Deck 14: Hazards From Space

Question 1

Within the asteroid belt an asteroid collision ____________.

A) can knock an asteroid toward an area of extra gravitational acceleration
B) is rare but spectacular with an impact of 16,000 km/h
C) can result in an orbital path that is more likely to collide with a planet
D) all of these are correct

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Extreme variations in the Earth's magnetic field induce telluric currents on all but which of the following technological systems?

A) Telephone cables
B) Pipelines
C) Power transmission lines
D) Computers

Answer 2

D

Question 3

In 1994,the comet Shoemaker-Levy crashed with spectacular results into _______________.

A) Earth
B) Mars
C) Earth's Moon
D) Jupiter
E) Venus

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Comets are composed of _____________________.

A) ice and rocky debris
B) gas,mostly hydrogen and helium
C) solid rock
D) plasma
E) unknown material

Question 5

The origin of the geomagnetic disturbances affecting technological systems is _________________.

A) polar wandering
B) processes occurring at the boundary between the Earth's inner and outer core
C) solar activity and its interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere
D) the Earth's rotation

Question 6

Which of the following statements regarding asteroids is false?

A) Ceres,Pallas and Vesta are the three largest asteroids.
B) The orbital path of Trojan asteroids pass near the Earth but cross the orbital path of Mars.
C) Double-impact sites may be the result of an asteroid and its moon colliding with another celestial body.
D) Some asteroids are multiple bodies bound together by gravitational attraction.

Question 7

Figure 14.11 plots the return period of impact events and shows ___________.

A) the smaller the meteoroids,the greater their frequency of impact
B) the larger the meteoroids,the greater their frequency of impact
C) there is no relationship between size and impact frequency

Question 8

A comet's tail ____________________.

A) lines up with the solar wind moving outward from the Sun
B) points toward the nearest planet as a result of its gravity
C) is a vapour trail behind a comet that points in the direction from which the comet came
D) always points toward the Sun
E) is composed of smoke from the burning comet

Question 9

Why are there so many more impact craters visible on the Moon than on the Earth?

A) The Moon has been hit by many more meteorites than the Earth.
B) The Moon formed long before the Earth formed.
C) The Moon is made out of softer rock than the Earth.
D) The Moon deflects many of the meteorites that would otherwise hit the Earth.
E) Craters on the Earth can be destroyed by geological processes.

Question 10

Halley's comet contains carbon,hydrogen,oxygen and nitrogen in ratios similar to ratios in _________________.

A) the human body
B) the Earth's inner core s
C) the Earth's outer core
D) the Sun
E) many asteroids

Question 11

Comets are found mostly in _______________.

A) the Kuiper belt
B) the Oort cloud
C) the Trojan belt
D) All of these are correct.
E) the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud

Question 12

Asteroids lie mostly ____________________.

A) between Mars and Jupiter
B) between Earth and the Moon
C) beyond Pluto
D) between Mercury and the Sun

Question 13

Stony meteorites are less commonly collected than iron-rich meteorites because ________________.

A) they break up more readily while passing through the Earth's atmospheric filter
B) those that reach the ground are weathered and destroyed more rapidly
C) they are not as easily recognized
D) all of these are correct

Question 14

The space between Mars and Jupiter is occupied by ________.

A) bolides
B) asteroids
C) meteorites
D) comets
E) ejecta

Question 15

When space debris blazes through the Earth's atmosphere as a streak of light or shooting star,they are referred to as a _________________.

A) meteors
B) falling star
C) sunspot
D) moonlet
E) starlet

Question 16

The solar wind is _____________________.

A) what causes visible dust storms on Mars
B) wind blowing on the surface of the Sun
C) wind blowing within the Sun's dense gas below the surface
D) the stream of subatomic particles flying outward from the Sun

Question 17

Magnetic storms ___________.

A) are associated with sunspot activity
B) cause the magnetic North pole to wander
C) pull affect satellites out of orbit
D) pull asteroids out of orbit

Question 18

Sunspots are dark areas on the Sun that are _________.

A) hotter than the surrounding areas of the Sun
B) floating bodies on the surface of the Sun
C) relativity constant in number every year
D) areas of the Sun where the gases have burned out

Question 19

Relatively few impact craters have been discovered on Earth because _________________.

A) most rocks are too resistant to crater
B) the gravitational field is too weak
C) weathering,erosion,and tectonic processes erase them
D) Jupiter is so massive that it deflects potential impactors away from Earth

Question 20

The North magnetic pole ________________.

A) exactly coincides with the north geographic pole
B) oscillates between the Canadian Arctic and Antarctica every year
C) has been in Canadian territory since its discovery
D) is currently in Siberia

Question 21

The central uplift in a complex crater is formed:

A) when fractured walls fall into the centre,creating a hill in the middle of the crater.
B) after impact when the melted material and uplifted debris settle down into the middle of the crater.
C) when the rock beneath the crater rebounds,causing the centre of the floor to rise.
D) when an impact causes such a high temperature only at the periphery of the crater,so the centre of the crater stays stable while the material beside the walls is liquefied and vaporized.
E) when earth material washed from the steep crater walls is deposited at the central area of the crater.

Question 22

What is the pseudonym for the impact site (crater)in Haughton,Nunavut?

A) Tropical wonderland
B) Mars on Earth
C) "Large Hill"
D) "The other side"
E) K/Pg crater

Question 23

Pingualuit,Quebec is a classic example of an impact crater.All of the following represent unique characteristics (features)of the crater except:

A) a well-preserved rim rising some 160 m above the tundra surface.
B) it is one of the deepest freshwater lakes in the world (250 m).
C) a lot of species of fish live in this deep lake.
D) when Pingualuit Lake overflowed and drained into a neighboring lake,fish probably swam upcurrent from that lake into Pingualuit Lake.

Question 24

The Tunguska event of 1908 was the biggest meteorite event of the 20^th century evidence from the blast site shows _____________.

A) it was likely caused by a metallic meteorite
B) it was likely caused by stony meteorite roughly 100 metres in diameter
C) it was likely caused by a fragment of the Encke comet
D) it was likely caused by an asteroid and comet colliding 8 km above the Earth's surface

Question 25

Which of the following Canadian impact crater is a simple crater?

A) Eau Claire
B) Manicouagan
C) Pingualuit
D) Sudbury

Question 26

Evidence demonstrating that Meteor crater,Arizona,formed by meteorite impact includes all but which of the following?

A) The crater is steep-sided and closed.
B) The rim of surrounding rock was created by uplifting the horizontal sedimentary-rock layers of the region and tilting them away from the crater.
C) Little hills of rock outside the crater rim are inverted piles of the rock sequence exposed in the crater walls.
D) Huge blocks of limestone are strewn around outside the crater.
E) Numerous pieces of iron-rich meteorite with a combined weight of 30 tonnes were found in the area

Question 27

When a meteorite large enough to cause a crater hits the Earth,the diameter of the impact crater is __________________.

A) smaller than the diameter of the meteorite
B) approximately 20 times the diameter of the meteorite
C) about the same as the diameter of the meteorite
D) determined by the angle of impact
E) determined mostly by the rock type at the point of impact

Question 28

What is the Oort cloud?

A) A diffuse envelope of encircling comets
B) A diffuse envelope of dwarf planets
C) A cloud of asteroids 100 000 astronomical units away from the Sun
D) A cloud of about a trillion long-period comets
E) A diffuse envelope of encircling comets and a cloud of about a trillion long-period comets.

Question 29

The Meteor Crater formed about 50,000 years ago and the enormous impact energy __________.

A) pulverized about 100 million tonnes of rock
B) sent out a shock wave that levelled all the trees in the region
C) excavated a crater about the same as the diameter of the meteorite
D) All of these are correct.
E) pulverized about 100 million tonnes of rock and sent out a shock wave that leveled all the trees in the region.

Question 30

Critical evidence for the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T)boundary impact included ___________________.

A) dinosaur fossils worldwide just above the layer of impact debris
B) an iridium anomaly in a thin layer of rock 65 million years old
C) recovery of very large pieces of meteorite
D) discovery of a crater covered by jungle vegetation in Brazil

Question 31

Likely effects of the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg)boundary impact include all but which of the following?

A) A monumental earthquake with numerous aftershocks
B) A tsunami up to 300 metres high
C) Regional or even global wildfires
D) Significant long-term cooling in the oceans but warming in continental areas
E) Dust and soot in the atmosphere would block sunlight for weeks or months

Question 32

Meteorites that pass through the atmosphere and fall to Earth ______________.

A) should not be touched soon after they hit the ground because they are blazing hot
B) kill on average one person every ten years
C) are slowed due to atmospheric friction and hit the ground at 320 to 640 km/h
D) are found mostly in the Canadian Arctic

Question 33

In the past 30 years,more than 16,000 meteorites have been found in Antarctica due to several favorable conditions.Which of the following is not a contributing factor?

A) The magnetosphere buffers the planet but is weakest at the poles where most meteorites pass easily through the atmosphere.
B) Antarctic ice is 700,000 years old or more,therefore any meteorites striking it are preserved as if they were in a freezer.
C) Antarctic ice is very dense and anything falling on it does not sink very far into the ice.
D) Meteorites encased in ice are protected from carbonic acid,and plant chemicals that would decompose them elsewhere.

Question 34

The fossil record shows that a major die-off in both land and sea species occurred in the time boundary between the _________________.

A) Pleistocene and Pliocene
B) Precambrian and Cambrian
C) Cretaceous and Paleogene
D) Pliocene and Miocene
E) Jurassic and Cretaceous

Question 35

The development of the crater in Figure 14.17 can be closely associated with _____________.

A) lava dome development.
B) the moment when a raindrop hits a pond.
C) the effect of shock waves when a meteor impacts the top of the atmosphere.
D) a rock dropped on sand material.
E) the solution-collapse process of subsidence

Question 36

The world's classic simple crater,Meteor crater,lies on an arid portion of the Colorado Plateau in ____________________.

A) Wyoming
B) Arizona
C) Utah
D) New Mexico

Question 37

Possible causes of mass extinctions include ___________________.

A) the longer lasting and far-reaching effects of plate tectonics and of voluminous volcanic outpourings
B) biological processes
C) climate changes
D) asteroid and comet impacts
E) all of these are correct.

Question 38

Why can asteroids not stick together and form a planet?

A) They are traveling too fast,so there are no collisions.
B) They are travelling so fast that individual collisions are too energetic to allow the asteroids to unite.
C) The gravitational acceleration caused by Jupiter causes asteroids to move away from each other.
D) They are more likely to collide with Jupiter because of the strong gravitational pull.
E) None of these choices are correct.

Question 39

Evidence for the impact that occurred near Chicxulub,Mexico,includes all but which of the following?

A) Quartz grains with shocked crystal structures,indicating a short and violent impact
B) Iridium anomaly at roughly 100 sites worldwide in a thin layer of rock 65 million years old
C) Sand-sized spherules of minerals suggesting a melting and resolidification of rock
D) Large pieces of meteorite found in Mexico
E) The K/Pg boundary clays have a different composition from clays in the limestone layers above and below it;they might be explained by a mixture of one part asteroid to ten parts Earth crust

Question 40

The 1-cm-thick clay layer that marks the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg)boundary has a high percentage of the element ________ in the clay layer,an enrichment about 300 times greater than the normal abundance.

A) iridium
B) silicon
C) iron
D) oxygen
E) krypton

Question 41

During the sunspot minimum known as ___________ Earth's _______________.

A) Medieval Maximum (900-1300);temperature rose 1.5°C
B) Maunder Minimum (1645-1715);temperature fell 0.2°C
C) Younger (10 000 years ago);temperature was -10°C
D) Maunder Maximum (1400 - 1900);temperature rose 0.2°C
E) none of these choices are correct

Question 42

During a solar wind technological systems can be effected _________________.

A) directly by charged particles
B) indirectly by disturbances in the ionosphere
C) by electromagnetic induction
D) by telluric currents
E) by all of these

Question 43

The Earth's magnetic field resemble those of a giant bar magnet.

Question 44

Space debris that collides with the Earth comes primarily from fragmented asteroids and secondarily from comets.

Question 45

Geomagnetic disturbances were first noticed on the telephone network.

Question 46

The outer planets lie at great distances from the Sun,and are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium gas surrounding rocky cores.

Question 47

Asteroids are small bodies orbiting the Sun,which would likely have formed another planet if not for the gravitational pull of Jupiter.

Question 48

The 1989 Hydro-Québec blackout coincided with a large magnetic storm.

Question 49

Some asteroids are not solid bodies,but rather "rubble piles" held together by the mutual gravitational attraction of all the individual pieces.

Question 50

A comet's tail is a vapour trail behind a comet that points in the direction from which the comet came.

Question 51

The major types of meteorites are either iron-rich or stony.

Question 52

This figure (Fig.14.50)shows:

A) a computer model of the earth's magnetic field.
B) Earth's magnetic field between polarity reversals.
C) a computer model of the effect of solar wind on Earth's magnetic field.
D) a computer model of the Earth's magnetic field during a reversal.
E) a computer model of the Earth's defense plan against solar wind,where orange is the defense simulation for the South pole and blue is for the North pole.

Question 53

Asteroids can have their own moon.

Question 54

Clusters of asteroids such as the Apollos have orbits that intersect Earth's orbit;there are more than a thousand mountain-sized Apollo asteroids that could hit the Earth.

Question 55

Coronal holes and mass ejections can be understood as:

A) coronal holes: no ejections of plasma due to strong Sun's gravity;coronal mass ejections: gigantic clouds of plasma ejected from the Sun.
B) coronal holes: streams of plasma which are pulled toward the Sun's centre;coronal mass ejections: high-speed streams of hot gases.
C) coronal holes: high-speed streams of plasma released in space;coronal mass ejections: gigantic clouds of plasma released in space.
D) coronal holes: hot streams of gases released in space,captured by satellites as a hole;coronal mass ejections: high-speed streams of hot plasma,captured.
E) coronal holes: non active Sun's spots;coronal mass ejections: active Sun's spots.

Question 56

The solar system is surrounded by the Oort cloud composed of about a trillion comets.

Question 57

Most of the meteorites collected on the Earth's surface are iron-rich.

Question 58

Short-period comets burn out quickly (in less than 200 years)but long-period comets can last for thousands of years.

Question 59

The Space Weather Network based in Canada's Arctic issues forecasts of geomagnetic activity.

Question 60

The four inner planets are small,close together,near the Sun,and rocky.

Question 61

Abundant large diamonds,also commonly found in meteorites,occur in the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg)boundary clay layer.

Question 62

The closer a comet gets to the Sun,the smaller its tail becomes.

Question 63

Asteroids are distinguished from meteorites by their composition.

Question 64

A comet's tail results from the increased speed that a comet attains as it nears the Sun,leaving some particles behind because of the acceleration of the main mass of the comet.

Question 65

Several times in the last 543 million years,many of the species on Earth became extinct in a geologically short time.

Question 66

Shatter cones are made of extra-terrestrial material.

Question 67

As a comet curves around the Sun,its tail rotates also,always pointing away from the direction in which the comet is heading.

Question 68

The amount of energy needed to break up an asteroid is much less than the amount of energy required to scatter all of its fragments.

Question 69

The Tunguska,Siberia,mid-air explosion in 1908 excavated a large simple crater.

Question 70

The Whitecourt crater is the only crater in Canada where meteorites have been found.

Question 71

Evidence of massive flood basalt volcanism at the end of the Cretaceous period likely contributed to the massive extinction.

Question 72

Halley's comet contains carbon (C),hydrogen (H),oxygen (O),and nitrogen (N)in ratios similar to that in the human body.

Question 73

The Sudbury and Wanapitei craters formed as a double-impact site,like those of the Clear Lakes.

Question 74

Large meteorite impacts occur more frequently than small impacts.

Question 75

Estimating the magnitude of the K/Pg boundary impact earthquake can be done by scaling up from the energy released in nuclear explosions,leading to an estimate of a K/Pg impact earthquake of magnitude 11.3.

Question 76

The Chelyabinsk meteor was detected a few days before the impact.

Question 77

Cosmic dust melts upon entry into the Earth's atmosphere because of friction.

Question 78

The impact mechanism for the Chelyabinsk and Tunguska events are the same.

Question 79

Small meteorite impacts create craters with central uplifts,while large impacts create craters with concave bottoms and no central uplifts.

Question 80

The relative numbers of incoming space debris are not related to their size.