SOE 101 QUESTIONS VERIFIED ANSWERS
What is the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth? - Answers - Ice caps and glaciers
What percentage of Earth's water is freshwater? - Answers - 3%
What is a drainage basin? - Answers - An area where precipitation drains into a central
water body.
What is the vadose zone? - Answers - The unsaturated zone above the water table.
What is the phreatic zone? - Answers - The saturated zone below the water table.
What is the water table? - Answers - The top of the saturated zone.
What is an aquifer? - Answers - A geologic unit that stores and transmits water.
What is an aquitard? - Answers - A layer that restricts water movement.
What determines porosity? - Answers - Grain size, shape, cementation, and
compaction.
Does larger grain size mean more porosity? - Answers - Not necessarily—grain packing
also matters.
What rock has high porosity but low permeability? - Answers - Shale
What is permeability? - Answers - The ability of water to flow through connected pores.
What drives groundwater flow? - Answers - Gravity and potential energy gradients
What's primary porosity? - Answers - Pore space formed during rock deposition.
What's secondary porosity? - Answers - Pore space formed after rock formation (e.g.,
fractures).
What is the environmental significance of the Love Canal? - Answers - It was a toxic
waste site sold for development, leading to health and environmental problems.
What causes seasonal changes on Earth? - Answers - The tilt of Earth's rotational axis
changes the amount of solar energy received per unit area (solar insolation).
What are the Milankovitch Cycles - Answers - Long-term climate cycles caused by:
Precession (wobble)
What is the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth? - Answers - Ice caps and glaciers
What percentage of Earth's water is freshwater? - Answers - 3%
What is a drainage basin? - Answers - An area where precipitation drains into a central
water body.
What is the vadose zone? - Answers - The unsaturated zone above the water table.
What is the phreatic zone? - Answers - The saturated zone below the water table.
What is the water table? - Answers - The top of the saturated zone.
What is an aquifer? - Answers - A geologic unit that stores and transmits water.
What is an aquitard? - Answers - A layer that restricts water movement.
What determines porosity? - Answers - Grain size, shape, cementation, and
compaction.
Does larger grain size mean more porosity? - Answers - Not necessarily—grain packing
also matters.
What rock has high porosity but low permeability? - Answers - Shale
What is permeability? - Answers - The ability of water to flow through connected pores.
What drives groundwater flow? - Answers - Gravity and potential energy gradients
What's primary porosity? - Answers - Pore space formed during rock deposition.
What's secondary porosity? - Answers - Pore space formed after rock formation (e.g.,
fractures).
What is the environmental significance of the Love Canal? - Answers - It was a toxic
waste site sold for development, leading to health and environmental problems.
What causes seasonal changes on Earth? - Answers - The tilt of Earth's rotational axis
changes the amount of solar energy received per unit area (solar insolation).
What are the Milankovitch Cycles - Answers - Long-term climate cycles caused by:
Precession (wobble)
