GPHY 102 Final Exam 2021F

Page 1 of 10 pages QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY FINAL TAKE-HOME EXAMINATION FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND PLANNING GPHY 102 – Physical Geography and Natural Resources Professors P. Treitz and C. Omelon December 8 th to December 15 th , 2021 INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS: Students are to write their answer to each question in full sentence format. Please plan your answers carefully and present them in a clear and concise manner. Your answers should be well written and grammatically correct. When needed, use paragraphs to organize your thoughts. To determine how much information is expected in answering a question, refer to the number of marks for that question. Students are to complete this exam independently without communicating with their peers or their TAs. Students can use their textbook, their notes and other course resources to complete the answers on the exam. Submit as a .pdf document in OnQ no later than 11:59 p.m. on December 15 th . You may only submit your exam once; additional submissions will not be graded. Total Exam Mark _________/ 70 GOOD LUCK! This material is copyrighted and is for the sole use of students registered in GPHY 102 and writing this exam. This material shall not be distributed or disseminated. Failure to abide by these conditions is a breach of copyright and may also constitute a breach of academic integrity under the University Senate's Academic Integrity Policy Statement.

GPHY 102 – Physical Geography and Natural Resources Fall 2021 1) Below is a climograph generated from climate normal data (1981-2010) for a climate station in Canada. What type of climate (Köppen Climate Class) does this represent and speculate where in Canada this climate station would be located? Provide a clear rationale outlining your answer. (4 marks) 0.0 100.0 200.0 300.0 400.0 500.0 600.0 700.0 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 Precipitation, mm. Temperature, deg.C Precipitation, mm. Temperature, deg.C Climate graph for a location in Canada based on 1981-2010 normals. Total annual precipitation is 392.5 mm; the mean annual temperature is 4.1°C (temperature range is 28.3 °C). Precipitation, mm. Temperature, °C Jan 16.6 -10.1 Feb 11.8 -8.7 Mar 19.4 -2.5 Apr 19.1 5.3 May 51.2 10.9 June 77.1 15.3 July 60.1 18.2 Aug 47.4 17.6 Sept 36.0 11.5 Oct 18.9 4.9 Nov 15.8 -3.9 Dec 19.1 -9.3 Total/Mean 392.5 4.1 2

GPHY 102 – Physical Geography and Natural Resources Fall 2021 Using the Köppen Climate Designations table (Arbogast et al., 2018, p214-215) to classify, the location of this station is a ‘ BWk’ designation and Cold Midlatitude Steppe climate. The Primary letter is ‘B’ because annual precipitation is <76cm (39.25cm). The next letter is ‘W’ rather than ‘S’ because rainfall is seasonal (higher in summer months). The tertiary letter is ‘k’ because the mean annual temperature is <18°C (4.1°C). Figure 1 indicates that this climate only appears in a small area of British Columbia, Canada (PlantMaps 2021). Figure 2 indicates that this area contains Chasm Ecological Reserve as well as the southern half of Marble Range Provincial Park and the village Clinton is the approximate center of the area. Figure 1. Map of West Coast Canada where pink colour labelled Cold Desert climate is climate classification BWk (PlantMaps, 2021) Figure 2. Map of Clinton, BC and surrounding area that contains ‘BWk ’ Cold Desert Climate, red outlined area correlating to the pink area indicated in Figure 1 (Google Maps, 2021) 3

GPHY 102 – Physical Geography and Natural Resources Fall 2021 2) What vegetation zone (i.e., Canadian National Vegetation Classification) would you expect to be present at the location characterized by the climograph in Question 1? Provide a clear rationale for your answer. (3 marks) As a ‘BWk’ designation vegetation at this location would be a combination Xerophytes including “succulents and cacti trending to large patches of bare ground” as well as some short gras and dry shrubs (Arbogast et al., 2018, p256). Annual precipitation and average temperature values are both low. Monthly precipitation averages ranges from 11.8 to 77.1mm and temperature ranges from -10.1 to 18.2°C. These values indicate that any vegetation in this area must be tolerant to these values and supports the vegetation suggested by Arbogast, Ford and Dagesse (2018). 3) Identify the soil class that would be predominant at the location based on the climograph in Question 1. Explain the conditions and processes that give rise to this soil type. (4 marks) A soil order map from the Soil Orders of Canada website indicates that this area may contain Brunisolic or Luvisolic soil (Candian Society of Soil Science, 2020). Both are considered forest soils however Brunisolic soil has less developed properties (Arbogast et al., 2018, p296). Considering the low precipitation and cooler temperature of the station location, it is likely that biological processes responsible for foresting soils are limited. This supports that the soil type would be Brunisolic rather than the more mature Luvisolic soil type. Brunisolic soil begins with unweathered parent material and is a stage before Luvisolic or Podzolic orders that may last many thousands of years (Candian Society of Soil Science, 2020). This soil type is found in areas where annual precipitation is less than 700mm (Candian Society of Soil Science, 2020) and like all soil orders forms and changes through pedogenic processes (Arbogast et al., 2018, p281). 4) Summarize in a paragraph the relationship between climate, vegetation, and soils. Use the Eastern North American Boreal Forest to illustrate these relationships. Outline the processes driving vegetation and soil development for the climate of the Eastern North American Boreal Forest. (4 marks) Many factors influence vegetation however climate is the “most important factor influencing the geographic distribution” (Arbogast et al., 2018, p254). Climate dictates ecosystem biomes and each biome consists of a specific group of plants. Vegetation influences the soil order of an area because it contributes to the organic material composition and influences chemical processes. Temperature and precipitation (aspects of climate) further influence soil formation because they dictate “the kind and rate of biological and chemical reactions that occur in the soil” (Arbogast et al., 2018, p283). The Eastern North American Boreal Forest is subarctic and like all boreal forest biomes is “closely associated with the subarctic climates” (Arbogast et al., 2018, p260). This forest has typically long, cold winters and no more than 100cm annual precipitation (Arbogast et 4

GPHY 102 – Physical Geography and Natural Resources Fall 2021 al., 2018, p256). These conditions dictate that vegetation is almost exclusively “needle-leaf conifers, including spruce, pine, fir” and the area experiences frozen ground frequently (Arbogast et al., 2018, p256). The Eastern North American Boreal Forest typically consists of the soil orders Brunisolic, which correlate to cool and dry environments, or Podzolic, which correlate to coniferous vegetation, developed in glacial sediments (Arbogast et al. 2018 and CNVC 2015). 5) Define “albedo”. Explain how an increase in exposed ocean waters in the Arctic due to warming would affect albedo. Is this a positive or negative feedback with respect to climate change? (3 marks) Albedo refers to the “reflectivity of features on the Earth’s surface or in the atmosphere”, bright surfaces have high reflectivity and therefore high albedo (Arbogast et al., 2018, p76, 585). Snow is a bright surface with consistently high albedo (80%-95% reflection) while oceans have a less consistent (5%-65%) but still much lower albedo (Arbogast et al., 2018, p78). If warming causes ocean surface areas to increase and frozen surfaces to decrease, there will be more lower albedo surface. This would decrease reflectivity, increase absorption, and cause more warming. This continued warming is a positive feedback loop regarding climate change because warming conditions are leading to further warming. 6) Contrast maximum, specific and relative humidity. (3 marks) How are these related to dew point temperature and lifting condensation level? (2 marks) (Total = 5 marks) Maximum humidity is the most water vapour an area can hold, specific humidity is how much water is in the air and relative humidity is the ratio between these (saturation indication) ( Arbogast et al., 2018 , p150). Dew point temperature is “the temperature at which a mass of air becomes saturated” ( Arbogast et al., 2018, p152), this is important because specific humidity can remain the same while maximum and relative change if temperature does. The lifting condensation level is the “altitude at which water changes from the vapour to liquid phase” ( Arbogast et al., 2018, p589) and is dependent on temperature and humidity characteristics (like maximum humidity, specific humidity, relative humidity and dew point) ( Arbogast et al., 2018, p158). 7) Below are the mean daily temperature data for a single climate station from a location in Canada. These temperature data represent climate normals for the periods of 1941-1970 and 1981-2010. Please answer the following questions: (Total 5 marks) 5