OCE Chapter 1

Anaerobic organisms require oxygen to survive.

False

Early Polynesians only traveled within sight of land.

False

Free oxygen was present in the Earth's primordial atmosphere.

False

In Europe, significant oceanographic knowledge was acquired during the Middle Ages.

False

Oceanic crust is less dense than continental crust because it is made of silica and manganese.

False

The largest of the ocean basins, which currently covers more than half of the ocean surface, is the:

Pacific Ocean.

What happens during radioactive decay?

Parent isotopes turn into daughter isotopes.

The first humans from Western Hemisphere known to have developed the art of navigation were the: The first humans from Western Hemisphere known to have developed the art of navigation were the:

Phoenicians

Describe the origin of Earth's oceans.

The water that fills our oceans was mostly derived from outgassing, with a minor component coming from ice comets.

According to the Geologic Time Scale, which selection lists the correct order of coexistence, from earliest to latest?

Trilobites and amphibians, insects and dinosaurs, dinosaurs and birds, flowering plants and fishes, humans and reptiles

According to the nebular hypothesis, __________.

all bodies in the solar system formed from an enormous cloud composed of mostly hydrogen and helium, with only a small percentage of heavier elements

One of the reasons that free oxygen in our atmosphere is important to the development and maintenance of life on Earth is because oxygen:

can form ozone and block some UV radiation.

core

composed mostly of iron and nickel with a liquefied metallic outer layer

mantle

contains minerals rich in iron and magnesium, between the crust and the core, and has the second largest volume according to the chemical classification

lithosphere

crust and the uppermost mantle consisting of a solid rock layer

The lithosphere consists of Earth's __________.

crust and uppermost mantle

The separation of the Earth into layers while it was molten was the result of the:

differing densities of the elements that make up the Earth.

Eratosthenes

first determination of Earth's circumference

A tentative, testable statement about the general nature of a phenomenon is called a/an:

hypothesis

The term "scientific certainty" __________.

is false because science never reaches an absolute truth, because we can never be certain that we have all of the observations

The vertical movement of Earth's crust due to the addition or removal of weight is called __________.

isostatic adjustment

Ptolemy

mapped world with Roman knowledge showing latitude and longitude

Current scientific knowledge indicates that the most likely origin of most of Earth's oceans was due to:

water vapor released from volcanic outgassing.

What does the term "asthenosphere" literally mean?

weak sphere

Earth's current atmosphere supports animal life because __________.

plant photosynthesis provides oxygen that is critical for aerobic respiration

basalt

plastic (capable of flow) portion of the upper mantle beneath the lithosphere

The average depth of the world's oceans is approximately:

3,682 meters (12,080 feet).

Earth is about:

4.6 billion years old.

Have the oceans always been salty?

Although Earth's oceans have existed since early in the formation of the planet (at least 4 billion years ago), its chemical composition must have changed due to the high carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide content in the early atmosphere, as well as volcanic outgassing of gases such as chlorine.

The European "Age of Discovery" began with:

Christopher Columbus' discovery of the "New World."

Which of the following statements regarding continental and oceanic crust is TRUE?

Continental crust is thicker and less dense than oceanic crust.

The first person we are aware of who determined the circumference of the Earth using trigonometry and the angle of sunlight at Alexandria, Egypt, was:

Eratosthenes.

What is the difference between an ocean and a sea? What is the difference between an ocean and a sea?

Seas are smaller and shallower bodies of saltwater, somewhat enclosed by land, but directly connected to the world oceans.

In general, the salinity content of ocean water has remained constant throughout the majority of Earth's history.

True

Radiometric dating is used to determine the ages of rocks.

True

The Earth's crust solidified around 4.5 billion years ago.

True

The important contribution to navigation made by Eratosthenes in the third century BC was __________.

a reasonably accurate calculation of the circumference of our planet

The water in Earth's oceans came __________.

mostly from volcanic outgassing and partly from comets

The Sun and the rest of the solar system formed about 5 billion years ago from a huge cloud of dust and gas called a:

nebula.

What is the scientific definition of half-life?

the amount of time over which the number of parent isotopes decreases by half

Density stratification in relation to Earth's interior results in __________. Density stratification in relation to Earth's interior results in __________.

the highest density materials concentrated toward Earth's core, whereas progressively lower density components form concentric spheres around the core toward the planet's surface

What did Stanley Miller's experiment demonstrate?

vast amounts of organic molecules could have been produced in Earth's early oceans (a "pre-biotic soup").