1. Base your answer to the following question on the
map below, which shows the generalized bedrock of a
part of western New York State.
3. The table below describes the deposits that an
observer saw while walking downstream along a 500
meter section of a streambed.
It could be inferred from the above data that the
stream's velocity
A)
B)
C)
D)
As the Niagara River enters Lake Ontario, the velocity
of the river water
A) decreases and larger sediments are deposited
first
B) decreases and smaller sediments are deposited
first
C) increases and larger sediments are deposited first
D) increases and smaller sediments are deposited
first
2. What is the minimum water velocity necessary to
maintain movement of 0.1-centimeter-diameter
particles in a stream?
A) 0.02 cm/s
C) 5.0 cm/s
B) 0.5 cm/s
D) 20.0 cm/s
was constantly decreasing
was constantly increasing
decreased and then increased
remained the same
4. Which graph best represents the relationship between the slope of a river and the particle size that can
be transported by that river?
A)
B)
C)
D)
5. The diagram below represents a core sample of a
sedimentary deposit found at a particular location.
The deposition most likely occurred as a result of
A)
B)
C)
D)
dropping directly from a glacier
an avalanche on a mountainside
a decrease in the velocity of a stream
dropping of weathered rock fragments from a
cliff
6. What is the minimum water velocity needed in a
stream to maintain the transportation of the smallest
boulder?
A) 100 cm/sec
B) 200 cm/sec
C) 300 cm/sec
D) 500 cm/sec
7. The largest sediment particles that can be transported
by a stream traveling at a velocity of 200 centimeters
per second are
A) boulders
C) pebbles
B) cobbles
D) sand
8. Two streams, A and B, carry the same volume of
water, but stream A has a greater velocity. The most
likely cause of this greater velocity would be that
stream A
A) has more tributaries
B) has a wider streambed
C) flows down a steeper slope
D) travels over less resistant bedrock
9. As the velocity of a stream decreases, the amount of
sediment in the water of the stream
A) decreases
B) increases
C) remains the same
10. A stream flowing at a velocity of 250 centimeters
per second is transporting sediment particles ranging
in size from clay to cobbles. Which transported
particles will be deposited by the stream if its
velocity decreases to 100 centimeters per second?
A) cobbles, only
B) cobbles and some pebbles, only
C) cobbles, pebbles, and some sand, only
D) cobbles, pebbles, sand, slit, and clay
11. Which material would most likely be carried by a
stream traveling at a rate of 40 centimeters per
second?
A)
B)
C)
D)
clay, only
boulders, only
sand, silt, and clay
boulders, cobbles, and pebbles
12. A stream is carrying sediment particles ranging from
0.0004 to 25.6 centimeters. When the stream
velocity decreases from 300 to 100 centimeters per
second, the stream will most probably deposit
A) silt and clay
B) sand and silt
C) pebbles and sand
D) cobbles and pebbles
13. More deposition than erosion will take place in a
streambed when the
A) density of the rock particles carried by the
stream decreases
B) slope of the stream increases
C) discharge of the stream increases
D) velocity of the stream decreases
14. What are the largest particles that a stream can
transport when its velocity is 200 centimeters per
second?
A) silt
B) sand
C) pebbles
D) cobbles
15. Base your answer to the following question on the block diagrams of four rock outcrops, A, B, C, and
D, located within 15 kilometers of each other. The rock layers have not been overturned.
Which stream velocity carried only clay particles to the depositional environment where the shale
formed?
A) 0.02 cm/s
B) 0.05 cm/s
C) 10 cm/s
D) 20 cm/s
16. As water velocity of a stream increases from 25 to
225 centimeters per second, in which order will
particles of different sizes begin to move?
A) sand ® pebbles ® cobbles ® boulders
B) silt ® sand ® pebbles ® cobbles
C) cobbles ® pebbles ® sand ® silt
D) silt ® pebbles ® sand ® cobbles
17. A river's velocity slows from 100 to 50 centimeters
per second at a point in its channel. Which statement
best describes the transport and deposition of
particles at this point?
A) Clay, silt, sand, pebbles, and smaller cobbles
stay in transport; some cobbles are deposited.
B) Clay, silt, sand, and smaller pebbles stay in
transport; some pebbles are deposited.
C) Clay, silt, and smaller sand stay in transport;
some sand is deposited.
D) Clay and smaller silt stay in transport; some silt
is deposited.
18. Deposition within a meandering stream usually
occurs on the inside of the curves because the
A)
B)
C)
D)
water velocity decreases
stream gradient increases
water is deeper
stream is narrower
19. Base your answer to the following question on the
map below, which shows a portion of a stream that
flows southward. Letters A through E represent
locations in the stream. Line XY is the location of a
cross section.
Where this stream’s velocity decreases from 300 to
200 centimeters per second, which size sediment will
be deposited?
A) cobbles
C) silt
B) sand
D) clay
Base your answers to questions 20 and 21 on the
diagram below, which shows a meandering stream.
Letters A, B, C, and D indicate locations on the
streambed.
25. What is the minimum rate of flow at which a stream
can maintain transport of boulders?
A) 100 cm/sec
B) 200 cm/sec
C) 300 cm/sec
D) 400 cm/sec
26. Base your answer to the following question on
the diagram below, which is a geologic cross section
of an area where a river has exposed a 300-meter
cliff of sedimentary rock layers. The rock layers are
labeled A through I. Line XY represents a gap in the
geologic record (an unconformity).
20. What are the largest particles that this stream can
transport when its velocity is 200 centimeters per
second?
A) silt
B) sand
C) pebbles
D) cobbles
21. A decrease in the velocity of this stream will most
likely cause an increase in
A) the amount of sediment carried by the stream
B) the size of the particles carried by the stream
C) deposition within the stream channel
D) abrasion of the stream channel
22. What is the approximate minimum water velocity
needed to maintain movement of a sediment particle
with a diameter of 5.0 centimeters?
A) 75 cm/sec
B) 100 cm/sec
C) 150 cm/sec
D) 200 cm/sec
23. What is the largest particle that can be kept in
motion by a stream that has a velocity of 100
centimeters per second?
A) silt
B) sand
C) pebble
D) cobble
24. A stream with a water velocity of 150 centimeters
per second decreases to a velocity of 100
centimeters per second. Which sediment size will
most likely be deposited?
A) pebbles
C) boulders
B) sand
D) cobbles
Which graph best represents the relative water
velocity at the time of deposition of the particles that
make up the rock layers shown?
A)
B)
C)
D)
27. Stream velocity and stream discharge were recorded
continuously at the same location in a stream
channel. Which graph best shows the relationship
between stream velocity and stream discharge at this
location?
A)
B)
C)
D)
28. What is the minimum stream velocity needed to
maintain transport of a pebble that is 1 centimeter in
diameter?
A) 23 cm/sec
B) 50 cm/sec
C) 75 cm/sec
D) 100 cm/sec
29. As the gradient of a stream increases, the stream's
ability to carry sediment
A) decreases
B) increases
C) remains the same
30. A river carrying pebbles, sand, silt, and clay flows
into the ocean. The sediments are sorted by size as
they are deposited at different distances from shore.
Which sedimentary rock will most likely form from
the sediment deposited farthest from shore?
A) conglomerate
C) siltstone
B) sandstone
D) shale
31. Base your answer to the following question on the cross sections below, which represent a particular
location of the channel of the San Juan River in Utah. Changes in river discharge (Q), in cubic meters
per second, and sediment deposits before, during, and after a flood are shown.
On October 14, during the flood, the discharge of the San Juan River changed dramatically. The
change in the river’s discharge at this location was related to an increase in the river’s
A) velocity
B) gradient
C) channel length
D) sediment deposits
32. A stream flowing at a velocity of 75 centimeters per 35. A stream’s velocity decreases from 100 cm/s to
second can transport
5cm/s. Which size sediment particles will still be
transported by the stream?
A) clay, only
A) pebbles, sand, silt, and clay
B) pebbles, only
B) sand, silt, and clay, only
C) pebbles, sand, silt, and clay, only
C) silt and clay, only
D) boulders, cobbles, pebbles, sand, silt, and clay
33. What is the minimum rate of flow at which a stream
D) clay, only
of water can maintain the transportation of pebbles
36. Sediment is deposited in a river delta because the
1.0 centimeter in diameter?
A) velocity of the river decreases
A) 50 cm/sec
B) 100 cm/sec
B) force of gravity decreases
C) 150 cm/sec
D) 200 cm/sec
C) volume of the river increases
34. A pebble with a diameter of 5.0 centimeters is being
D) gradient of the river increases
rolled in a rapidly moving stream. The velocity of
the pebble is most likely
A) less than the velocity of the stream
B) greater than the velocity of the stream
C) the same as the velocity of the stream
37. The diagram below represents a cross section of
sedimentary deposits. Where would this type of
deposition most likely occur?
41. What is the largest particle that can generally be
transported by a stream that is moving at 200
centimeters per second?
A) sand
B) pebble
C) cobble
D) boulder
42. Why do the particles carried by a river settle to the
bottom as the river enters the ocean?
A) at the base of a shifting sand dune
B) at the rapids in a stream
C) beneath a large glacier
D) in a lake fed by a stream
38. Transported sediments are usually deposited at
locations in which
A) the freezing and thawing of water occurs
B) the chemical breakdown of rocks occurs
C) a decrease in the speed of the agent of
erosion occurs
D) an increase in the physical weathering of rocks
occurs
39. What is the approximate minimum stream velocity
needed to keep a particle in motion that has a
diameter of 10 centimeters?
A) 110 cm/s
B) 190 cm/s
C) 325 cm/s
D) 425 cm/s
40. The cross section below illustrates the general
sorting of sediment by a river as it flows from a
mountain to a plain.
Which factor most likely caused the sediment to be
sorted in the pattern shown?
A)
B)
C)
D)
velocity of the river water
hardness of the surface bedrock
mineral composition of the sediment
temperature of the water
A) The density of the ocean water is greater than
the density of the river water.
B) The kinetic energy of the particles increases as
the particles enter the ocean.
C) The velocity of the river water decreases as it
enters the ocean.
D) The large particles have a greater surface area
than the small particles.
43. A stream with a velocity of 100 centimeters per
second flows into a lake. Which sediment-size
particles would the stream most likely deposit first
as it enters the lake?
A) boulders
B) cobbles
C) pebbles
D) sand
44. What is the approximate minimum stream velocity
needed to keep a 6.4-cm-diameter particle in
motion?
A) 10 cm/s
C) 100 cm/s
B) 50 cm/s
D) 200 cm/s
45. Base your answer to the following question on the diagram below, which shows a model used to
investigate the erosional-depositional system of a stream. The model was tilted to create a gentle
slope, and a hose supplied water to form the meandering stream shown.
How can the model be changed to increase the amount of sediment transported by the stream?
A) decrease the temperature of the sediment B) decrease the slope
C) increase the size of the sediment
D) increase the rate of the water flow
46. What is the minimum stream velocity that would
51. Which change at a particular location in a stream
maintain movement of a quartz cobble with a
usually causes more sediments to be deposited at
diameter of 10.0 centimeters?
that location?
A) 80 cm/sec
B) 120 cm/sec
C) 210 cm/sec
D) 280 cm/sec
47. A decrease in a river's velocity will most likely
result in more
A) erosion by the river
B) deposition within the river
C) large particles being carried by the river
D) dissolved material being picked up by the river
48. What is the lowest stream velocity that would keep a
cobble-sized particle moving downstream?
A) 100 cm/sec
B) 180 cm/sec
C) 220 cm/sec
D) 290 cm/sec
49. Which stream velocity would transport cobbles, but
would not transport boulders?
A) 50 cm/sec
B) 100 cm/sec
C) 200 cm/sec
D) 400 cm/sec
50. The largest particles that a stream deposits as it
enters a pond are 8 centimeters in diameter. The
minimum velocity of the stream is approximately
A) 100 cm/sec
C) 300 cm/sec
B) 200 cm/sec
D) 400 cm/sec
A)
B)
C)
D)
decrease in stream velocity
decrease in stream width
increase in stream slope
increase in stream discharge