Ch. 1: The Water Planet

The North Pole is located one-quarter of a circle in degrees latitude from the equator; thus its latitude is ______ degrees north.

90

GPS stands for ______ _______ ______.

Global Positioning System

The hypsographic curve compares which of the following?

Land and water elevation relationships (differences between land elevations and ocean depths.)

Most of the world's landmasses are located in the ______ Hemisphere.

Northern

The largest of the world's oceans is the _______ Ocean.

Pacific

The boundaries of the various units of geologic time were established mainly by which two methods?

The appearance or disappearance of certain fossils and radiometric dating. Reason: The appearance of specific fossils, called index fossils, along with radiometric dating by measuring the decay of isotopes, are the key ways to delineate the boundaries of geologic time.

Solar day

The average time for Earth to make one rotation relative to the Sun

Sublimation

The conversion of ice directly to water vapor

What is the primary force that causes Earth to have a greater equatorial radius than the polar radius?

The force of rotation causes Earth to have a greater equatorial radius than the polar radius. Reason: The outward pull due to centrifugal force caused by Earth's rotation causes Earth to "bulge" at the equator.

Sidereal day

The measurement of a day on Earth based on making a complete rotation with respect to a far-distant point in space

Transpiration

The release of water by plants

If Earth's axis were not tilted, what would happen to the seasons?

There would be no perceived seasons on Earth and global day lengths and temperatures would be uniform. Reason: If Earth's axis was at 90 degrees relative to the Sun, there would be no seasonality and all parts of Earth would receive equal amounts of solar radiation, causing uniform day lengths and temperatures.

During the winter solstice for the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun is directly overhead at which of the following locations?

Tropic of Capricorn

The hydrologic cycle involves ______.

a constant movement of water into and out of reservoirs

Approximately 13.8 ____ years ago, the Big Bang initiated the formation of the universe.

billion

The most widely accepted age of Earth is between 4.5 and 4.6 _____ years.

billion Reason: This is the currently accepted scientific figure based upon isotope studies from Earth's rocks and meteorites.

In the eighteenth century, a ______ was used to help determine longitude more precisely on ships.

chronometer

Which of the following pieces of technology had to be developed in order to calculate longitude accurately?

clocks

The two natural periods of time caused by the movement of Earth are the ______ and the ______.

days; years

Geologic time is divided into four major _____ : the Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic.

eons

A sidereal day is about ______ than the mean solar day.

four minutes shorter

______ are generally found in groups called clusters.

galaxies

The Milky Way is our ______.

galaxy

The three states of water: ______, ______, and ______, are possible on Earth's surface because Earth's mean surface temperature is about 61°F.

gas; liquid; solid

The four eons: the Hadean, the Archean, the Proterozoic, and the Phanerozoic, collectively make up what scientists refer to as ______ time.

geologic

The Atlantic Ocean is roughly ______ the size of the Pacific Ocean. Multiple choice question.

half

If a(n) _______ is supported consistently, it may be advanced to the level of a theory.

hypothesis

The 180 degree longitude line approximates the _____.

international date line

A scientific method used for determining the age of Earth is based upon the radioactive decay of _____.

isotopes

GPS (Global Positioning System) navigation is widely used because ______.

it is worldwide now and extremely accurate

The Sun is at ______ when it is at its highest elevation above a reference longitude.

its zenith

Because lines of ______ rotate with Earth, 360 degrees in twenty-four hours, it is necessary to know the time of day and the position of the Sun or the stars relative to one's line.

longitude

The age of dinosaurs, the Mesozoic, began and ended with _______ _______ events.

mass extinction

Which of the following time periods is based upon the lunar cycle?

month Reason: The month or "moonth" is 29.5 days, which is the time required for the Moon to go through its phases as seen from Earth.

The origin of our solar system is attributed to the collapse of a single, rotating interstellar cloud of gas and dust known as a(n) ______.

nebula

Two potential sources of the _____ on Earth include the mantle and continual addition from outer space by icy comets.

oceans

The evolution of photosynthetic organisms on the early Earth resulted in an increase in the levels of the gas _____ in its free or "pure" form.

oxygen

Lines of latitude, also known as , ______ are referenced to the equator.

parallels

In the lunar month, the Moon ______.

passes through its four phases

If the central line of latitude is the equator, the central line of longitude is the ______ ______.

prime meridian

The length of time that a given water molecule spends in any one of Earth's water reservoirs is called its _____ ______.

residence time

Old maps are accurate in their north and south depictions of Earth's surface, but many are badly distorted by their east and west dimensions of geographic forms. This is because ____.

sailors have been able to calculate latitude since ancient times

Earth's tilt of 23.5 degrees as it orbits the Sun is responsible for the _______, which occur in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres at opposite times of the solar year.

seasons

The Sun is directly over the two tropics, Cancer and Capricorn, at two times during the solar year. These two dates are called ______.

solstices Reason: The solstices occur on June 21 and December 21. On those dates, the Sun is north of the equator at the Tropic of Cancer (June 21) or south of the equator at the Tropic of Capricorn (December 21).

A galaxy is composed of clumps of ______.

stars

Lord Kelvin based his estimate of Earth's age on ______, but his results were way off compared to modern-day methods of dating.

temperature

The major changes in the state of the universe that occurred immediately after the Big Bang were in ______ and ______.

temperature; size

The boundaries of geologic time units were first established by ______, and now a more accurate method, ______, is common.

the appearance and disappearance of fossil types; radiometric dating

If our galaxy has a thickness of about 1000 light-years, this is equal to ______.

the distance that light can travel in a single year multiplied by 1000.

It is necessary to know the time of day and the position of the Sun or the stars relative to one's longitude line because ____.

the longitude line rotates with Earth, 360 degrees in twenty-four hours

If a hypothesis is supported consistently by different observations or experiments, it may be advanced to the level of a(n) _____.

theory

The Big Bang is the currently accepted theory about the origin of the ______.

universe

Because Earth's mean surface temperature is about 61°F, ______ is able to exist as a gas, a liquid, and a solid.

water

The Southern Hemisphere is sometimes called the ______ hemisphere because it contains so much more than the Northern Hemisphere.

water

Latitude can be calculated by measuring _____.

your angle in reference to the bright star, Polaris

Earth has been divided into time ______ that are 15 degrees of longitude wide, although some adjustments have been made when necessary to follow political boundaries for the convenience of people living in those areas.

zones

The lunar month, whereby the Moon passes through all four phases, takes ______ days.

29.5

Which of the following are true regarding a great circle?

-A great circle connecting any two points on Earth's surface defines the shortest distance between them. -They include any circle on Earth's surface with its center at Earth's center. -All longitude lines form great circles.

A light-year is equal to the distance light travels in _______.

1 year

Place the descriptions of Earth's mass extinction events in order, with the oldest event at the top and the most recent event at the bottom.

1. About 96% of all life on Earth went extinct during this extinction event. 2. About 50% of Earth's species went extinct as a result of this event. 3. This event killed off the dinosaurs as well as many other species.

Rank the following water reservoirs from longest residence time at the top to shortest residence time at the bottom.

1. Ocean 2. Large lake 3. Pond 4. Atmosphere

Rank the five parts of the world's oceans from largest at the top to smallest at the bottom.

1. Pacific 2. Atlantic 3. Indian 4. Southern 5. Arctic

Our solar system formed approximately ______ years ago.

5 billion

The time of sunrise changes about one hour for each _______ degrees of longitude on Earth.

15

There are ______ degrees of longitude east and west of the prime meridian to the international date line.

180

The hypsographic curve indicates that only ______ percent of Earth's surface is above sea level.

29

The shallowest of the five oceans is the ______ Ocean.

Arctic