ESS Quizes

(1) In the1980s and 1990s we wanted to investigate whether humans could build self-sustaining bases for the Moon or Mars so we built a facility called Biosphere 2 in Arizona to act as a mini Earth system. It contained a giant greenhouse with lots of different types of vegetation, such as rainforest, grasslands and agricultural crops. It even contained a mini ocean and coral reef. Then between 1991-1993 we sealed 8 scientists into the facility - it was airtight and there was no separate water or food supply. The vegetation had to keep the air breathable as it does on Earth and the scientists also had to grow all their own food. What type of system was Biosphere 2 while it was sealed?

Closed

(5) The release of brine during sea ice formation: a. makes ocean water more dense and so more likely to sink and form deepwater b. makes ocean water less dense and so more likely to sink and form deepwater c. makes ocean water more dense and so less likely to sink and form deepwater d. makes ocean water less dense and so less likely to sink and form deepwater

a

(5) Which of the following sea-ice monitoring methods measures ONLY sea ice extent (rather than volume)? a. satellites measuring passive microwaves b. satellites using active radar c. Sonar from nuclear submarines d. Direct measurement by people or buoys

a

(6) If the equilibrium line on a glacier moves upslope what might that mean about the amount of accumulation or ablation? a. accumulation was much less in that year and/or ablation was much greater b. accumulation was much greater in that year and/or ablation was much greater c. accumulation was much less in that year and/or ablation was much less d. accumulation was much greater in that year and/or ablation was much less

a

(7) Glaciers that move mainly by internal deformation will move fastest: a. They retreat slightly from a position where they were resting on large underwater mounds of sediment b. Their calving face is sat in very shallow water c. They surge forward rapidly down a flooded valley (fjord)

a

(7) How can glaciers travel past bumps at the base of the glacier? a. By melting under increased pressure ahead of the bump and refreezing when pressure is released after the bump b. By freezing in front of the bump when pressure is released and melting after the bump when pressure is increased c. By melting when pressure is released ahead of the bump and refreezing after the bump when pressure is increased

a

(7) Which of the following statements about water underneath glaciers and ice sheets is FALSE? a. Water underneath ice sheets and glaciers will only flow downhill b. Water is very unevenly distributed under an ice sheet or glacier c. The amount of water underneath a glacier changes throughout the year d. The amount of water underneath a glacier has an effect on its speed

a

(8) Glaciers can erode sediments and rocks in two ways. Which of the following is NOT one of those ways? a. the ice itself grinds away rocks at the base of the glacier b. the rocks frozen into the ice at the base of the glacier act like sandpaper and grind away the solid rock below the glacier c. meltwater at the base of the glacier can refreeze in cracks and "pluck" rocks away from the ground surface

a

(4) What properties of soil and water cause ice wedges and patterned ground to form? a. Soil contracts when it gets colder and water contracts when it freezes b. Soil contracts when it gets colder and water expands when it freezes c. Soil expands when it gets colder and water contracts when it freezes d. Soil expands when it gets colder and water expands when it freezes

b

(7) If the density of ice were 900 kg/m3 and seawater were 1025 kg/m3, what percentage of an iceberg would be ABOVE the water? a. 10.5% b. 12.2% c. 87.8% d. 89.5%

b

(7) Why are we concerned about ice shelves collapsing? a. Because they are very large and when they melt they will raise sea level suddenly b. Because they act to hold back glaciers flowing off Antarctica which could contribute to sea level rise if they start flowing faster c. Because when they collapse there is an increase albedo which will cause temperatures to cool

b

(8) What are the distinct differences seen between the ice core temperature records from Greenland and Antarctica and why do these differences exist? a. Antarctica shows rapid temperature swings while Greenland does not. This is because it is a much colder place and isolated from the rest of the world's climate b. Greenland shows rapid temperature swings while Antarctica does not. This is because freshwater released into the North Atlantic from Arctic ice sheets can shut down the thermohaline circulation c. Greenland shows gradual changes in temperature related to Milankovitch cycles but Antarctica does not show this

b

(8) Which of the following statments about the world during the last glacial period is TRUE? a. The animals found in California during the last glacial period are the same as those living here today. b. The sea level was 120m lower allowing the expansion of modern humans into new parts of the world. c. Much of the world was dryer including California.

b

(2) A global increase in temperatures will not be distributed evenly across the Earth - some areas will not warm by much whereas other areas will warm a lot. Where will the greatest increase in temperatures be? a. the tropics b. South California c. the Arctic d. highland regions

c

(3) A block of snow has a snow water equivalent of 5 inches and a thickness of 20 inches, what is the density of the snow relative to liquid water? a. 10% b. 20% c. 25% d. 40%

c

(3) What property of the water molecule is most important for creating strong hydrogen bonds between the molecules and so the unusual thermal properties of water? a. it consists of 3 bonded atoms rather than 2 bonded atoms the covalent bonds of the molecule c. the bend in the molecule creating a more positive and negative side d. the open, hexagonal structure of iceb.

c

(3) Which of the following conditions would create the lowest evelation snowlines in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California? a. very warm summers and large amounts of winter snowfall b. very warm summers and little winter snowfall c. very cold summers and large amounts of winter snowfall d. very cold summers and little winter snowfall

c

(3) Which of the following statements about plant growth in the Arctic is TRUE? a. Plant growth will definitely increase everywhere in the Arctic because there will be longer growing seasons. b. Plant growth will definitely decrease everywhere in the Arctic because plants will be more likely to be damaged when ground freezes if there is only a thin snowpack. c. Plants will respond in a complex way to changes in seasonal snow due to longer growing seasons but also potentially increased damage from frosts and less water availability

c

(3) Will a large supercool water droplet have a slower or faster terminal velocity than a small supercool water droplet? a. slower because it has a greater surface area than the small droplet b. lower because the volume increases more slowly than surface area as radius increases c. faster because the mass increases more quickly than surface area as radius increases d. faster because the updrafts move more quickly

c

(4) During the middle of winter at extremely high latitudes, what is the main source of energy to the soil and how is that energy transferred? a. energy from the atmosphere which travels by convection b. energy from the Sun which travels by radiation c. energy from the Earth itself which travels by conduction

c

(4) What term would we use to describe the type of permafrost where most of the soil is frozen but there are some areas of unfrozen soil, such as near rivers and on south-facing slopes? a. sporadic b. continuous c. discontinuous d. talik

c

(5) Salinity of the brine within sea ice can be as high as 195 permil (parts per thousand). How much salt would you have to add to 1kg of water to create this salinity? a. 1.95g b. 19.5g c. 195g d. 1.95kg

c

(5) Use this link to find the current Arctic sea ice extent: https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ a. approximately 3 million km2 b. approximately 7 million km2 c. approximately 13 million km2 d. approximately 15 million km2

c

(5) Which of the following is formed by converging sea ice? a. polyna b. lead c. compression ridge d. patterned ground

c

(5) Which of the following statements is TRUE? a. Antarctic sea ice extent is also shrinking very rapidly. b. By 2100 we will not have any Arctic sea ice, even in winter. c. Today we only have half as much summer sea ice as we did 40 years ago d. Even though our sea ice extent in shrinking in the Arctic the volume of the sea ice is increasing.

c

(6) A glacier will always retreat when: a. temperatures are warmer b. accumulation is greater than ablation c. accumulation is less than ablation

c

(6) A glacier will slide along its base when: a. Driving stress is less than basal drag b. Driving stress is less than internal strength of the ice c. Driving stress is greater than the basal drag d. Driving stress is greater than the internal strength of the ice

c

(6) Greenland gets MUCH more snow than Antarctica each year. How many years will it take snow to compress to form ice on Greenland compared to Antarctica? a. More years b. Same number of years c. Fewer years

c

(6) There will be LESS driving stress if: a. ice thickness is larger b. angle of slope is larger c. the density of ice is less

c

(7) Which of the following statements is TRUE? a. All glaciers around the world "surge" and they do so every 1-5 years. b. During the quiescent phase of a surge glacier the ice will be flowing very rapidly. c. A glacier surge may be triggered when enough mass builds up that a critical threshold is reached forcing sediments to deform or water to be redistributed under the ice.

c

(2) Which of the following is NOT a reason that the poles are colder than the equator? a. polar regions have a higher albedo b. the poles have long periods of darkness in winter c. the poles experience greater beam spreading and beam depletion d. there is no greenhouse effect in polar regions

d

(2) Which of the following would be an example of a "proxy" record of past climate? a. rain gauge records from 1930 to today b. the presence of dry lake beds in the desert near here c. direwolf fossils found in the La Brea tar pits d. the width of tree rings over the last 2000 years from the Sierra Nevada mountains

d

(3) Which unusual property of water causes Earth's climate to be more moderate (i.e. less extreme temperature changes), especially near the coasts? a. low density as a solid b. high latent heat of vaporization c. high melting and boiling points d. high specific heat and heat capacity

d

(4) The half-life of radiocarbon is 5730 years. If a 17,190 year-old mammoth is discovered in the permafrost, how much of its original radiocarbon would remain? a. 50% b. 33% c. 25% d. 12.5% e. 6.25%

d

(4) What controls whether methane or carbon dioxide will be released when organic matter is decomposed in thawing permafrost? a. the depth of the permafrost which will affect the type of organism breaks down the organic matter and so whether methane or carbon dioxide will be released b. it is essentially a random process - it is not possible to work out whether methane or carbon dioxide will be released c. the amount of organic matter in the soil will affect whether methane or carbon dioxide will be released d. the amount of available oxygen in the soil will affect what type of organism breaks down the organic matter and so whether methane or carbon dioxide will be released

d

(4) Which of the following changes due to thawing permafrost will significantly affect human settlements in the Arctic? a. subsidence and land instability b. increased erosion of land by rivers and oceans c. distribution and quality of freshwater d. all of the above

d

(5) What of the following will NOT occur due to loss of summer Arctic sea ice by 2100? a. Increase in economic interest in the Arctic Ocean due to new shipping routes and access to oil/natural gas reserves b. Increase in coastal erosion threatening communities and infrastructure built near shorelines c. Changes to fishing stocks due to alterations in existing marine food webs and the timing of peak productivity d. Complete extinction of most polar species

d

(6) Which of the following statements about measuring glacier mass balance is TRUE? a. To measure the amount of ablation occuring on a glacier you would drill ablation stakes into the ice at the beginning of winter. b. It is relatively easy to measure the mass balance of a glacier. c. Satellites can use reflected radio waves to measure how the height of the glacier changes over time and are accurate even in places with very steep slopes. d. Satellites can monitor glacier mass balance by measuring changes in gravity over time but this method can only detect large changes in mass on big glaciers.

d

(7) Which of the following will cause sea level to rise when they melt? (Note - ignore any buttressing effects.) a. sea ice b. rice shelves c. icebergs d. tidewater glaciers e, All of the above

d

(2) Why are geoengineering solutions to climate change, such as space mirrors or ocean fertilization, not necessarily good ideas? a. Many of them are not yet possible because we don't have the necessary technology. b. Many of them would be much more expensive to implement than simply cutting carbon emissions. c. Many of them could have dangerous unintended consequences to ecosystems or weather on Earth. d. Many of them would help lower temperatures but would not prevent ocean acidification. e. All of the above!

e

(2) What causes the LARGEST uncertainty in our estimates of future climate changes by 2100?

how much greenhouse gas humans choose to emit over the coming decades

(1) There are 4 major reservoirs that make up the Earth system. Which does the cryosphere belong to?

hydrosphere

(1) What is the term for ground that remains frozen throughout the year?

permafrost

(8) Several climate feedback loops helped to increase temperatures from the last glacial 20,000 years ago to interglacial conditions today. Which of the below is a NEGATIVE feedback loop rather than a positive feedback loop? a. Warming temperatures and more rainfall globally at the end of the last glacial period caused increased growth of vegetation which would act to decrease atmospheric carbon dioxide levels b. Warming of the oceans at the end of the last glacial period releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere (because less carbon dioxide can dissolve in warmer water) c. Warming temperatures at the end of the last glacial period resulted in thawing of permafrost over large areas which released carbon dioxide to the atmosphere d. Warming temperatures at the end of the last glacial period caused a reduction in ice covered areas (sea ice, ice sheets and snow) which decreased the Earth's albedo

a

(8) What is currently happening to the d18O of the oceans due to melting of land ice? a. d18O of ocean water is becoming more negative (gaining more 16O) b. There is no change c. d18O of ocean water is becoming more positive (gaining more 18O)

a

(1) The mass of ice making up Whitney Glacier on Mount Shasta in Northern California is approximately 114 gigatons. It is one of the very few glaciers in the world that is not shrinking. Snowfall adds about 0.75 gigatons to the ice sheet each year and about 0.75 gigatons is lost through melting in the summer a. What is the residence time of a molecule of H2O in the Whitney glacier (pictured below)? b. Climate models predict that, in the future, warmer air temperatures will cause more snow to fall in the winter (~ 1 gigaton per year) but will also increase melting to approximately 1.5 gigatons per year. Will the glacier be in steady state? If not what will happen to the mass of the glacier?

a. 152 years b. No. The mass will decrease.

(1) The albedo of the Earth today is approximately 30%. If climate change and over-grazing causes grasslands to be replaced by deserts, what would happen to Earth's albedo and therefore planetary temperature (ignoring other factors such as atmospheric composition)?

albedo would increase and planetary temperature would decrease

(2) What is the main reason that it is colder at the top of a mountain than at sea level? a. Because the energy that fuels Earth's climate mainly comes from heat escaping from the core. b. Because the energy that warms the atmosphere is radiated from the ground so the higher you go in the troposphere the colder it gets. c. Because there are higher wind speeds at the top of mountains which cause you to feel colder.

b

(2) Which of the below would cause global temperatures to increase? a. a significant increase of snow and ice cover in the northern hemisphere b. an increase in wildfires releasing soot (a type of aerosol) into the atmosphere which acts to absorb outgoing infrared radiation c. a very large volcanic eruption which releases tons of ash (a type of aerosol) into the atmosphere blocking incoming radiation d. a decrease in solar luminosity

b

(2) Which of the following statements about past climates is TRUE? a. There have always been large ice sheets on Earth but they have varied in size. b. In the past Earth has been much hotter and colder than today but since the beginning of human civilization our climate has been very stable. c. Milankovitch cycles are not important factors when considering why climate has changed over the last 2 million years. d. The temperature rise over the last century is not unusual - similar changes have occurred within the last 1000 years.

b

(3) I add 3000 J/kg to a substance and it increases in temperature from 2oC to 7 oC. What is the specific heat of this substance? a. 210 J/kg/oC b. 600 J/kg/oC c. 850 J/kg/oC d. 15000 J/kg/oC

b

(3) The Bergeron process creates large ice crystals in a cloud because at the same concentration of water vapor: a. air is undersaturated above an ice crystal and saturated above a supercool droplet b. air is saturated above a supercool droplet and supersaturated above an ice crystal c. air is supersaturated above a supercool droplet and undersaturated above an ice crystal

b

(3) Which of the following statements about the importance of snow to California is TRUE? a. Snowpack in California is predicted to increase in area and thickness over the next 100 years due to warmer temperatures and so increased water vapor in the atmosphere. b. Snowmelt contributes to California's water supply in the spring and summer when more water is needed by urban areas and agriculture. c. The reduction of snow cover in California in the next few decades will have little effect on ecosystems in the mountain areas. d. Very little of our water supply in California comes from snowmelt so even large reductions in snow cover in the next 100 years will not have significant effects on our economy.

b