ERS 121 Exam 1

QUIZ QUESTION: What is an ice shelf?

A large floating platform that forms where glaciers or an ice sheet flows down a coastline and onto the ocean surface

QUIZ QUESTION: If the earth were not rotating......

Air would move directly from high to low pressure

QUIZ QUESTION: The mountains on the South Island of New Zealand are called the ___________________________.

Southern Alps

QUIZ QUESTION: Deserts on Earth occur at about 30 degrees latitude because of:

The sinking air of the subtropical highs

QUIZ QUESTION: Antarctic Bottom Water is produced at the surface of the ______________

Weddell Sea

QUIZ QUESTION: What is an ice shelf?

a large floating platform of ice that forms where a glacier flows down to a coastline and onto the ocean surface

QUIZ QUESTION: What is an ice stream?

a region of an ice sheet that moves significantly faster than the surrounding ice

QUIZ QUESTION: Surface zones of high pressure are usually associated with....

descending air

QUIZ QUESTION: Vertical motion in the region of the subtropical highs is ________________

down

QUIZ QUESTION: On average, for every 1 km increase in altitude in the troposphere the air temperature....

drops about 6.5 degrees Celsius

QUIZ QUESTION: What is the halocine?

the zone of greatest salinity change

QUIZ QUESTION: What is the thermocline?

the zone of greatest temperature change

QUIZ QUESTION: The four thermal layers of the atmosphere in order beginning from the surface are:

troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere

QUIZ QUESTION: Vertical motion at the ITCZ or intertropical convergence zone is:

up

QUIZ QUESTION: The Copernican model of the solar system is similar to Aristotle's in that it.....

used perfect circular motions

QUIZ QUESTION: Lower tropospheric winds in the tropics in both hemispheres generally blow in what direction?

* easterly

QUIZ QUESTION: The prevailing winds in the middle latitudes of both hemispheres generally blow in what direction?

* westerly

QUIZ QUESTION: The average albedo of the Earth is about....

0.3

QUIZ QUESTION: The dry adiabatic lapse rate is ________ degrees C/km

10

QUIZ QUESTION: Approximately how long ago did the big bang take place?

10-15 billion years ago

QUIZ QUESTION: Approximately how deep is the ocean surface mixed layer?

100 meters

QUIZ QUESTION: The average atmospheric pressure at sea level is approximately __________ millibars.

1000 millibars

QUIZ QUESTION: The onset of the northern hemisphere glaciation in the late Cenozoic was at about....

2.5 million years ago

QUIZ QUESTION: On average, the atmosphere absorbs roughly this percentage of the solar radiation that reaches the top of the atmosphere

20%

QUIZ QUESTION: The mean temperature of the ocean's waters is:

3.5 degrees C

QUIZ QUESTION: The average salinity of seawater is ______ parts per thousand

35 ppt

QUIZ QUESTION: How deep are the ocean basins on average?

4,000m

QUIZ QUESTION: The age of Earth is estimated to be roughly....

4.6 billion years

QUIZ QUESTION: Much of Tibet lies at an altitude over 5000 meters, where the pressure is about 500 millibars. At such altitudes, the Tibetans are above roughly _________ of the air molecules in the atmosphere.

50%

QUIZ QUESTION: What % of the Earth is covered by water?

70%

QUIZ QUESTION: What is the relationship of absorbed solar to outgoing infrared in the tropics?

Absorbed solar is greater than emitted infrared

QUIZ QUESTION: What is the relationship of absorbed solar to outgoing infrared at the poles?

Absorbed solar is less than emitted infrared

QUIZ QUESTION: Who was Ernest Shackleton?

Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who attempted to reach the South Pole. He was perhaps best known for his Trans-Antarctic (Endurance) Expedition (1914-16)

QUIZ QUESTION: Where is the world's largest ice sheet located today?

Antarctica

QUIZ QUESTION: Who was Robert Scott?

British naval officer and explorer who led the famed ill fated second expedition to reach the South Pole (1910-12)

QUIZ QUESTION: How was Hubble able to determine the distances of nearby galaxies?

By measuring trigonometric parallaxes

QUIZ QUESTION: What are the relationships among pressure, temperature and density of air?

Density is inversely proportional to temperature, density is proportional to pressure.

QUIZ QUESTION: True or False: The deepest parts of the seafloor tend to be the youngest oceanic crust.

False

QUIZ QUESTION: True or False: A marine ice sheet floats on the ocean.

False

QUIZ QUESTION: True or False: A terrestrial ice sheet sits on a bedrock that is either above or below sea level.

False

QUIZ QUESTION: Who was Louis Agassiz?

Famed for his studies of glaciers that led him to formulate the notion of an "Ice Age" in the distant past.

QUIZ QUESTION: Who was Jean de Charpentier?

German Swiss geologist who was one of the first proponents of the idea that the glaciers of the Alps had once extended far beyond their present position.

QUIZ QUESTION: What is the driving force for katabatic winds?

Gravity

QUIZ QUESTION: Who was Thomas Crean?

Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer who was a member of the three major expeditions to Antarctica including the 1911-13 Terra Nova Expedition and the Trans-Antarctic (Endurance) Expedition 1914-16

QUIZ QUESTION: Identify the ice sheets that were located in North America during the last glacial maximum.

Laurentide, Cordilleran, Inuitian

QUIZ QUESTION: Identify the terrestrial ice sheets that were located in the northern hemisphere during the last glacial maximum.

Laurentide, Scandinavian, Greenland, Cordilleran

QUIZ QUESTION: The ________________________ was an era dominated by the dinosaurs.

Mesozoic

QUIZ QUESTION: The highest mountain in the Southern Alps is ________________________________.

Mount Cook

QUIZ QUESTION: Which of the following is not one of the four inner planets? Mars Earth Venus Neptune

Neptune

QUIZ QUESTION: Where on Earth does ocean deep water not form today?

North Pacific

QUIZ QUESTION: What is the correct sequence of the following oceans in descending order of their areas?

Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic

QUIZ QUESTION: List the correct order of radiation from the longest wavelengths to the shortest wavelengths.

Radio, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays

QUIZ QUESTION: The first party to reach the South Pole was led by...

Roald Amundesen

QUIZ QUESTION: Which ocean can be found at all longitudes?

Southern

QUIZ QUESTION: What type of galaxy is the Milky Way?

Spiral

QUIZ QUESTION: Who was Ignace Venetz?

Swiss engineer, naturalist and glaciologist who was one of the first scientists to recognize glaciers as a major force in shaping the earth.

QUIZ QUESTION: Who was JP Perraudin?

Swiss mountain guide who knew that glaciers had carved out the alpine landscape around his home and concluded that they must have once extended far down into the valley.

QUIZ QUESTION: What is an ice divide?

The boundary on an ice sheet, ice cap or glacier separating opposing flow of directions of ice

QUIZ QUESTION: What is a grounding line?

The boundary where a grounded glacier becomes a floating ice shelf

QUIZ QUESTION: True or False: Antarctic Bottom Water is the coldest and densest water mass in the ocean world

True

QUIZ QUESTION: True or False: Horizontal wind motion can help cause vertical air motion

True

QUIZ QUESTION: True or False: At the last glacial maximum the world ocean was enriched with oxygen-18.

True

QUIZ QUESTION: Oxygen built up in the Earth's atmosphere because....

algae and other organisms employed photosynthesis

QUIZ QUESTION: Upper air winds.....

are generally faster than surface winds

QUIZ QUESTION: Which of these factors influence the magnitude of the Coriolis force?

both wind speed and latitude

QUIZ QUESTION: The Coriolis Effect is responsible for _____________________ of the wind

changing the direction

QUIZ QUESTION: Winds spiral into form a surface low pressure system in the southern hemisphere in what direction?

clockwise

QUIZ QUESTION: Winds spiral out from a spiral from a surface high pressure system in the northern hemisphere in what direction?

clockwise

QUIZ QUESTION: Typical eastern boundary currents such as the Peru Current are:

cold

QUIZ QUESTION: The ocean is stratified with _________ _______ water on the bottom

cold, more salty

QUIZ QUESTION: The overall trend in global temperature since the early Eocene (about 55 million ears ago) was ____________.

cooling

QUIZ QUESTION: Winds spiral into form surface low pressure system in the northern hemisphere in what direction?

counterclockwise

QUIZ QUESTION: Winds spiral out to form surface high pressure system in the southern hemisphere in what direction?

counterclockwise

QUIZ QUESTION: In the troposphere, the air temperature would normally.....

decrease with increasing height

QUIZ QUESTION: As air temperature decreases, the capacity of air to hold water vapor

decreases

QUIZ QUESTION: With an increase in altitude, air pressure.....

decreases at a decreasing rate

QUIZ QUESTION: The pressure gradient force is directed from higher to lower pressure... where?

everywhere

QUIZ QUESTION: Typical western boundary currents such as the Gulf Stream are:

fast

QUIZ QUESTION: When you touch a cold piece of ice with your finger, energy flows...

from you finger to the ice

QUIZ QUESTION: The majority of the water outside of the oceans is in the form of....

glacial lakes

QUIZ QUESTION: The reason the Sun's radiant energy is of shorter wavelengths than the Earth's is because the sun....

has a higher temperature than the Earth

QUIZ QUESTION: What are the two most abundant elements in nebula (gas clouds) in the universe?

hydrogen and helium

QUIZ QUESTION: As air temperature increases, the capacity of air to hold water vapor....

increases

QUIZ QUESTION: In the stratosphere, the air temperature normally....

increases with increasing height

QUIZ QUESTION: The solar constant....

is higher on Earth than for Mars

QUIZ QUESTION: Surface zones of low pressure are usually associated with....

near surface convergence

QUIZ QUESTION: Which of the following is the MOST abundant gas in the atmosphere?

nitrogen

QUIZ QUESTION: Under intense pressure and high temperature, hydrogen atoms combine to form helium. This process is called:

nuclear fusion

QUIZ QUESTION: The troposphere is most likely to be the thickest...

over the equator

QUIZ QUESTION: The second most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere _________________.

oxygen

QUIZ QUESTION: This atmosphere component absorbs damaging ultraviolet radiation from the sun

ozone

QUIZ QUESTION: In non-mathematical terms, Kepler's third law says that....

planets close to the sun have shorter periods than those that are farther away.

QUIZ QUESTION: The primary force that causes all winds is:

pressure gradient force

QUIZ QUESTION: A steep pressure gradient.....

produces strong winds

QUIZ QUESTION: Newton's Second Law of Motion states that an objects acceleration is....

proportional to the force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass

QUIZ QUESTION: The atmosphere is a.....

selective absorber

QUIZ QUESTION: The major salt in the sea is _____________.

sodium chloride

QUIZ QUESTION: The ozone layer is found in the _____________.

stratosphere

QUIZ QUESTION: Thermohaline circulation is due to differences in _____________ and _______________

temperature and salinity

QUIZ QUESTION: Winds are named for the direction:

that they are COMING

QUIZ QUESTION: Where is New Zealand?

the South Pacific Ocean

QUIZ QUESTION: The Doppler Effect is _____________________________.

the change in frequency and wavelength of a wave due to motion between the source and the observer.

QUIZ QUESTION: Currents are named for.....

the direction they are GOING

QUIZ QUESTION: The Stefan-Boltzmann Law gives the relationship between....

the intensity of radiation and the temperature of the object

QUIZ QUESTION: The ocean is stratified with __________ ____________ water on top

warm, less salty