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
