1. What term describes the area above a mantle plume where volcanoes are often formed due to the swelling and cracking of Earth’s crust — hot spot or pluton?
2. What term describes an area that includes all tributaries for an individual river — delta or drainage basin?
3. What term best describes the warming of the atmosphere that results from absorption of heat radiated from Earth’s surface — greenhouse effect or evapotranspiration?
4. What term best describes a depressed section of Earth’s crust that is bounded by geologic faults — piedmont or graben?
5. What term best describes an area that is consistently saturated by water and characterized by poor drainage — wetland or gorge?
6. What term refers to the day in the Northern Hemisphere when the length of time between sunrise and sunset is the shortest of the year and the sun is farthest south of the Equator — the fall equinox or the winter solstice?
7. The deflection of moving objects, including cyclones, caused by Earth’s rotation is known as what — Coriolis force or tornado?
8. What term refers to the process in which a liquid changes into a gas — insolation or evaporation?
9. What term refers to the physical features exhibited on Earth’s surface, both man-made and natural, that are generally portrayed on a map — geomorphology or topography?
10. What term refers to a process of weathering in which chemical reactions alter the composition of rocks and materials — hydrolysis or freeze-thaw?
ANSWERS: 1. hot spot 2. drainage basin 3. greenhouse effect 4. graben 5. wetland 6. winter solstice 7. Coriolis force 8. evaporation 9. topography 10. hydrolysis
National Geographic Bee, National Geographic Society
