End-of-Term Earth and Engineering Systems

Earthquake Anatomy

1. 100 What event shakes Earth's surface after a sudden energy release in the lithosphere? Response: earthquake An earthquake, also called a quake, tremor, or temblor, is the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Source: Wikipedia, “Earthquake”
2. 200 Which waves carry the energy generated by a seismic event? Response: seismic waves In its most general sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event that generates seismic waves. Source: Wikipedia, “Earthquake”
3. 300 What is the point where an earthquake's rupture starts called? Response: hypocenter The initial point of rupture is called the hypocenter or focus, while the ground level directly above it is the epicenter. Source: Wikipedia, “Earthquake”
4. 400 Which ground-level point lies directly above the initial rupture? Response: epicenter The initial point of rupture is called the hypocenter or focus, while the ground level directly above it is the epicenter. Source: Wikipedia, “Earthquake”
5. 500 An offshore event displaces enough seabed to create which large wave? Response: tsunami When the epicenter of a large earthquake is located offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Source: Wikipedia, “Earthquake”
6. 600 What is molten rock called while it remains below Earth's surface? Response: Magma Magma is the melted rock under the ground. Source: Simple English Wikipedia, “Magma”
7. 700 What layer of gases surrounds Earth? Response: The atmosphere An atmosphere is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. Source: Wikipedia, “Atmosphere”

Volcano Systems

1. 100 Which vent or fissure allows hot material and gases to escape through a crust? Response: volcano A volcano is a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Source: Wikipedia, “Volcano”
2. 200 What hot molten material escapes onto the surface? Response: lava A volcano is a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Source: Wikipedia, “Volcano”
3. 300 Which below-surface reservoir supplies the escaping material? Response: magma chamber A volcano is a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Source: Wikipedia, “Volcano”
4. 400 Volcanism away from plate boundaries most likely rises from which deep structures? Response: mantle plumes Volcanism away from plate boundaries most likely arises from upwelling diapirs from the core–mantle boundary called mantle plumes, 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) deep within Earth. Source: Wikipedia, “Volcano”
5. 500 Name the low landform that lies between hills or mountains. Response: A valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Source: Wikipedia, “Valley”

Drainage Basins

1. 100 What land area sends all flowing surface water toward one outlet or body of water? Response: drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. Source: Wikipedia, “Drainage basin”
2. 200 Which elevated perimeter separates one basin from adjacent basins? Response: drainage divide A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the drainage divide, made up of a succession of elevated features, such as ridges and hills. Source: Wikipedia, “Drainage basin”
3. 300 In a closed basin, what interior destination receives converging water? Response: sink In a closed drainage basin, or endorheic basin, rather than flowing to the ocean, water converges toward the interior of the basin, known as a sink, which may be a permanent lake, a dry lake, or a point where surface water is lost underground. Source: Wikipedia, “Drainage basin”
4. 400 What is a large natural stream of flowing water called? Response: A river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. Source: Wikipedia, “River”
5. 500 Which map feature relates a map distance to its real-world distance? Response: Scale The scale of a map is the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground. Source: Wikipedia, “Scale (map)”

Design Iteration

1. 100 What process describes how engineers create and validate designs? Response: engineering design process The engineering design process refers to how engineers create and validate designs for products, processes and systems---including their lifecycle processes such as manufacture, maintenance and end-of-life considerations such as recycling, remanufacture or disposal. Source: Wikipedia, “Engineering design process”
2. 200 Which word means design activities and decisions may be revisited? Response: iterative Regardless of context, the engineering design process is iterative – activities and decisions often need to be revisited several times as new information becomes available – though what gets iterated and how many times may vary. Source: Wikipedia, “Engineering design process”
3. 300 The design process begins by setting which two planning elements? Response: objectives and criteria Among the fundamental elements of the design process are the establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis, analysis, construction, testing and evaluation. Source: Wikipedia, “Engineering design process”
4. 400 Engineers design in steps. Which two come after building? Response: testing and evaluation Among the fundamental elements of the design process are the establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis, analysis, construction, testing and evaluation. Source: Wikipedia, “Engineering design process”
5. 500 Is there one standard way engineers describe how they design? Response: there is no single standard form A range of descriptions of the process are available; there is no single standard form, although many aspects are recognisable across individual engineers' practices and companies' processes. Source: Wikipedia, “Engineering design process”
6. 600 Which force pulls objects toward Earth? Response: Gravity In everyday talk, we say things fall because the Earth's gravity pulls on them. Source: Simple English Wikipedia, “Gravity”
7. 700 Which imaginary line is positioned at zero degrees latitude? Response: The Equator In spatial (3D) geometry, as applied in astronomy, the equator of a rotating spheroid (such as a planet) is the parallel (circle of latitude) at which latitude is defined to be 0°. Source: Wikipedia, “Equator”
8. 800 Which reference line is positioned at zero degrees longitude? Response: The Prime Meridian A prime meridian is a meridian (a line of longitude) in a geographic coordinate system at which longitude is defined to be 0°. Source: Wikipedia, “Prime meridian”

Final round: Systems Thinking

This boundary of ridges and hills separates adjacent drainage basins. Response: drainage divide A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the drainage divide, made up of a succession of elevated features, such as ridges and hills. Source: Wikipedia, “Drainage basin”