GSCI Final

Place the following in the correct order from MORE RECENT in time to OLDER.

1. Agriculture 2. Homo sapiens dispersed from Africa 3. Branching between Pan (chimpanzees) and Homo (humans) 4. Dinosaur extinction 5.Cambrian Explosion

How many pounds each of salt, cement, petroleum and iron ore is a 2019 U.S. baby projected to use? (Hint: I'm not asking for a sum.)

10,000-100,000

he start dates for the universe and earth are approximately ______ and _______ years old.

14, 5 billion

Study the graph below. How much sea-level rise has taken place since the year 1900? (give your answer in millimeters [mm])

210

The terrestrial portions of Earth went "green" (i.e. began to accumulate forests of land plants which were newly evolved) approximately how many years ago?

400 million

Look at the map below. About how much time elapsed between when Storrs, Connecticut (indicated by the black star), lost its glacial ice to when Plattsburgh, New York (indicated by the white star) lost its glacial ice? Enter your answer in THOUSANDS OF YEARS (numerical values on the map are all in units of thousands of years before present).

5.75

An increased rate of weathering of concrete by the year 2100 is expected due to (select the best answer):

A combination of accelerated leeching of cement and chlorination

Eutrophication is

A major cause of oceanic anoxia Caused by addition of excessive nutrients in an aquatic ecosystem

Which of these features of the East African Rift Valley likely led to the development of human intelligence and adaptability in that location:

A mosaic-like habitat with fluctuating conditions

These two images, one of a golf course and the other of a mountain top removal pit mine, are both examples of what?

Anthropogenic land use

How does Godzilla relate to the Anthropocene?

As Godzilla's size increased, so did the global collective anxiety about human impact on the planet

Which of the following are EXTRATERRESTRIAL risks to the world, as opposed to terrestrial? Select all that apply.

Asteroids Gamma-ray bursts

What is an example of climate change?

Average temperatures in Hartford are higher in the 2000's than in the 1950's

The fracking of natural gas-bearing bedrock is taking place where relative to the body of groundwater?

Below

Consider the following statements about volcanoes. I. The size of the eruption is negatively correlated to the frequency of eruption II. A supervolcano eruption is any eruption with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of more than 8

Both are true

Mountains in New England, such as Mt. Katahdin in Maine (image below) have been shaped in part by glaciers. What type of glaciers?

Both the Laurentide ice sheet and alpine glaciers

The Bering Land Bridge (see image below) was exposed by the fall of global sea-levels, which was in turn caused by ________.

Buildup of continental ice sheets

As our sun ages, what key chemical process will occur causing the transition to a "Red Giant"?

Burning Helium Gas instead of Hydrogen

f the options below, what does an explosive volcanic eruption release into the atmosphere? Select all that apply.

CO2, ASH ,H20

Modern ocean acidification is caused mainly by excess

Carbon from the atmosphere

This image of a lush Vermont forestscape is what most of us consider "wilderness", but during the Anthropocene it may still be subject to global changes that are hard for individual people to see. What are some of these changes, select all that apply.

Changing temperatures that lead to habitat shifts Changing atmospheric chemistry

Which of the following energy sources are ultimately derived from ancient life?

Coal Oil Natural Gas

Based on these images, what type of plate boundary experiences the most and most intense earthquakes?

Convergent

Which of these is not an important part of the scientific process:

Discovering correct interpretations of phenomena that can never be overturned

Based on this graph which of the following statements is accurate?

Earth in the globally warmed near future is colder than the average over the last 500 million years

Which of the following statements is true about ecosystem engineers:

Ecosystem engineers create, modify, or maintain habitat

Which is the correct order from largest (most inclusive) to smallest?

Eon, Era, Epoch

Explicitly and officially, the Anthropocene is (or will be) a(an)

Epoch of geological time

A sediment-starved beach will

Erode away rapidly

At which of the following would we expect high rates of erosion?

Exposed rock and sediment at high elevation Sediments perturbed by conversion to cropland

All asteroids that hit Earth originate from outside of the Solar System.

False

Connecticut is projected to undergo greater flooding than Louisiana in terms of land area inundated

False

Earth has since its formation had an oxygen-rich atmosphere.

False

Hydroelectric dams have no ecological impact and should therefore be used more widely to generate power.

False

Most of the mass extinctions recorded in the sedimentary record were caused by meteor impacts.

False

Study the figure from the coursebook, that shows "the evolutionary tree" of hominins, including Paranthropus, Ardipithecus and Australopithecus. True or false: different species of Homo, Paranthropus, Australopithecus and Ardipithecus never co-existed (meaning were alive at the same time).

False

The concept of climate change was invented by geographers based on maps.

False

Study the table below and place the following in the correct order from largest to smallest water reservoir. (1=largest and 5=smallest)

Glaciers Groundwater Lakes Atmosphere Rivers

During which part of Earth's history was its surface hot enough to melt rock?

Hadean

The original forests of China, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa:

Have mostly been lost

Relative to the inner core of the Earth, the crust contains much lower concentrations of ________ and much higher concentrations of __________.

Heavy Metals / Silicates

Volcanoes almost exclusively occur in close association with plate boundaries except in which case?

Hot spot volcanism

Study the figure below from your coursebook. Which of the following statements about this figure is FALSE? I - The figure suggests that mammal extinctions have been rising over the last 50,000 years II - The figure suggests that mammals are going extinct

II is false

The machine below is called the Bagger 288, with which humans can do so-called "mountaintop removal mining". With machines such as these, it has been calculated that humans are responsible for 75 Gigatons of mass transfer per year (a gigaton is 1000000000000 kg, mass transfer refers to the movement of material from one place to another). How does this rate compare to the average of the Phanerozoic and the Pleistocene?

It is at least 3 times higher than both the Phanerozoic and Pleistocene averages

What's wrong with Google's definition of the Anthropocene?

It uses the terms age and period incorrectly It describes humans as a force of nature It uses the terms climate & environment interchangeably All of the above answers

Which of the following is FALSE about the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption?

It was easily one of the largest volcanic eruptions known to humanity

The acronym LUCA refers to

Last Universal Common Ancestor

Which of the following hazards are unique to volcanic eruptions (select all that apply)?:

Lava flows Lahars Pyroclastic flows

When Notre Dame Cathedral burned in April 2019, the main neurological environmental impact involved.

Lead

Which of the following are common sources of groundwater contamination?

Leaking gasoline storage tanks Leaking septic systems Landfills with breached containment Road Salts Pesticides Fertilizers All of the above

Which is NOT important to the flux of groundwater flow in a uniform aquifer?

Location

Which of the following is a consequence of local extinction of beavers? Select all that apply!

Lower productivity and carbon storage Decreased wetland size Lower productivity and carbon storage

Much of the past several decades of data on weather and climate in the United States come from (Select all that apply):

NOAA's weather buoys Haruspicy Stream gage stations Voyager probes Airport weather stations

Which of the following statements is false: I - The Little Ice Age was caused by an increase in Anthropogenic activity in the 14th century II: The last glaciation in the Pleistocene epoch is an example of climate change that happened completely independent of human activity.

Option I is false

Which of the following elements is the most common element in the Earth's crust?

Oxygen

Which type of seismic wave arrives first?

P-waves

Pangea was a

Paleozoic super-continent

Compare the table about volcanic eruptions to the graph about asteroid impacts. Assuming that a "global catastrophe" is the same level of destruction as "apocalyptic", which of the following statements is true?

Potentially apocalyptic supervolcano eruptions are more common than apocalyptic asteroids

_____ hazards have the farthest reaching consequences, capable of triggering ____ thousands of miles away.

Seismic, Tsunamis

Which of the following summarizes the weather/climatic effects of volcanoes

Short-term cooling, long-term warming, acid rain

Where does coastal sediment (beach sand) come from?

Siliciclastic coastal sediment is eroded from terrestrial sources (on land) and is washed to coastlines by rivers and streams.

Which type of seismic wave causes the most damage due to ground shaking?

Surface waves

Which of the following is a mineral?

Table Salt

Geologic timespans in the Phanerozoic Eon (the past 541 million years) are defined by:

The features of the sedimentary layers or fossils they contain

Why does humanity have little control over things like Earthquakes and Volcanoes?

The geothermal energy that drive these forces are too great

Which of the following is NOT a reason why the lower Mississippi delta is at increased risk of flooding?

The physical limit of levee height has been reached

Ocean circulation would form latitudinal cells resembling those in the atmosphere if not for which of these factors?

The presence of continents

Which of these is a good reason to set the 1950s as the beginning of the Anthropocene:

The prevalent radiogenic isotopes (nuclear fallout) resulting from nuclear weapons testing is easy to detect in a geochemical survey Many new materials were being invented and introduced to the Earth System at this time

What are benefits of well-maintained coastlines?

They can act as buffer zones that protect inland areas from storms They provide habitat and nursery grounds for coastal organisms They lend themselves to human recreation They provide locations of food resource extraction (fishing, crabbing, etc.) All of the above

A climate can change even if average temperatures remain the same.

True

Rocks can undergo metamorphism by experiencing an increase in temperature but little to no change in pressure or differential stress.

True

The advent of the use of controlled fire by humans had a significant impact on the capacity of humans to alter the world around them.

True

The dumping by the U.S. Air Force of toxic wastes on Cape Cod caused polution plumes in the groundwater that is used for drinking water accessed through private wells.

True

The orbital theory of ice ages deals with the tilt and wobble of earth's orbit.

True

The risk to civilization of a Solar Storm is higher than it was 500 years ago

True

The ultimate fate of this planet, as far as we can currently tell, is for its orbit to decay to the point that it falls into the sun.

True

There has been life on Earth for more than half of Earth's existence.

True

There is robust evidence for human involvement in the extinction of many forms of megafauna in Australia.

True

Throughout the vast majority of human history, humans lived as hunter gatherers.

True

True or False, some of Earth's greatest biotic and climatic crises are associated with novel evolutionary adaptations of plants.

True

True or false: boundaries between all geological epoch are associated with some change in the environment and biology, that resulted in the rocks changing.

True

Who sucked the Fenton River dry?

UConn

Which scenario may result in liquefaction during an earthquake?

Unconsolidated sediment, saturated with water

The Park River in Hartford now flows

Underground

Which of the following does NOT exert control on long term evolution of populations of organisms?

Weather

The dumping of wastewater by the US Air Force into a Cape Cod well started during World War II (1941). By now, the plume has spread through groundwater movement to up to 5 miles away from the well. Based on this, what is the speed of groundwater flow below Cape Cod?

about 300 foot per year

The Neolithic revolution is most closely linked to the rise of ______.

agriculture

Which is NOT a mineral

amber

Study the image below. Phylogenetically speaking, animals are ________.

are a relatively small part of the tree of life

Looking back from 2100 AD, How much warmer are global temperatures likely to be than today measured in degrees Celsius?

between 1 and 4 °C

early life got energy through_________, which still happens on Earth today especially in places witch that lack

chemosynthesis,light

Biosphere 2, which represents a [A] (open/closed/isolated) system, was an experimental analog of the Earth system. It did not successfully reproduce many Earth system processes because it did not take into account the [B] (tectonic/meteoric/organic) subsystem.

closed,tectonic

Igneous rocks can be categorized by their _______.

crystal size

Today the timing of peak snowmelt runoff in New England streams is happening [blank] than it typically occured historically.

earlier

Study the figure below. Winds at the equator predominantly move from _______.

east to west

The main cause of anoxia in water bodies is

excess nutrient

Artifical intelligence is ____.

expected to upend labor markets in the coming decades

The great rise in the use of coal for generating electricity during the last half-century was directly linked to

fear of nuclear energy

Which type of radiation poses a global human hazard during distant supernova explosions?

gamma waves

The universe of Ptolemy was

geocentric

Which earthly phenomenon was least impacted by humans during the Anthropocene?

geothermal heat

During the 1960s and early 1970s, a widespread political concern for climate change was about

global cooling toward another ice age

The proposed date of ~1950 for the base of the Anthropocene is based on

globally synchronous markers of human activity

If it wasn't for _____ in the atmosphere, our planet would be _______

greenhouse gases, too cold for life

Our modern day carbon emission rate is _______ compared to carbon emission rates at the end Permian mass extinction, which is the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history.

higher

Before the age of fossil fuels, New England's industrial strength relative to other regions in the U.S. came from what power source?

hydropower

In archaeology, the arrival of hunter/gatherer societies is associated with a(n) _____ in _____

increase, fire

Prior to their local extinctions from the fur trade, beavers had _______ most American streams

increased the habitat diversity of

The cause of the Plainfield Earthquake swarm was due to

intraplate compression along old faults

A terraced hillside, such as picture here, is an example of an Anthropogenic _

land conversion

The Dust Bowl of the central United States was an example of what gone wrong?

land conversion

Which rock type absorbs carbon dioxide and therefore acts as a "sink" for carbon?

limestone

Relative to colonial people, the indigenous people of New England caused ________.

little transformation to the land.

Earth has concentric layers stratified by density. Which is the correct sequence from the internal reference point?

mantle, crust, ocean, atmosphere

For most of Phanerozoic earth history, global climates were _________.

much warmer than today

The 2010 Haiti Earthquake was [blank], considering the geologic history of the location

not without precedent

A good marker for the base of the official Anthropocene is

onset of plastic pollution

The greenhouse effect works by certain gas molecules absorbing and re-radiating _______

outgoing long-wave infrared radiation

Examine the image below. In the Vostok Core, the _____.

pattern is slow cooling followed by rapid warming

Ultimately, the energy stored in fossil fuel comes from ________.

photosynthesis

The threat of near earth objects like asteroids and comets is due to

physical impacts

In Earth System Science, a reinforcing feedback, or positive feedback loop (see for example the figure below)

pushes a system further out of balance

The unofficial Anthropocene is

regional

Land conversion, for example from forest to arable land can lead to _______.

salinization soil erosion stony soils All the above

Beach sand is composed of small fragments of other rocks. Which part of the Rock Cycle can beach sand be classified as?

sediment

Earth's interior is

slowly cooling down

Earth subsystems that are important to life, such as the hydrosphere and the atmosphere, receive most of their energy from _______.

solar input

A sea wall is normally built to

stop erosion

The frequency of asteroid impacts on earth is mainly a function of

their size

Saying that early humans were in the middle of the food chain means what?

they were both predator and prey

Study the image below. At which tectonic setting does volcanism NOT commonly occur?

transform plate boundary

Study the figure below. California is at a _______ plate boundary, and Iceland is at a ________ plate boundary.

transform, divergent

When a species "Overshoots" or exceeds it's population carrying capacity, is an example of?

unsustainability

Below is microscopic image of a rock. Rocks are _________ aggregates of _________.

usually, minerals

Which of the following options were responsible for the Permian-Triassic extinction that occurred 252 million years ago? Select all that apply. (Hint: you should have selected three of the options).

volcanic activity greenhouse gasses acid rain

The greatest mass extinction in Earth's history was due primarily to

volcanic gas emissions

Earth's "thermostat" involves long-term carbon balance caused by a balance between volcanism and __________.

weathering