Earth Science Exam 2

Which of the following biochemical processes are completed by Prokaryotes?

- Production of methane from organic matter or carbon dioxide - Fermentation of sugars to alcohol and eventually to carbon dioxide -Extraction of nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it to a form useable by other organisms (nitrogen fixation)

How is carbon dioxide returned to the atmosphere?

- through cellular respiration - through the burning of hydrocarbons -through organic decay

Corporate-grown production crops often depend on __________ to produce high yields.

-fertilizers -pesticides -irrigation

What variable is used to gauge the strenth of a nation's economy?

-gross domestic product (GDP) - gross national product (GNP)

1) When deforestation occurs in a tropical rain forest the ____________ cycle is disrupted.

-hydrologic -biologic -carbon

_____________ is a problem associated with the heavy use of biomass (sometimes referred to as "noncommercial fuels")as an energy source.

-loss of forests - soil degradation and soil loss - increased fluxes of carbon dioxide and other gases to the atmosphere

______ are heterotrophs which consume the producers or feed on other animals

-primary consumers -secondary consumer

1) Given that 1 hectare = 10,000 square meters, if there are 1.3 x 109 hectares of total forested area that are being deforested at a rate of 0.8% per year, how many square meters of forest are deforested annually?

1.04 x 10^11 m^2/y

1) 10_17_Figure.jpg on page 281 projects that _____________ tons of total carbon could potential be removed from the atmosphere if deforestation would have been halted in 1990 and a massive reforestation was completed.

140 billion

According to our text, how many moons are in our Solar System?

166+

Most life is found between an ocean depth of _____ meters and an altitude of ______ meters

200;6000

From analysis of Figure 9.4 on page 221, what is the percent increase in the population of the developed world from 1900 to 2100?

220%

From Figure 9.21 on page 238, what is the percentage of energy demand for the transportation sector?

27.8%

According to our text, how long ago did primitive prokaryotic bacteria exist, evidenced from the banded iron formation in western Greenland?

3.8 billion years ago

If the growth rate of increase of the world population is 2%, what is the doubling time of the population? (Hint: equation is found on page 219)

35 years

In the reaction for the decomposition of limestone, CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O --> Ca2+ + 2HCO3- If two moles of CO2 are used in the weathering reaction, how many moles of HCO3- are produced?

4 moles are produced

About 200,000 million tons of carbon are removed from the atmosphere each year in the gross pimary production of organic matter on the surface of Earth. The atmosphere continas 800,000 million tons of carbon as carbon dioxide gas. How long before the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would be exhaused if there were now way to compensate for the removal of carbon dioxide?

4 years

The total carbon in the atmosphere currently is about 800 billion tons as carbon dioxide gas. Plants remove 200 billion tons in net primary production each year. How long would it take the atmosphere to run out of carbon dioxide if there were no means of replenishment of the gas?

4 years

If the US had a population of 306,000,000 people in 2007, calculate the per capita energy consumption using info from Figure 9.20 on page 237.

6.5 metric tons per capita

From analysis of Figure 9.4 on page 221, what is the percent increase in the population of the developing world from 1900 to 2100?

720%

From Table 9.5 on page 252, how much nickel metal was obtained in 1991 from the mining of 38 million tons of nickel ore? (Hint:total ore mined times the grade of the ore as a decimal = amount of metal obtained)

950000 tons Ni

What percentage of the total mass of the solar system resides in the Sun?

99%

________ is a catabolic biochemical pathway in organisms in which inorganic carbon in the environment is utilized for conversion into organic matter

Autotrophy

What is the microbial Genus name for Nitrogen Fixation?

Azobacter

According to Figure 8.14 on page 211, What is the relationship between sea mineral precipitation and hot house/ ice house cycling?

Calcite/dolomite seas correlate with hot house atmospheric conditions

Looking at Figure 9.17 on page 234 showing the gross world produce and the gross world product per person in US dollars from 1950 to 2008, what connection do these variables have with energy consumption?

Continuously increasing GWP and GWP/capita requires energy sources. Their extraction and use has lead to environmental degradation

Metals obtained from ores associated with granitic igneous rock bodies of the continental crust include: tin, bismuth, tungsten and ______________.

Copper

______ serve the important function of recycling nutrients in a sustainable ecosystem to maintain balance

Decomposers

All sulfur compound emissions into the atmosphere lead to negative global climatic consequences.

False

Gaseous nitrogen compounds emitted by both natural and human sources to the atmosphere only affect terrestrial ecosystems.

False

T or F: Perturbed or domesticated ecosystems do not lead to environmental degradation.

False

What variable may be used to determine how well off an individual is in a particular nation?

GDP per capita

We "Earthlings" are lucky that we live on a planet in the "Habitable Zone" meaning that it is not too hot or not too cold for life to flurish. This phenomemon is also known as the ____________ ___________.

Goldilocks paradox

1) Nitrogen, in the form of ammonia fertilizer is produced in an industrial chemical process known as the _____________ process.

Haber-Bosch

Which eon does our text refer to as "Earth's Violent Beginnings"?

Hadean Eon

1) Which statement is true?

It is easier for a temperate forest to recover after defprestation because nutrient stores are left in the soils

Pluto is the largest body in a region known as the _______________ ______________.

Kuiper Belt

______________ and _____________ are limiting nutrients in aquatic systems. One or both of these nutrients added to an aquatic ecosystem can enhance the NPP of the system and lead to unhealthy eutrophic conditions.

Nitrogen / Phosphorus

______________ _________ occurs when diatomic nitrogen is taken from the atmosphere during bacterial metobolism in soils and water and converted to nitrogen in the form of ammonia and nitrate, which may be utilized by plants.

Nitrogen fixation

Viruses are not technically considered to be alive because they are ________

Not composed of cells

Which terrestrial biome has the lowest percentage of phytomass?

Perpetual Ice

What is the microbial Genus name for Anammox Denitrification

Planctomycetes

What is the microbial Genus name for Denitrification?

Pseudomonas

1) The three major regions of Tropical Forests are located in Central America, Africa and ________ ___________.

South America

When considering the four stages of demographic transition, what is the stage presently characterizing many of the world's poorer nations?

Stafe 2: Transitional stage of high virth and lower death rates and rapid growth in population

According to the article (Berner, 1999), has the percentage of atmospheric oxygen varied much during Phanerozoic time? (Hint: look at the graph)

The percentage of atmospheric oxygen has varied over the Phanerozoic time with a spike to over 35% during the Mesozoic which was likely due to the abundance of land plants

Why could the exploitation of methane hydrates be of importance to the future of world energy supplies?

There are abundant methane hydrates in the coastal subsurface sediments of the ocean

What is the significance of the banded iron formations?

They represent a time of sufficiently high atmospheric O2 concentrations indicating photosynthesis by marine organisms

Which terrestrial biome has the greatest percentage of phytomass?

Tropical Rain Forest

1) Which statement is INCORRECT?

Tropical forest plants tend to have very deep, extensive root systems to access deeply stored nutrient-rich soils

Chemical, biological and biogeochemical cycles are found in all "spheres" of planet Earth.

True

T or F: According to the text, the present and predicted extinction rates are likely related to human activities

True

What is the major difference between the biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus and those of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur?

Unlike the other elements mentioned in the question, Phosphorus has no major gaseous reservoir in its biogeochemical cycle

Considering Figure 9.20 on page 237, which statement below is true conserning US fuel consumption over the past 150 years?

Use of coal is being replaced by natural gas

How can volcanic eruption like that of Mt. Pinatubo affect global climate?

Volcanic eruptions can inject sulfur compounts into the stratosphere which can lead to short-term climatic cooling

The five compounds which can act as oxidizing agents in remineralization of organic matter include: oxygen, nitrate, iron oxide, sulfate, and ____

Water

According to analysis of Figure 9.26 on page 241, what percentage of proven oil reserves are in the middle east region?

about 65%

1) __________________ produce seeds that are enclosed in a fruit or seed case within the Kingdom Plantae.

angiosperms

1) 10_24_Figure.jpg on page generally shows that per capita fertilizer use is ________________.

approaching similar levels for both developing and developed countries

According to Figure 8.4 on page 193, Where is the asteroid belt located?

between Mars and Jupiter

1) The tropical rain forests have been a major biome for millions of years. The relatively constant, warm and moist climate of this ecosystem has led to high ___________ of the system through the establishment of many ecological niches.

biodiversity

The author of (Berner, 1999) provides evidence that the levels of atmospheric oxygen during Phanerozoic time were the result of the biogeochemical cycling of which two elements?

carbon and sulfur

1) One step which developed countries can take to lessen the rate of destruction of the world's forests and be economically practical for developing nations is to lessen the __________ of developing countries in return for development of sustainable forest-management programs.

debt

All of the following are environmental consequences related to increased reliance on coal as an energy source EXCEPT _________________.

decreased emission of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere

1) From an environmental standpoint, it is important to know the areas of forest land to estimate emissions of carbon dioxide and other biogenic gases in the atmosphere and to estimate the rate of ____________

deforestation

An ____ is a functional unit of the ecosphere in which living and nonliving components interact dynamically and exchange materials

ecosystem

In addition to differences in size, the main difference between "plankton" and "nekton" is that plankton can only _____ while nekton can _____

float / swim

The continuous rise in energy demand by the developing world will lead to an increase reliance on _____________ ___________ as energy sources.

fossil fuels

1) One of the major types of higher plants called ___________ bear naked seeds not enclosed in an ovary.

gymnosperms

1) Five major effects of deforestation in developing countries are: displacement of indigenous people, emissions of carbon dioxide, flooding, hydrological changes and loss of ____________ and __________________

habitat / biodiversity

According to our text, " The principal environmental issues confronting humankind result from _____________ _____________ in the biogeochemical cycles of the biological elements (like carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur and oxygen).

human interference

1) Which of the following is NOT one of the five (5) recognized causes of deforestation in developing countries?

land ownership and distribution equality among the people of the nation

1) When nutrients applied in the form of fertilizers or animal wastes and pesticides are applied to agricultural fields, they can be ______________aquatic systems.

leached into

What type of plants harbor nodules on their root rhizomes which contain specialized bacteria that can fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammonia (NH3) which subsequently reacts with water to make ammonium (NH4+) which plants can use?

legumes (related to beans)

The largest sedimentary reservoirs of carbon is sotored as _________________.

limestone

The subdivision of the Phanerozoic (meaning "Visable Life") Eon into three major eras is based on _______________.

major flora and faunal changed observed in the sedimentary rock record as a result of major extinction events

The portion of the cycle which moves the greatest amount of methane from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere are the _____________.

natural wetlands

What is the gaseous by-product of photosynthesis necessary as an electron receptor for metabolic cellular respiration to occur?

oxygen

The development of the _______________ _____________ in the stratosphere trapped ultraviolet radiation allowing cyanobacteria and their fossilized counterparts, the stromatolites, to expand out into the environment.

ozone shield

According to chapter 7 of our text, the activities of ___________ have significanly impacted the chemical, biological and biogeochemical cycles of planet Earth.

people

Earth's atmospheric oxygen results from ___________________.

photosynthesis

Humans are affecting the Earth's ecosphere by consuming resources, developing civilizations and by world ____________.

population

_____ are autotrophs which produce organic matter from inorganic carbon and are the base of the food chain

producers

Since we are unable to directly sample atmospheric composition during the geologic past, scientists use ___________ data.

proxy

Why are fossil fuels considered non-renewable resources?

since reserves of fossil fuels took millions of years to build, the rates of human extraction far outpaces the rates of natural formation

1) The tropical forest area of the developing world is being reduced by clear-cutting and _______________________ activities at a rate of nearly 1% per year.

slash-and-burn

The two ways in which oil is trapped in sedimentary rocks include a stratigraphic trap and a ______________ trap.

structural

Name two long time-scale (geologic time) carbon cycling processes which control the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere? (Hint: not photosynthesis which is short time-scale carbon cycling).

subduction of limestone and volcanism

In the metabolic process generally known as photosynthesis plants or plant-like microbes use inorganic carbon in the form of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water and process them in the presence of nutrients and _____ to make more complex organic molecules and an important gaseous byproduct

sunlight

Massive stars, many times heavier than our sun, can create tremendous explosions with debris that can be seen in space for a long time afterward. One such explosion is called a_______________.

supernova

Organisms whose metabolic pathway is described as "heterotrophic" cannot _____

synthesize their own food

The two major ecosystems are ______ and _____

terrestrial / aquatic

During the decomposition of limestone, the reaction CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O --> Ca2+ + 2HCO3- Where does the CO2 come from?

the atmosphere

Limestone (CaCO3) weathers when carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere reacts with water (H2O) to make weak carbonic acid (H2CO3). The products of this reaction are dissolved ions of calcium (Ca2+) and bicarbonate (HCO3-). What happens to the dissolved consituents of this reaction?

the dissolved constituents enter the soil and ground waters and rivers and eventually reach the ocean where they are precipitated out

Although many of the exact details still need to be worked out, most scientitists concur that the event known as the "Big Bang" began ________________.

the universe as we know it

What are the three events in the history of the world that are associated with rapid population growth?

toolmaking, agriculture, and the industrial revolution

1) One example of the use of forests as a source of food (or economic benefit) in order to protect them from deforestation is ____________.

two of these are correct