Deck 1: Earth Systems

Question 1

The Earth's outer, cool, rigid shell is broken into several segments called __________ __________.

Answer 1

tectonic plates

Question 2

Oceans cover __________ percent of the Earth's surface.

A) 0.7
B) 7
C) 17
D) 71

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A __________ is any combination of interrelated, interacting components.

Answer 3

system

Question 4

At its center, Earth's temperature is about __________.

Question 5

The atmosphere consists mainly of __________.

A) nitrogen and argon
B) nitrogen and oxygen
C) oxygen and carbon dioxide
D) carbon dioxide and argon

Question 6

The rigid, outer part of Earth, including the crust and the uppermost mantle, is called the __________.

A) atmosphere
B) geosphere
C) lithosphere
D) hydrosphere

Question 7

Water frozen in glaciers is part of Earth's __________.

A) geosphere
B) atmosphere
C) hydrosphere
D) biosphere

Question 8

Liquid freshwater amounts to about __________ percent of Earth's total water.

A) 0.64
B) 6.4
C) 16.4
D) 60.4

Question 9

The central portion of the Earth, called the __________, contains a solid layer surrounded by a molten layer.

Question 10

The __________ is a mixture of gases, mostly nitrogen and oxygen.

Question 11

During the formation of planets, gravitational forces caused small rocky spheres to collide and coalesce to form mini-planets called __________.

Question 12

The __________ contains all of Earth's water.

Question 13

Earth's core consists mostly of __________.

A) iron and nickel
B) frozen water
C) solid rock
D) gas

Question 14

__________ is a principle stating that the geologic processes operating today also operated in the past.

Question 15

The increased carbon dioxide level has raised the Earth's average temperature by __________°C since the Industrial Revolution.

Question 16

A __________ __________ occurs when a small initial perturbation affects another component of the system, which amplifies the original effect.

Question 17

The Earth's core is part of the __________.

A) geosphere
B) atmosphere
C) hydrosphere
D) biosphere

Question 18

The __________ of the Earth is a thin, rigid surface veneer that lies above the mantle.

Question 19

__________ is a principle that states that occasional huge catastrophes alter the course of Earth history.

Question 20

Oceans contain __________ percent of the Earth's water.

A) 2.5
B) 15
C) 65
D) 97.5

Question 21

Which of the following is not a system?

A) the human body
B) the digestive organs in a human body
C) a bacterium that lives within the small intestine
D) an atom

Question 22

According to current trends in Earth's population development, it is likely that pressure on Earth's resources will __________.

A) increase
B) decrease
C) not change
D) be insignificant
Multiple Choice

Question 23

The earliest known life forms existed on Earth:

A) 38 million years ago.
B) 544 million years ago.
C) 1 billion years ago.
D) 3.8 billion years ago.

Question 24

The consequence of the vastness of geologic time is that:

A) events that occur slowly become insignificant.
B) events that occur slowly become significant.
C) improbable events seldom occur.
D) improbable events never occur.

Question 25

__________ means that the geologic processes operating today also worked in the past.

A) Gradualism
B) Uniformitarianism
C) Catastrophism
D) Density layering

Question 26

Water frozen in glaciers is a component of the:

A) geosphere.
B) biosphere.
C) hydrosphere.
D) atmosphere.

Question 27

A __________ is a combination of interacting components that form a complex whole.

A) feedback mechanism
B) catastrophic event
C) threshold effect
D) system

Question 28

The Earth's mantle is found in the:

A) hydrosphere.
B) geosphere.
C) biosphere.
D) atmosphere.

Question 29

The core is:

A) the least dense layer of the Earth.
B) the densest layer of the Earth.
C) the same density as the crust.
D) composed of liquid magma.

Question 30

Oceans:

A) cover 7 percent of the Earth.
B) cover 0.7 percent of the Earth.
C) cover 71 percent of the Earth.
D) cover 91 percent of the Earth.

Question 31

The Earth's population (in mid-2009) was about __________ people.

A) 2.3 billion
B) 4.5 billion
C) 6.7 billion
D) 8.2 billion

Question 32

Earth's surface systems are ultimately powered by the __________.

A) Moon
B) mantle convection
C) Sun
D) radioactive decay in the Earth's interior

Question 33

Homo sapiens and our direct ancestors have been abundant on our planet for about __________ percent of Earth history.

A) 0.1
B) 1.0
C) 10
D) 50

Question 34

Our Solar System formed:

A) when a fiery hot nebula in space coalesced under the force of gravity.
B) from huge meteoroids that had been flying through intergalactic space.
C) when another star exploded, shooting rocky debris into space.
D) from a coalescing frigid cloud of dust and gas.

Question 35

Geologists estimate that Earth formed __________ years ago.

A) 4.6 billion
B) 46 million
C) 4.6 million
D) 46 billion

Question 36

A tectonic plate is composed of:

A) cool, rigid rock that rides on a continuous shell of molten magma.
B) cool, rigid rock that rides on a plastic mantle layer.
C) hot, plastic rock supported by a rigid foundation of cool rock.
D) cool, rigid rock that floats on the Earth's molten core.

Question 37

The crust is about:

A) 5-10 km thick.
B) 12-25 km thick.
C) 7-70 km thick.
D) 70-100 km thick.

Question 38

Earth's crust is part of the:

A) hydrosphere.
B) biosphere.
C) geosphere.
D) atmosphere.

Question 39

Ground water saturating rock underground is a component of the:

A) atmosphere.
B) hydrosphere.
C) biosphere.
D) geosphere.

Question 40

The fundamental source of energy that drives Earth's surface systems--the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere--is:

A) the Sun.
B) the Earth's interior heat.
C) meteorite impacts.
D) the wind.

Question 41

The Earth's atmosphere is a mixture of gases, mostly nitrogen and hydrogen.

Question 42

The Earth's atmosphere acts as a blanket, retaining heat at night and dispersing direct solar heating during the day.

Question 43

All of Earth's spheres continuously exchange matter and energy.

Question 44

A giant meteorite smashing into Earth is an example of gradualism.

Question 45

The hydrosphere includes water in streams, lakes, and oceans; in the atmosphere; and frozen in glaciers.

Question 46

Ground water accounts for 71 percent of the Earth's water.

Question 47

Oceans cover about 71 percent of the Earth.

Question 48

The Earth's core is composed of hot, partially molten granite.

Question 49

More water exists in the Earth's atmosphere than in surface streams and lakes.

Question 50

A feedback mechanism occurs when the environment initially changes slowly or not at all in response to a small perturbation, but after the threshold is crossed, an additional small perturbation causes rapid and dramatic change.

Question 51

The Earth's mantle lies over the core, and the crust lies over the mantle.

Question 52

The biosphere consists solely of the thin zone on the surface of the continents that is inhabited by life.

Question 53

Gradualism states that:

A) the Earth is uniform throughout its interior.
B) the Earth's mantle is uniform, although it is different from the crust and core.
C) geologic change occurs over long periods of time by a sequence of almost imperceptible events.
D) catastrophic events, such as volcanic eruptions, alter the Earth.

Question 54

The Earth is about 460 million years old.

Question 55

At its center, Earth is as hot as the Sun's surface.

Question 56

Imagine that a system has been perturbed at a constant rate for a long time, but the system has barely changed. Suddenly, a small additional perturbation causes a large change in the system. This scenario is an example of:

A) uniformitarianism.
B) catastrophism.
C) a threshold effect.
D) a feedback mechanism.
True/False

Question 57

Below a thin layer of soil and beneath the ocean water, the outer layers of the Earth are composed entirely of molten rock.