Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
47 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Earth's long-term climate can be described as quasi-steady, with long periods of hothouse eras punctuated by (geologically) brief ice ages. |
TRUE |
|
At least twice in Earth's history, the planet has nearly frozen over, during Snowball Earth episodes. |
TRUE |
|
Glacial/interglacial cycles are briefer than Ice Ages. |
TRUE |
|
We are presently in the Holocene interglacial. The last ice age was termed the Pleistocene, but this was part of a greatly extended glacial that began nearly 50 million years ago. |
FALSE |
|
Ice ares are thought to be primarily controlled by orbital variations (Milankovic cycles) while glacial cycles are driven by plate tectonic processes. |
FALSE |
|
During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), global average temperature rose by about 5 C, from the massive release of carbon into the atmosphere as CO2. |
FALSE |
|
The Early Anthropocene was thought to have started about 5000-6000 years ago, perhaps leading to the beginnings of global warming. |
TRUE |
|
The largest rates of global warming are found in Earth's tropical belts. |
FALSE |
|
About 1/3 to 1/2 of the atmosphere's missing carbon is believed to have been absorbed by the upper oceans. |
TRUE |
|
The water vapor feedback in climate change is a positive feedback, such that the temperature rise associated with an increase in CO2 is effectively doubled. |
TRUE |
|
Most of the minerals in Earth's upper crust are composed predominantly of: |
SILICA AND OXYGEN |
|
An igneous rock that is extrusive and mafic (black colored), formed from volcanism, is termed: |
BASALT |
|
An igneous rock that is intrusive and felsic (light colored), formed from sowly cooling magma, is termed: |
GRANITE |
|
An example of a clastic sedimentary rock is: |
SANDSTONE |
|
An example of a non-clastic sedimentary rock is: |
LIMESTONE |
|
Marble, a metamorphic rock, derives from: |
LIMESTONE |
|
Quartzite, a metamorphic rock, derives from: |
SANDSTONE |
|
THe semi-solid, hot layer inside Earth, which undergoes slow convection, is termed the: |
MANTLE |
|
Which of the following statement(s) is TRUE about the composition and properties of oceanic (seafloor) crust? |
1. It has an average density of 3000 kg/m3, is composed of basalt, and "sinks down" or rides low on the mantle 2. It's formed where tectonic plates spread apart |
|
Orogenic belts: |
ALL OF THE ABOVE |
|
Continental shields - the ancient, rocky cores of continents - are also called: |
CRATONS |
|
The Pacific Ring of Fire is characterized by: |
ALL OF THE ABOVE |
|
Divergent or spreading plate boundaries are located: |
1. Along ocean floors, i.e. along the center of the Atlantic Basin 2. On land, i.e. the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa |
|
The Cascadia Fault Zone: |
ALL OF THE ABOVE |
|
The San Andreas Fault Zone: |
IS A TRANSFORM-TYPE FAULT |
|
Plate subduction zones, involving an ocean plate and land plate, generate which of the following geophysical hazards? |
ALL OF THE ABOVE |
|
When two continental plates converge, what happens? |
1. Earthquakes are generated 2. Lofty mountains are lifted |
|
Tectonic plates are thought to move horizontally due to: |
1. The "push" of shallow, rising magma in the uppermost mantle 2. The "pull" of old plate slabs that are cold, dense, and sinking |
|
Hot spots: |
ALL OF THE ABOVE |
|
Isostasy explains: |
ALL OF THE ABOVE |
|
Continental growth: |
ALL OF THE ABOVE |
|
This type of magma leads to explosive styles of volcanism: |
High silica, high viscosity, high dissolved gas concentration |
|
This type of volcano underlies the Hawaiian Islands: |
SHIELD VOLCANO |
|
Which of these volcanic hazards involves slow, deep burial by a water-ash mixture? |
LAHAR |
|
Which of the following volcanic hazards involves a rapid, hot, suffocating cloud that behaves like a blast wave? |
PYROCLASTIC FLOW |
|
Climate change (cooling) of the planet often ensues for several years after a major volcanic eruption, caused by which of the following chemicals in the volcanic plume? |
SO2 |
|
This type of extreme volcano issues forth from a vent-like structure, causing massive amounts of lava to form thick plateaus and plains, possibly triggering mass extinction events: |
FLOOD BASALT |
|
This type of extreme volcano generates exceptionally violent explosions (never witnessed in recorded history) and massive calderas, buries enormous areas under thick ash, and currently underlies Yellowstone National Park: |
SUPERVOLCANO |
|
The 3D coordinate of an earthquake, lying on a fault plane, is termed the |
FOCUS |
|
Which of the following is NOT true about the propagation of earthquake energy? |
SOFT SOILS TEND TO ACCENTUATE THE HIGH FREQUENCY OF SHAKING P-WAVES |
|
Which of the following statements is NOT true about earthquakes? |
THE DEADLIEST EARTHQUAKES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HIGH MAGNITUDE EVENTS |
|
Which of the following statements is NOT true about earthquakes beneath the eastern US? |
THEY ARE VERY LOCALIZED EVENTS, FELT ONLY A FEW MILES FROM THE EPICENTER. |
|
When describing a region's "normal" high temperature on a given day, the better statistic to use instead of the mean is the mode. |
TRUE |
|
A Mediterranean or dry summer climate is typical of a the southeastern US, while southern California enjoys a humid subtropical climate regime. |
FALSE |
|
The Great Lakes and New England typify a severe midlatitude climate zone, mainly because of the brief, excessively hot summers there. |
FALSE |
|
Two geographic realms where we find abrupt transitions between climate zones include increasing elevation in highland regions, and mountain ranges characterized by strong rain shadows. |
TRUE |
|
The CO2-weathering feedback is a negative feedback that helps stabilize long-term climate on Earth, involving linkages between the land, ocean, atmosphere and deep (internal) Earth. |
TRUE |