte River.
(c) the Arkansas River.
(d) the Big Thompson River.
(e) the Gunnison River.

In the photosynthesis reaction in plants, ________ is consumed as part of the reaction.

(a) water
(b) nitrogen
(c) carbon dioxide
(d) Both (a) and (c) are correct.

Fire burns faster

(a) up a slope.
(b) down a slope.
(c) on flat ground.
(d) Rate of burn is not dependent on amount or direction of slope.

Heat-expanded air

(a) is more dense than cool air because molecules are pushing harder on each other.
(b) is less dense than cool air.
(c) has the same density as cool air because matter is neither created nor destroyed in fire.
(d) contains less energy than cooler air because there are fewer molecules per unit volume.

Transfer of heat occurs by all but which of the following:

(a) conduction
(b) refusion
(c) radiation
(d) convection
(e) diffusion

Pyrolysis results in emanation of all but which of the

following:

(a) flammable hydrocarbon vapors
(b) tar
(c) water vapor
(d) oxygen

In 1786, the French paleontologist Georges Cuvier proved that extinction of species had
occurred by demonstrating that the skeletons of

(a) extinct mammoths were distinctly different from those of living elephant species.
(b) extinct sabre-toothed tigers were distinctly different from those of living Bengal tigers.
(c) extinct dinosaurs were distinctly different from those of living dinosaur species.
(d) All of these.
(e) None of these.

At 3.85 billion years ago, ________were alive, reproducing and evolving.

(a) dinosaurs
(b) archaea
(c) mammals
(d) fish
(e) ferns

Vertebrates appeared on land

(a) before fish appeared in the ocean.
(b) at about the same time as fish appeared in the ocean.
(c) after fish appeared in the ocean.
(d) at some indeterminate time relative to the appearance of fish in the ocean.
(e) after flying birds appeared in the sky.

Members of a species share a common pool of genetic material known as ____________.
(a) a gene
(b) singular DNA
(c) a genome
(d) a chromosome
(e) mutant recombinant DNA

The isolated landmasses of Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar, and Africa

(a) all have very different living species.
(b) all have very similar living species.
(c) have practically identical suites of extinct species throughout geologic time.

Inside the eye of a hurricane,

(a) air pressure is high.
(b) air pressure is low.
(c) there is a near-perfect vacuum.

A major extraterrestrial impact occurred in ________ at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) time boundary.

(a) northwestern Mexico
(b) Russia
(c) India
(d) Quebec
(e) the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico

The level of oxygen in the form of O2 in the Earth's atmosphere

(a) has not changed substantially in the past 450 million years.
(b) is drastically decreasing due to pollution.
(c) is no different than it was 4.6 billion years ago.
(d) is drastically increasing due to growth of new bacterial strains.
(e) cannot change because Earth is a closed system.

In 1994, the comet Shoemaker-Levy crashed with spectacular results into ___________.

(a) Earth
(b) Mars
(c) Earth's moon
(d) Jupiter
(e) Venus

When a meteorite large enough to cause a crater hits the Earth, the size of the impact crater is

(a) smaller than the meteorite.
(b) perhaps 10–20 times the diameter of the meteorite.
(c) about the same as the meteorite.
(d) 2–3 times bigger than the meteorite.
(e) determined mostly by the rock type at the point of impact.

Which of the following Kansas towns is most likely to be affected by a Richter magnitude 6
earthquake whose epicenter is within 25 miles?

(a) Dodge City
(b) Manhattan
(c) Pittsburg
(d) Kansas City

Relatively few impact craters have been discovered on Earth because

(a) most rocks are too resistant to crater.
(b) the gravitational field is too weak.
(c) weathering, erosion and tectonic processes mask them.
(d) bolides are very rare in this region.

Comets are composed of_____________ .

(a) ice and rocky debris
(b) gas, mostly hydrogen and helium
(c) solid rock
(d) plasma
(e) unknown material

The solar wind is

(a) what causes visible dust storms on Mars.
(b) wind blowing on the surface of the sun.
(c) wind blowing within the sun's dense gas below the surface.
(d) the stream of subatomic particles flying outward from the Sun.

Evidence demonstrating that the meteorite crater in Arizona formed by meteorite impact
includes all but which of the following

(a) The crater is steep-sided and closed.
(b) The rim of surrounding rock was created by uplifting the horizontal sedimentary-rock
layers of the region and tilting them away from the crater.
(c) Little hills of rock outside the crater rim are inverted piles of the rock sequence exposed
in the crater walls.
(d) Huge blocks of limestone are strewn around outside the crater.
(e) A single 950-ton spherical piece of nickel-iron metallic meteorite was found in the
bottom of the crater.

The atmospheric pressure above the mound of water in a hurricane storm-surge is

(a) higher than the air pressure in the surrounding area.
(b) lower than the air pressure in the surrounding area.
(c) may be higher or lower than the air pressure in the surrounding area.
(d) not necessarily related to the storm surge.

As a hurricane forms, the air

(a) rises, cools, and releases the latent heat of vaporization, thus cooling down the core.
(b) rises, cools, and releases the latent heat of vaporization, thus heating up the core.
(c) rises, warms, and releases the latent heat of vaporization, thus heating up the core and adding
energy to the storm.
(d) falls, cools, and releases the latent heat of vaporization, thus heating up the core and adding
energy to the storm.

The calmest location in a hurricane is

(a) in the eye.
(b) in the eye wall.
(c) typically about 50 miles away from the eye.

If a hurricane moves north and strikes the south coast of Florida, the most damage will be

(a) on the west side of the strike zone.
(b) on the east side of the strike zone.
(c) near the middle of the strike zone.
(d) There is no preferential major-damage location.

During an El Niño condition, Atlantic hurricanes are

(a) more likely to occur.
(b) less likely to occur.
(c) neither more likely nor less likely to occur.

The fault zone in Kansas most likely to generate a Richter magnitude 5 earthquake:

(a) New Madrid
(b) Wabash fault zone
(c) Wasatch fault zone
(d) Humboldt fault zone
(e) San Andreas fault zone

The last volcanic eruption in Kansas was about ____ years ago

(a) 10,000
(b) 700,000
(c) 100 million
(d) 700 million

Quartzite boulders known as “glacial erratics” were transported by a glacier to Kansas from
their original location in ___________.

(a) Michigan
(b) Colorado
(c) Nebraska
(d) The Dakotas
(e) Wyoming

Salt dissolution sinkholes related to drilling for oil occur in

(a) far western Kansas.
(b) far eastern Kansas.
(c) central Kansas.
(d) far northern Kansas.

Kansas lacks which of the following geologic features?

(a) microdiamond-bearing kimberlite pipes
(b) an old continental rift
(c) volcanic ash beds less than two million years old
(d) granite that crystallized less than two million years ago

Which of the following is not a species?

(a) horse
(b) mule
(c) donkey
(d) All of these are species.
(e) None of these is a species.

Cockroaches developed

(a) very recently.
(b) about the same time that dinosaurs became extinct.
(c) millions of years after mammals developed.
(d) at least 300 million years ago.
(e) as the earliest form of life.