Earth and Space 2nd Semester Exam
How are seas different from oceans?
Seas are smaller and mostly landlocked
What causes the seafood to spread?
drifting continental crust
Which of the following weather hazards involves lack of moistures?
drought
What causes lightning
friction between updraft and downdrafts in a cumulonimbus cloud
Narrow bands of fast, high altitude westerly winds are called
jet streams
What type of climate is common in the southeastern US
temperate
The rotation of Earth on its axis creates
the Coriolis effect
When the Moon, Earth and Sun are aligned, large tidal ranges called ______ occur
neap tides
What is the thermocline?
A transitional layer in the ocean where temperature decreases rapidly with depth
Scientists warn that elevated levels of greenhouse gases in Eath's atmosphere are causing global warming. One consequence of this problem that can already be seen is _________
All above
What is the first step of thunderstorm formation?
An abundant source of moisture in the lower atmosphere
What is the cause of ocean layering?
Density differences
During the time of Pangea, what had the greatest impact on Earth's climate?
It was a time of a giant global ocean
What is the study of Earth's magnetic record?
Paleomagnetism
The supercontinent from Wegener's theory of continental drift is called
Pangea
What sparks the development of a tornado
Strong downbursts
Why is Earth surface warmer at the equator than at the poles?
The equator receives more direct sunlight than the poles
What happens to air in the tropics as it is warmed and water evaporates
The resulting warm, moist air rises and cools
At what latitudes is ocean water most warmed by the sun?
a temperature latitudes
In ________ warm air is squeezed upward between two cold air masses
an occluded front
At what level is the water density highest?
at the bottom, where water is in contact with the seafloor
Which gas in the atmosphere has been increasing significantly because of humans burning of fossil fuels
carbon dioxide
what two topographic features of the ocean flood were discovered only with the use of sonar?
mid-ocean ridges and deep-sea trenches
The tremendous amount of heat within Earth powers
plate tectonics
The geologic features on the ocean flood in this region resulted from
rising convection currents in the magma
What type of thunderstorms are tornadoes associated with?
supercells
Much of Earth's internal heat comes from _________
the decay of radioactive elements
What is the convergence of the trade winds from both hemispheres called?
the intertropical convergence zone
When did the first modern oceanographic expedition occur?
the late 1800's
What wind system occurs at 30 degrees north and south of the equator
the trade winds
What is the average salinity of ocean water?
35 ppt
Where do tectonic plates interact?
At plate boundaries
Where are the youngest rocks on the seafloor located
At the mid-ocean ridges
Which factors directly influences local weather and climates?
Mountains and prevailing winds
An expedition finds a sample in the rock on the seafloor though to be 4 million years old. What was the polarity of the Earth at that time , according to the figure?
Reversed
Which climate region is typically located between 20N and S of the equator
Temperate continental
What is the primary difference between weather and climate
Weather refers to the short-term state of the atmosphere and climate refers to the ling-term conditions
This table shows the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale According to this table what causes the damage during a tornado?
Winds
Greenhouses gases in the atmosphere _____
absorb UV light but transmit only infrared light
Wagner proposed that the continents were
floating on top of oceanic crust
The ______ states that Earth's crust and ridged upper mantle are broken into plates that move at different rates and in different directions
theory of plate tectonics
The area of the globe that receives the most solar radiation year round is called the _________
tropics
Currents in the oceans flow, at different depths, both toward and away from the tropics. What are the main causes oft this layering of ocean currents?
water temperature and salinity
Rocks close to mid-ocean ridges are _______ rocks from mid-ocean ridges
younger than
