Environmental Science Watersheds Review 2025

What is soil?

• A mixture of pure minerals and water.

• Solid rock that has been broken down over time.

• A complex mixture of minerals, organic matter, water, and air.

• Primarily decaying plant matter.

Why is soil considered a nonrenewable resource?

• It is constantly being used up by plants.

• It takes a very long time for natural processes to create new soil.

• Humans can easily destroy soil through pollution.

• There is a limited amount of soil on Earth.

Approximately how much of the Earth's water is drinkable (freshwater)?

• 97%

• 50%

• ~1%

• 75%

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Why would you expect a dead zone to start near the mouth of a river flowing into a body of water?

• The faster river currents prevent oxygen from dissolving in the water.

• Pollutants and excess nutrients carried by the river can lead to oxygen depletion in the receiving water body.

• The mixing of fresh and salt water creates toxic chemical reactions.

• Large predatory fish tend to congregate at river mouths, consuming all other aquatic life.

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What is a biogeochemical cycle?

• The movement of water through the Earth's atmosphere and oceans.

• The continuous flow of energy through an ecosystem.

• The cycling of matter (such as carbon, nitrogen, or phosphorus) through the living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

• The process of rocks breaking down into smaller pieces.

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Which two processes naturally change water from a liquid to a gas?

• Melting and freezing

• Condensation and precipitation

• Evaporation and evapotranspiration

• Infiltration and runoff

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In the water cycle, what is an example of a reservoir?

• A cloud

• A river

• An ocean

• Dew

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If you were a molecule of water as water vapor in the atmosphere, what is one way you could go through the water cycle?

• You could freeze and become part of a glacier.

• You could infiltrate into the ground and become groundwater.

• You could condense to form a cloud, then fall as rain into a lake, and eventually evaporate back into the atmosphere.

• You could runoff directly into the ocean.

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How does a river typically change from its beginning to its end?

• It becomes narrower and flows faster with less sediment.

• It becomes wider and flows slower with more sediment.

• It maintains the same characteristics throughout its entire length.

• It becomes colder and the water becomes purer.

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What happens to two drops of water that fall on opposite sides of a divide?

• They will eventually meet in the same river.

• One will evaporate, and the other will freeze.

• They will flow into different drainage basins.

• They will seep into the ground and become part of the same aquifer.

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