Deck 2: Earth Systems

Question 1

Which of the following planets is closest to the sun?

A) Earth
B) Venus
C) Jupiter
D) Mercury
E) Pluto

Answer 1

D

Question 2

What is a nebula?

A) a vast cloud of dust and gases that contracted 4.5 billion years ago to form our solar system
B) rock fragments that collided together to form the Earth
C) planets that are composed mainly of gases
D) compounds of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, silicon and iron
E) rocky fragments from outer space that have fallen to the Earth

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The zone of plastic flow in the mantle is called:

A) asthenosphere.
B) Moho.
C) lithosphere.
D) crust.
E) inner core.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Granite is a rock that is a typical of the:

A) inner core.
B) oceanic crust.
C) continental crust.
D) mantle.
E) asthenosphere.

Question 5

Basalt is a rock that is a typical of the:

A) inner core.
B) oceanic crust.
C) continental crust.
D) mantle.
E) asthenosphere.

Question 6

The Earth's atmosphere is divided into four important layers based on:

A) pressure.
B) temperature.
C) presence of different types of bacteria.
D) composition.
E) different types of clouds.

Question 7

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-Is the boundary between the crust and upper mantle.

A) lithosphere
B) Moho
C) asthenosphere
D) transition zone
E) core

Question 8

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-Is composed of the crust and upper mantle.

A) lithosphere
B) Moho
C) asthenosphere
D) transition zone
E) core

Question 9

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-Has an inner part that is solid and an outer part that is liquid.

A) lithosphere
B) Moho
C) asthenosphere
D) transition zone
E) core

Question 10

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-Is a mantle layer in which earthquake waves change velocity.

A) lithosphere
B) Moho
C) asthenosphere
D) transition zone
E) core

Question 11

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-Has been called the upper mantle's low velocity zone.

A) lithosphere
B) Moho
C) asthenosphere
D) transition zone
E) core

Question 12

Which gas was likely NOT a major part of the Earth's first atmosphere?

A) helium
B) hydrogen
C) methane
D) ammonia
E) oxygen

Question 13

What is a volatile?

A) elements and compounds that vaporize easily
B) gases that cause the Earth's atmosphere to cool
C) molten rock that comes to the Earth's surface
D) the process in which organisms use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into food and oxygen
E) the compositionally homogeneous part of the atmosphere

Question 14

Which layer in the Earth's atmosphere creates the northern lights?

A) ozone layer
B) mesosphere
C) mesopause
D) thermosphere
E) stratosphere

Question 15

Why is ozone important?

A) helps people by preventing ultraviolet radiation, which can cause skin cancer, from being too intense on Earth's surface
B) it can change gas molecules into charged particles
C) it can cool the Earth's surface
D) it provides key information about the Earth's second atmosphere
E) it is a characteristic gas in the exosphere

Question 16

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-Is where most of the "action" takes place within the atmosphere. It is where life lives, weather happens, and most of the clouds appear.

A) stratosphere
B) troposphere
C) thermosphere
D) mesosphere

Question 17

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-is where most of the meteoroids headed toward Earth burn up

A) stratosphere
B) troposphere
C) thermosphere
D) mesosphere

Question 18

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-contains the "ionosphere"

A) stratosphere
B) troposphere
C) thermosphere
D) mesosphere

Question 19

Which component is part of the hydrosphere?

A) rivers
B) glacial ice
C) atmosphere
D) groundwater
E) all of the above

Question 20

Earth is the only known place in our solar system where water can exist in all of its three phases-solid (ice), liquid, and gas (water vapor).

Question 21

Without the special planetary conditions that allow abundant water to be present in all its phases, life as we know it couldn't exist on Earth.

Question 22

Most water on the Earth is underground.

Question 23

The world's ocean does not have an influence on global climate.

Question 24

It takes a lot of solar radiation to appreciably warm the ocean, but once it's warm, it can retain its heat energy for a long time.

Question 25

Where are most of Earth's freshwater resources located?

A) oceans
B) ice caps and glaciers
C) groundwater
D) lakes
E) atmosphere

Question 26

What is the water cycle?

A) an immense cloud of gas and interstellar debris that contained a lot of water
B) a process in which volatile components from the geosphere are transferred to the atmosphere
C) a cycle that describes how carbon dioxide reacts with calcium to form solid calcium carbonate
D) a cycle that describes how water moves among its reservoirs in the oceans, the atmosphere, on land, and below land's surface, in groundwater
E) a layer in the atmosphere where life lives, weather happens, and most of the clouds appear

Question 27

Which component is part of the biosphere?

A) bacteria
B) algae
C) trees
D) people
E) all of the above

Question 28

Which of the following could be considered a fossil?

A) dinosaur bones
B) shells
C) worm burrows
D) animal tracks
E) all of the above

Question 29

When did life begin?

A) 4.5 billion years ago
B) sometime between 4.2 and 3.5 billion years ago
C) 100 years ago
D) 1 million years ago
E) 7000 years ago

Question 30

What is natural selection?

A) principal mechanism behind evolutionary change in the biosphere
B) species that have died out and no longer exist
C) remains and indications of former life that are preserved in rocks
D) structures built from layer after layer of muddy sediment trapped by mats of bacteria
E) an advantageous trait that helps an organism live longer

Question 31

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-demonstrated that "stones" that looked like shark's teeth were in fact fossils that represented life in former seas

A) Georges Cuvier
B) Charles Darwin
C) Jean Baptiste Lamarck
D) Nicolas Steno

Question 32

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-recognized that some vertebrate fossils represented species that no longer existed

A) Georges Cuvier
B) Charles Darwin
C) Jean Baptiste Lamarck
D) Nicolas Steno

Question 33

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-proposed that life changed from simple to more complex forms through interactions with the environment

A) Georges Cuvier
B) Charles Darwin
C) Jean Baptiste Lamarck
D) Nicolas Steno

Question 34

Match the following options to its correct definition.
-proposed a "natural selection" theory that explains how species evolve

A) Georges Cuvier
B) Charles Darwin
C) Jean Baptiste Lamarck
D) Nicolas Steno

Question 35

Which of the following is an example of a mass extinction?

A) when a comet delivered water to create the ocean component of the Earth's hydrosphere
B) when mockingbirds, finches, tortoises, and iguanas developed distinct physical differences on the Galapagos Island
C) when dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, perhaps the result of the impact of a large asteroid
D) when friction with gas molecules causes meteoroids to heat up as they pass through the mesosphere, creating bright, fast-moving "shooting stars"
E) a region in the Earth's crust above the transition zone and upward to the base of the crust where no life exists

Question 36

What do we call the change in organisms over successive generations that lead to new forms and functions, even new species?

A) extinction
B) biosphere
C) photosynthetic stromatolites
D) evolution
E) heredity

Question 37

What could cause a species to become extinct?

A) any event that causes significant, global-scale environmental changes in which the species cannot adapt
B) large asteroid impact
C) over-hunting of a species for food
D) decrease of biodiversity due to natural habitat destruction
E) all of the above

Question 38

What is Steno's Law of Superposition?

A) In a stack of layers of sedimentary rocks, oil forms in hundreds to thousands of years.
B) Geologists can use fossils to correlate layers of sedimentary rocks across large distances.
C) In a stack of layers of sedimentary rocks, the oldest layer is the lowest.
D) Many incomplete sedimentary sequences of many different ages are exposed around the world.
E) "Stones" that looked like shark's teeth are fossils that represent life in former seas.

Question 39

Which of the following is an absolute age determining method?

A) dating minerals using radioactive isotopes
B) using the law of superposition
C) using the law of fossil succession
D) using the geologic time scale
E) none of the above.

Question 40

Which of the following could NOT be dated using the carbon-14 dating method?

A) carbonate shells
B) animal bones
C) quartz
D) charcoal
E) human bones

Question 41

By applying Steno's Law of Superposition and Law of Fossil Succession, ________ dates can be obtained.

A) relative
B) ion
C) isotopic
D) radioactive
E) absolute

Question 42

Elements that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons are called:

A) isotopes.
B) ions.
C) helium.
D) half-life.
E) electrons.

Question 43

Use the statement below to answer the question(s) that follow.
Uranium ²³⁸U decays to lead ²⁰⁶Pb with a half life of 4.5 billion years.
-What does the statement mean to a geologist?

A) Half of the ²³⁸U in a mineral will turn into ²⁰⁶Pb in 4.5 billion years.
B) Half of the ²³⁸U in a mineral will turn into ²⁰⁶Pb in 2.25 billion years.
C) All of the ²³⁸U in a mineral will turn into ²⁰⁶Pb in 4.5 billion years.
D) ²⁰⁶Pb will be extinct in 4.5 billion years.
E) ²³⁸U will be extinct in 4.5 billion years.

Question 44

Use the statement below to answer the question(s) that follow.
Uranium ²³⁸U decays to lead ²⁰⁶Pb with a half life of 4.5 billion years.
-Which isotope is the parent?

A) ²⁰⁶Pb
B) ²³⁸U
C) 4.5 billion
D) both ²³⁸U and ²⁰⁶Pb are parents
E) both ²³⁸U and 4.5 billion years are termed "parents"

Question 45

Use the statement below to answer the question(s) that follow.
Uranium ²³⁸U decays to lead ²⁰⁶Pb with a half life of 4.5 billion years.
-Which isotope is the daughter?

A) ²⁰⁶Pb
B) ²³⁸U
C) 4.5 billion
D) both ²³⁸U and are daughters
E) both ²⁰⁶Pb and 4.5 billion years are termed "daughters"

Question 46

Define and describe each component of the geosphere. List at least one important property for each region that makes up the geosphere.

Question 47

List and describe each component of the hydrosphere. Draw the water cycle in your answer.

Question 48

Choose one major period of the Earth's history discussed in the chapter describe what happened during this time. Why do geologists divide Earth into different time periods? Is it useful?

Question 49

Draw your own field outcrop that illustrates Steno's Law of Superposition and Law of Fossil Succession.

Question 50

How much CO₂ is present in the Earth's atmosphere? If it is present in such small amounts, why does it have such a large impact on Earth's climate?

Question 51

How do we know the Earth has a core/mantle/crust structure? List at least 3 sources of information.

Question 52

The chapter describes 3 atmospheres that the Earth has had in the past. How did the atmosphere evolve over time? What controls the gases in the atmosphere (List at least 3)?