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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. After being hosed down, how long does it take for red-hot lava to turn black?

2. For the most part, residents of Heimaey are what during the 1973 eruptions?

3. How does Sigurdur Steinthorsson monitor volcanic gases during the 1973 eruption?

4. After the eruptions of 1973 end, how many of Heimaey's evacuees return?

5. Over two centuries of recorded history, Mauna Loa erupts how often on average?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the "City Flow?"

2. How do residents of Heimaey benefit from the cooling but still hot lava after the 1973 eruptions?

3. The author moves away from his discussion of Iceland's 1973 lava eruptions to talk about Hawaii's volcanoes. Describe what he writes about the U.S. Army Air Corps' attempts to stop lava from burying Hawaii's towns and cities.

4. Describe how workers are able to walk upon lava fields as they try to cool down the lava on Heimaey in 1973.

5. What hazards do workers face as they try to stop the lava flows?

6. What is the population of Iceland's Heimaey before and after the 1973 eruptions?

7. Who is Thorbjorn Sigurgeirsson, and what idea does he come up with?

8. How is Heimaey's harbor altered after the eruptions and lava flows of 1973?

9. Is there any warning prior to the eruption in Heimaey that began on January 23, 1973?

10. Describe what happens to the north side of the growing volcano on Heimaey.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1. Why do people begin to settle in the Atchafalaya-Mississippi region? How do these communities go from being small settlements to large cities that support many important industries?

2. What brings newcomers to the Los Angeles County region where the coastal plains meet the mountains? How do the communities in this region grow and transform over time?

3. Keeping in mind the costs and resources involved, do you feel that protecting the communities in southern Louisiana and in southern California is worthwhile? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

1. Describe how the system of rivers encompassing the Mississippi, Atchafalaya, and smaller rivers works over centuries to drain water into the Gulf of Mexico and form the land that's now part of Louisiana.

2. How does the presence of large cities like New Orleans and Baton Rouge affect the natural flow and activity of these major and minor rivers?

3. How are New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and other cities in southern Louisiana at risk because of the region's geology?

Essay Topic 3

Based on what the author has described about each region, is it viable for residents to continue living there? Provide your answers for the following regions:

1. In Louisiana near the Atchafalaya and Mississippi rivers.

2. By the active volcanoes of Hawaii.

3. In the volcanic island of Heimaey off the coast of Iceland.

4. In the plains below the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California.

(see the answer keys)

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