Physical Geography Practice Quiz: Winds

1. Winds are initiated by what?

A. The Coriolis effect

B. Gravity

C. Friction

D. Centrifugal force

E. The pressure gradient

 

2. The Coriolis effect is caused by what?

A. Gravity

B. The Sun’s radiation

C. The rotation of the Earth

D. The revolution of the Earth around the Sun

E. The fact that the Earth is an oblate ellipsoid

 

3. Because of the Coriolis effect, winds and other moving fluids are deflected to which direction in the Southern Hemisphere?

A. Right

B. East

C. Left

D. West

E. North

 

4. In the absence of friction, the combined effect of the pressure gradient and the Coriolis effect would produce what kind of winds?

A. Winds that flow perpendicular to the isobars

B. Winds that flow directly from high pressure centers to low pressure centers

C. Winds that flow parallel to the isobars

D. Winds that flow directly from low pressure centers to high pressure centers

E. Winds that flow very slowly

 

5. What does this sketch of wind flow show?

A. A low pressure center in the Northern Hemisphere, in the friction layer

B. A low pressure center in the Southern Hemisphere, in the friction layer

C. A low pressure center in the Northern Hemisphere, above the friction layer

D. A low pressure center in the Southern Hemisphere, above the friction layer

E. A high pressure center in the Northern Hemisphere, above the friction layer

 

6. Which of the following statements is true for a high pressure center?

A. A high pressure center is an anticyclone.

B. A high pressure center is permanently located at the equator.

C. A high pressure center is only found where the air is very cold.

D. A high pressure center is a cyclone.

E. A high pressure center is characterized by rising air.

 

7. What does this sketch of wind flow show?

A. A low pressure center in the Southern Hemisphere, in the friction layer

B. A low pressure center in the Northern Hemisphere, in the friction layer

C. A high pressure center in the Northern Hemisphere, above the friction layer

D. A high pressure center in the Southern Hemisphere, above the friction layer

E. A low pressure center in the Southern Hemisphere, above the friction layer

 

8. In the Northern Hemisphere, which of the following statements would be true of the wind pattern around a low pressure cell on the surface?

A. It would be convergent, with winds moving counterclockwise.

B. It would be convergent, with winds moving clockwise.

C. It would be divergent, with winds moving clockwise.

D. It would be divergent, with winds moving counterclockwise.

 

9. Warm temperatures or air converging and rising from the surface are most likely to produce what kind of pressure at the surface?

A. High

B. Low

C. Impossible to determine

 

10. Cold temperatures or air subsiding from above are most likely to produce what kind of pressure at the surface?

A. High

B. Low

C. Impossible to determine