Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
CUMULATIVE: POSSIBLE SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS FOUR OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS WILL ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY BE INCLUDED IN THE FINAL EXAM FOR THE CUMULATIVE PORTION OF THE EXAM. EACH QUESTION WILL BE WORTH 5 POINTS.
(1) Describe El Niño-Southern Oscillation Events (ENSO). Include in your discussion, changes in local weather patterns, including rain/drought patterns, changes in air pressure systems, changes in local, regional and global wind patterns, changes in ocean currents, upwelling, and other possible occurrences during a major ENSO event. Also include any possible long-term economic consequences associated with ENSO events.
(2) A city located near a large body of water will generally have a milder climate than a city located inland. Describe the factors that account for this difference. Include in your discussion: heat exchange processes, water-land interactions, mixing of solar energy and water, possible pressure system interactions, and any other process(es) directly related to this climatic difference.
(3) Name and define the Greenhouse Gases. Include in your discussion: sources, both natural and human-induced sources, which gases are increasing and why, and possible environmental consequences relating to the increase in quantity of the gases in the atmosphere.
(4) Describe the atmospheric conditions that are favorable for the development of a hurricane. Include in your discussion the source of energy for hurricanes, factors that tend to weaken hurricanes, and typical values for the following hurricane characteristics: diameter, location and size of the eye, direction of rotation and speed of winds, central pressure, direction and speed of movement and duration. Additionally, describe why these types of storms produce so much rain.
(5) List and describe the different types of faults. Include in your discussion the forces working to create each type of fault, examples and locations for the faults, as well as the development of fault-block mountains such as the Sierra Nevada and the Basin and Range Province in Western North America. Give special attention to the San Andreas Fault in California!
(6) Briefly describe how plate tectonics explains mountain building. Include in your discussion all the different types of mountains, including volcanic, faulted and folded; listing examples of each type, their location and the tectonics involved.
