Deck 11: Ground Water and Water Resources

Question 1

The vadose zone is also known as the

A) Unsaturated zone.
B) Saturated zone.
C) Confined zone.
D) Recharge zone.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Limitations on the use of surface water as a water source include

A) Basic lack of surface water in some regions.
B) Seasonality of stream flow.
C) Past use of some lakes and streams for dumping wastewater.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

If the water were unconfined,the height to which the water's pressure would raise the surface is called as the _______ surface.

A) Potentiometric
B) Artesian
C) Hydraulic
D) Permeable

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The zone of saturation is also commonly referred to as

A) Aeration zone.
B) Phreatic zone.
C) Aphreatic zone.
D) Vadose zone.

Question 5

Properly,groundwater is

A) All subsurface water.
B) Water in the vadose zone.
C) Water in the saturated zone.
D) Soil moisture.

Question 6

Groundwater discharge does not occur naturally

A) Through springs and seeps.
B) Through stream and river bottoms and sides.
C) Into marshes and swamps.
D) Through water wells.

Question 7

Groundwater flow is best explained by

A) Newton's law.
B) Ohm's law.
C) Archimedes' principle.
D) Darcy's law.

Question 8

The water table

A) Is the top of the zone of saturation.
B) Is the top of the zone of aeration.
C) Is a hard rock layer within the zone of aeration.
D) Is a perfectly flat sheet of water below the ground surface.

Question 9

"Underground rivers" may exist

A) In all types of aquifers.
B) In soluble aquifers, such as limestone, gypsum or halite, where large-diameter continuous paths can exist.
C) In lava tubes.
D) Both in soluble aquifers, such as limestone, gypsum or halite, where large-diameter continuous paths can exist and in lava tubes are correct.

Question 10

To be useful as a source of water,a rock must be

A) Porous but not too permeable.
B) Permeable but not too porous.
C) Both porous and permeable.
D) Low in both porosity and permeability.

Question 11

Which of the following would probably have the highest porosity?

A) Sandstone
B) Rock salt
C) Unfractured granite
D) Unfractured gneiss

Question 12

Karst aquifers

A) Develop within fractured granite.
B) Develop within glacial outwash gravels.
C) Develop within fractured metamorphic rock, in particular a kyanite schist.
D) Develop within fractured limestone.

Question 13

The ease with which fluids pass through a rock is determined by the rock's

A) Porosity.
B) Permeability.
C) Malleability.
D) Age.

Question 14

Most of the water in the hydrosphere is found in

A) The oceans.
B) The polar ice caps.
C) The atmosphere.
D) Aquifers.

Question 15

The top of the zone of aeration is

A) The water table.
B) The surface of the ground.
C) The vadose zone.
D) The bottom of the zone of saturation.

Question 16

Hard water is

A) Water containing high levels of dissolved calcium and magnesium.
B) Hard to drink because it tastes bad.
C) Hard to extract from aquifers because of all the dissolved minerals.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 17

Where abundant groundwater percolates through limestones,____________ may be formed.

A) Artesian wells
B) Aquicludes
C) Sinkholes and caverns
D) Perched water tables

Question 18

Artesian conditions require

A) A confined aquifer.
B) An unconfined aquifer.
C) Very pure water.
D) A nearby body of surface water.

Question 19

The set of processes by which ground water is replenished is termed

A) Discharge.
B) Recharge.
C) Saturation.
D) Transpiration.

Question 20

When the groundwater leaves the aquifer via escaping the surface in a spring or flowing into a stream it results in

A) Recharge.
B) Discharge.
C) Soil moisture.
D) Aquitard.

Question 21

The membrane-filtration method of desalination

A) Works well only on water with low concentrations of dissolved impurities.
B) Is efficient but extremely slow compared to other methods.
C) Is prohibitively expensive; it would increase the cost of water beyond the reach of most homeowners.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 22

A problem associated with aquifers in coastal regions is

A) Compaction.
B) Surface subsidence.
C) Groundwater mining.
D) Saltwater intrusion.

Question 23

A drop in the potentiometric surface of an aquifer

A) Occurs only in an unconfined aquifer.
B) Occurs only in very dry regions.
C) Reflects water use exceeding recharge.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 24

By definition,the water table never extends above the ground surface.

Question 25

Solar-powered distillation of water

A) Works even on very saline water, including seawater.
B) Is not energy-efficient.
C) Is very fast.
D) Requires the same amount of land area as any other method of water distillation.

Question 26

Lake Chad,on the border of the Sahara Desert,

A) Is the last surviving deep-water lake in Africa and represents an important and stable water source for Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon.
B) Is a good analogy to Lake Erie, in that it has undergone extensive rehabilitation after being severely polluted and is now a healthy water source.
C) Was originally a glacier that melted and so the water supply is dwindling.
D) Is a shrinking, shallow-water lake, depleted both by withdrawals for irrigation and by lack of recharge during a multi-decade period of declining rainfall.

Question 27

Water stored in aquifers is stationary and does not take part in the hydrologic cycle.

Question 28

Recharge of groundwater

A) Is fast, so that ground water supplies are generally plentiful and consist of water that has been underground for only a few years.
B) Is slow, so that nearly all ground water has been underground millions of years.
C) Varies according to the geology and climate of the region and so groundwater may have been underground a few years (Karst regions) to 10,000 years or more (southwestern USA).
D) Is unpredictable.

Question 29

The quality of water can be measured using which of the following ways:

A) Parts per million (ppm) and parts per billion (ppb)
B) pH
C) Total dissolved solids (TDS)
D) All the choices are correct

Question 30

Poorly cemented sandstones often have high porosity and permeability.

Question 31

Possible consequences of excessive groundwater withdrawal include

A) Surface subsidence.
B) Swelling of aquifer rocks.
C) Increased permeability of aquifer rocks.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 32

Water use for irrigation in the region of the Aral Sea has resulted in

A) Decreased water salinity.
B) Increased crop yields because of nutrient salts deposited on fields.
C) Health problems from blowing toxic dust.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 33

Most of the water consumed in the United States is consumed by

A) Agricultural Activities.
B) Thermoelectric power generation.
C) Municipal water supply systems.
D) Hydroelectric power generation.

Question 34

Along its length,the Colorado River

A) Becomes less saline toward its confluence with the Sea of Cortez.
B) Is greatly reduced in volume by heavy use and evaporation loss from reservoirs.
C) Flows entirely over insoluble igneous rocks.
D) Receives considerable water through ground water discharge.

Question 35

The region of the U.S.that uses the most water for irrigation

A) The northeastern states (east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River).
B) The southeastern states (east of the Mississippi River and south of the Ohio River).
C) The southwestern states including southern California (west of the Mississippi River and south of 40 ^$\circ$ N latitude).
D) The northwestern states (west of the Mississippi River and north of 40 ^$\circ$ N latitude).

Question 36

Radium in groundwater

A) Occurs only near leaking radioactive-waste dumps.
B) Can be removed by water softeners.
C) Makes the water unsafe for bathing.
D) All of the choices are correct.

Question 37

An aquitard is a rock that is low in permeability,so water does not readily pass through it.

Question 38

Artesian water is desirable because it is unusually pure and clean.

Question 39

The largest reservoir of unfrozen freshwater is

A) The water in all lakes and streams.
B) Groundwater.
C) Water in the atmosphere.
D) Water in the biosphere.

Question 40

Around an actively pumped well in an unconfined aquifer,a ____________ may develop in the water table.

A) Sinkhole
B) Recharge
C) Cone of depression
D) Zone of saturation

Question 41

Most of the water actually consumed each day in the United States is what people and livestock need,biologically,to live.

Question 42

One of the problems associated with the desalination of water for irrigation applications is the cost.

Question 43

A water softener removes calcium and elements such as magnesium that show similar chemical behavior.

Question 44

Treated wastewater can be recycled for irrigation or even as drinking water to extend water supplies.

Question 45

Hard water is so named because it has an alkaline pH.

Question 46

If urbanization occurs over the limited recharge area of a confined aquifer,water availability may be reduced.

Question 47

Karst topography develops in dry climates with very little surface or subsurface water.

Question 48

Groundwater withdrawal that exceeds recharge really has no impact on the water table.

Question 49

Where groundwater withdrawal has caused surface subsidence,if groundwater use is curtailed,recharge will,in time result in rebound of the land surface.

Question 50

If the rate of groundwater recharge exceeds the rate of withdrawal,regional water tables may be lowered.

Question 51

Obstacles to interbasin water transfer schemes commonly include cost and political conflicts.

Question 52

Karst terrains consists of materials that are insoluble in water.

Question 53

The Aral Sea provides a good illustration of international cooperation in water-resource management,with the additional benefit of enhancing commercial fishing opportunities.

Question 54

A perched water table is a highly desirable and reliable source of ground water.

Question 55

Conservation of water is not all that important as water can be a renewable resource.

Question 56

Water in the High Plains (Ogallala)aquifer system has been equitably divided by treaty among the states overlying it.

Question 57

Recharge basins are most often built in areas of abundant surface water,to keep lakes and ponds from overflowing.

Question 58

Existing treaties actually allocate more Colorado River water than its typical total annual stream flow.