Discuss how the following variables influence the rate of weathering: mineral content, climate, and topography
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: More stable minerals, like quartz, are more resistant to weathering. Minerals that are less stable (less at equilibrium at Earth surface conditions) are less resistant to weathering; they fall apart more rapidly. Hence a tombstone made of granite will last longer than a tombstone made of marble … or worse, rock salt. Warmer, wetter climates encourage weathering, as water helps facilitate chemical reactions like dissolution, oxidation, and hydrolysis, and more heat means more energy to drive those reactions. Steeper slopes are more likely to shed any sediment produced, meaning that physical weathering will dominate over chemical weathering. Shallower slopes tend to see less movement of the sediment that results from weathering, resulting in thick sections of "rotted" (chemically weathered) bedrock. The student could refer to Bowen's Reaction Series and discuss how silica content affects the surface stability of rocks.
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Which of the following best describes air circulation at high latitudes?
A) Cold dense air rises at the poles, flows outward away from the poles, and rises between 60 and 45 degrees latitude. B) Cold dense air sinks at the poles, flows outward away from the poles, and rises between 60 and 45 degrees latitude. C) Cold dense air sinks at the poles, flows outward away from the poles, and sinks between 60 and 45 degrees latitude. D) Cold dense air rises at the poles, flows outward away from the poles, and sinks between 60 and 45 degrees latitude.
Biodiversity enhances human food security because ________
A) protecting biodiversity provides greater opportunities for ecotourism B) the loss of crop diversity makes our food supply vulnerable to pests C) drugs can be developed from compounds found in plants D) nearly 20% of our food crops require pollinators such as insects
Define water pollution, point source, and nonpoint source pollution. Which of the two (point source or nonpoint source) is easier to identify? Which is easier to legislate? Which currently poses the greatest threat to fresh water?
What will be an ideal response?
Which of the following is the correct IUPAC name of a carboxylic acid which contains five carbon atoms?
A) 1-methyl-1-butanoic acid B) 1-methylbutanoic acid C) 2-methyl-1-butanoic acid D) 2-methylbutanoic acid