Deck 6: Earth and Its Moon: Our Cosmic Backyard

Question 1

The continuing rise of carbon dioxide concentration in our troposphere is leading to worldwide cooling as dry ice forms at the poles.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Greenhouse gases in our atmosphere trap just enough heat to keep the Earth's oceans liquid.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The Earth's hotter, inner core is liquid and its cooler, outer core is solid.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The Moon's surface gravity is only half the Earth's.

Question 5

Due to its larger mass, the Sun's gravitational effect on Earth's tides is greater than the Moon's.

Question 6

Neap tides occur at first and third quarter phases of the Moon.

Question 7

Compared to Earth, the Moon lacks a hydrosphere, atmosphere, and a magnetosphere.

Question 8

In most places on the seacoast, there are two high and two low tides a day.

Question 9

The Moon's lower density indicates it has a smaller concentration of iron in its core, as does the absence of a lunar magnetic field.

Question 10

Weather occurs in the troposphere.

Question 11

The Earth and Moon always keep the same side towards each other.

Question 12

The ozone layer lies above the troposphere and below the mesosphere.

Question 13

Our Earth is about four times larger than the Moon in diameter.

Question 14

Seismic P- waves can travel through both solid and liquid materials.

Question 15

The tidal pull of the Moon is an example of a differential force, as the near and far sides of the Earth do not experience the same gravitational pull of the Moon.

Question 16

Spring tides occur only at new Moon, when the Moon and Sun pull together.

Question 17

The three most abundant gases in our atmosphere are nitrogen, oxygen, and argon.

Question 18

The Earth's inner core is about the same temperature as the surface of the Sun.

Question 19

On average, the Moon orbits Earth from a distance of about 30 Earth radii.

Question 20

The Moon keeps one side facing the Earth because it doesn't rotate on its axis.

Question 21

The Van Allen belts are cloud layers in the jet streams of the stratosphere, similar to the belts that Galileo saw on Jupiter.

Question 22

In the past, most of the landmass on Earth was concentrated in a single, large continent.

Question 23

One source of the energy for volcanism and plate tectonics is radioactivity in the Earth's interior.

Question 24

Seismic P- waves can be detected worldwide from any strong epicenter.

Question 25

The lunar mare are younger than any of the craters that sit in them.

Question 26

The lunar highlands appear brighter than the mare, because these highlands are due to meteor impact that completely avoided the mare.

Question 27

Early telescopic observers thought the lunar mare were seas of water; today we know they are not liquid water but molten basalt, long ago frozen out.

Question 28

Which of the following layers of the Earth is unique among the terrestrial planets?

A) hydrosphere
B) mantle
C) crust
D) ionosphere
E) core

Question 29

Samples of the Earth's molten outer core come directly through the mantle, pour out of volcanoes, and can be studied in labs.

Question 30

Today most scientists favor the capture theory of the Moon's origin, since it would explain why the Moon still orbits in the ecliptic plane, as do other planets.

Question 31

Most lunar craters are volcanic in origin.

Question 32

The Moon and the crustal rocks of Earth are similar in density.

Question 33

When plates collide, they fuse together and come to rest.

Question 34

At what phase would you expect to find extremely high and low tides?

A) new moon
B) both new and full moons
C) first and third quarter
D) full moon
E) Moon phases do not impact the tides.

Question 35

There is no evidence for plate tectonics on the Moon today.

Question 36

Seismic S- waves can travel through Earth's liquid outer core.

Question 37

What is true of spring tides?

A) The difference between low and high tides would be greatest.
B) The third quarter moon would be high overhead at dawn.
C) There would be one high and one low tide each day.
D) The difference between low and high tides would be smallest.
E) The Moon's phase will be first quarter.

Question 38

The lunar mare radioactively date back to 4.6 billion years, at the origin of the Moon, hence their dark color due to this aging.

Question 39

The crust on the near side of the Moon is on average thinner than the crust on the far side, due to our tidal pull on the Moon.

Question 40

A seismograph could register P but not S waves from an epicenter on the opposite side of the Earth.

Question 41

The smallest high tides occur when the Moon phase is

A) new.
B) first or third quarter.
C) waxing or waning gibbous.
D) waxing or waning crescent.
E) full.

Question 42

The average rate of erosion on the Moon is far less than on Earth because

A) the Moon is much younger than the Earth.
B) the Moon lacks wind, water, and an atmosphere.
C) the Moon's mare long ago dried up, so there is no more wave erosion there.
D) the Moon's magnetic field protects it from the solar wind better than ours does.
E) the crust of the Moon is much denser than the Earth's crust.

Question 43

Which statement about seismic waves is true?

A) Only S waves can travel through liquid.
B) On the far side of the Earth, only the S waves on the surface can be detected.
C) P waves travel faster, and thus arrive sooner than do the S waves.
D) In the shadow zones, neither type is observed.
E) S waves can travel though the outer core, but P waves cannot.

Question 44

Without the greenhouse effect operating in our atmosphere,

A) the Earth would have become much more like Venus long ago.
B) we would not have to worry about any warming problems in the future.
C) the ice in the polar regions would have melted long ago.
D) the ozone layer would not be weakening.
E) Earth would have an average temperature of - 23 degrees Celsius.

Question 45

In what part of our atmosphere do we live?

A) stratosphere
B) exosphere
C) troposphere
D) mesosphere
E) ionosphere

Question 46

At what phase are the tides least noticeable?

A) third quarter
B) new moon
C) waxing crescent
D) waning gibbous
E) full moon

Question 47

After the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) crashed into the moon, its sister spacecraft LCROSS detected an amount of water in the ejecta

A) less than is contained in desert sand on Earth.
B) comparable to soggy ground on Earth.
C) comparable to fertile soil on Earth.
D) comparable to dried- up lake beds on Earth.
E) Actually, no water was detected at all.

Question 48

What is true of the Moon's orbital and rotational periods?

A) The orbital period is greatest at full moon.
B) The rotational period is longer.
C) They are equal.
D) The rotational period varies with the Moon's phase.
E) The orbital period is longer.

Question 49

Which of these gases is least abundant in our atmosphere?

A) oxygen
B) argon
C) carbon dioxide
D) hydrogen
E) nitrogen

Question 50

The atmospheric gases primarily responsible for our greenhouse effect are

A) argon and water vapor.
B) hydrogen and helium.
C) water vapor and carbon dioxide.
D) carbon monoxide and methane.
E) oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Question 51

The major presence of water detected on the Moon is in

A) the puffs of steam seen coming from some still active lunar volcanoes.
B) the flows of mud seen on the walls of some craters.
C) the floors of deep craters in the polar regions, as ice deposits that never thaw.
D) the mare.
E) faint clouds of ice in the thin lunar atmosphere.

Question 52

Almost all of our atmospheric gases lie in the

A) troposphere.
B) ionosphere.
C) mesosphere.
D) stratosphere.
E) ozone layer.

Question 53

Today, an average lunar moonquake releases about as much energy as

A) the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
B) a firecracker.
C) the Mount St. Helens eruption.
D) a major U.S. city uses in 1 year.
E) an atomic bomb.

Question 54

We determine the structure of the Earth's core using

A) radar and sonar.
B) satellite imaging.
C) magnetic resonance imaging.
D) deep mine shafts.
E) seismic wave data.

Question 55

The critical part of the atmosphere for protecting life on the ground from excessive ultraviolet radiation is the

A) ozone layer.
B) ionosphere.
C) hydrosphere.
D) stratosphere.
E) troposphere.

Question 56

The Moon's near side always faces Earth due to

A) Earth's magnetic field.
B) the Sun's gravity.
C) the solar wind.
D) conservation of angular momentum in the solar nebula.
E) Earth's tidal force.

Question 57

Seismic waves are most useful for mapping

A) the surface of Venus with Magellan.
B) the depths of the oceans.
C) the surface of Mars with Global Surveyor.
D) the Earth's core and mantle.
E) the density of the hydrosphere.

Question 58

Which of these is NOT a result of plate tectonics?

A) the San Andreas Fault
B) the Grand Canyon
C) the Andes
D) the Philippine Trench
E) the Mid- Atlantic Rift

Question 59

What is the average molecular speed of hydrogen (mass = 1) on Earth (temperature = 300 K)?

A) 4.71 km/s
B) 2.72 m/s
C) 2.72 km/s
D) 4.71 m/s
E) none of the above

Question 60

In noting that the Earth is "differentiated," we mean that

A) the radioactive heating in the core is increasing with time.
B) the Earth's magnetic field varies at different locations on the globe.
C) the Earth is very different than any other planet we study.
D) the density increases as you descend downward toward the core.
E) the density of oceanic basalt is less than that of granite on the mountain tops.

Question 61

The lunar mare are found

A) mainly on the near side.
B) mainly on the far side.
C) only in the dark areas of the lunar poles, where water is not boiled away.
D) only as layered rocks, since the original water was lost long ago.
E) uniformly all over the Moon.

Question 62

radiation is trapped close to our surface by the greenhouse effect.

A) Ultraviolet
B) X- ray
C) Gamma ray
D) Radio
E) Infrared

Question 63

The most abundant gas in the Earth's atmosphere is

A) nitrogen.
B) water vapor.
C) oxygen.
D) hydrogen.
E) helium.

Question 64

Which of these theories seems to best explain the Moon's origin?

A) Fission Theory
B) Fusion Theory
C) Capture Theory
D) Impact Theory
E) Coformation Theory

Question 65

Which statement about our core is FALSE?

A) It generates a stable and permanent magnetic field much as a regular bar magnet.
B) The seismic data indicates the outer portion is liquid, the inner part solid.
C) It is almost as hot as the Sun's glowing surface, the photosphere.
D) It must be rich in both iron and nickel.
E) Its magnetic field generates the protective Van Allen radiation Belts.

Question 66

The far side of the Moon was first mapped

A) by the Apollo astronauts on the first orbit of the Moon with Apollo 8.
B) by Galileo in 1610 with his first telescope.
C) by NASA with its Lunar Orbiters in the 1960s.
D) by early Russian spacecraft.
E) by William Herschel with his large reflectors in the early 1800s.

Question 67

Weather always occurs in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the

A) stratosphere.
B) thermosphere.
C) ionosphere.
D) troposphere.
E) mesosphere.

Question 68

has the largest gravitational pull on Earth.

A) Mars
B) The Moon
C) Jupiter
D) Venus
E) The Sun

Question 69

The ozone layer blocks much of the Sun's radiation.

A) X- ray
B) ultraviolet
C) infrared
D) gamma ray
E) radio

Question 70

Which of these age ranges best describes the lunar maria?

A) 3.9 - 3.2 billion years
B) 100 - 65 million years
C) 2.5 - 1.0 billion years
D) 8.6 - 6.0 billion years
E) a few million years to present lava flows seen erupting

Question 71

The tides occur when there is little tidal variation, near first and third quarter moons.

Question 72

When strong solar winds are displaced poleward by our magnetic fields, we get

A) sunspots.
B) intense auroral displays.
C) the Van Allen radiation belts.
D) droughts and dust bowls in the American West.
E) hurricanes in the tropics.

Question 73

The region in which charged particles are trapped by our magnetic fields is the

A) ionosphere.
B) ozone layers.
C) exosphere.
D) Aurora.
E) Van Allen radiation belt.

Question 74

What is true of the lunar highlands?

A) They are younger than the darker mare.
B) They are the darker regions of the Moon seen with the naked eye.
C) They are less heavily cratered than the mare.
D) They are the oldest part of the lunar surface.
E) They are found on the Moon's northern hemisphere.

Question 75

The oldest rocks found on the Earth's surface date back about billion years.

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four
E) four and a half

Question 76

Earth's magnetic field

A) is weakening the Van Allen radiation belts.
B) is the force behind plate tectonics.
C) prevents charged particles in the solar wind from reaching the surface.
D) is a remnant of the solar nebula's magnetic field.
E) lines intersect the atmosphere at the equator.

Question 77

The presence of a magnetic field is a good indication that

A) the Earth's interior must be completely molten to the center.
B) the Earth's interior has had time to solidify, with a rigid bar magnet created.
C) the Earth's interior is similar to Mercury's, as both have fields.
D) a huge iron meteorite lies somewhere high up in the mantle, not in the core.
E) the Earth has a liquid metal outer core, spinning rapidly as it rotates.

Question 78

The rate of cratering in the lunar highlands shows us that

A) the largest impacts are the youngest, such as Copernicus and Tycho.
B) most of the asteroids must have hit the Moon, not the Earth.
C) they must be younger than the older, darker mare.
D) the oldest rocks are at least as old as the mare, but some craters are much younger.
E) they range from 4.6 - 4.4 billion years old, on average.

Question 79

The Sun reinforces the Moon's tidal pull during tides.

A) spring
B) ebb
C) slack
D) quarter
E) neap

Question 80

The bulk density of the Moon is than that of the Earth it orbits.