ESCI 1001 Review Questions (Quiz 3)

Metabolism Inolves

Use of energy by life

Life Obtains Energy from

Sunlight and nutrition

Evolution is Facilitated by

Variation and selection

The Most Important Biosphere Reactions

Photosynthesis and respiration

Inorganic Carbon Includes

Carbon dioxide, carbonic acid, bicarbonate, and carbonate

Chemosynthesis occurs where

Seafloor hot springs

When was Chemosynthesis likely Very Important

The Archean

Are Plants Autotrophs or Heterotrophs

Autotrophs

Are Animals and Fungi Autotrophs or Heterotrophs

Heterotrophs

What Causes Seasonal Fluctuation in Atmospheric CO2

Boreal forests

Half of Fossil Fuel Emissions Go to the Atmosphere; Where does the Other Half Go

Oceans

The Largest Store of Living Biomass is in

Land plants

How do Autotrophic Organisms Obtain Energy?

Photosynthesis or chemosynthesis

Heterotrophic Organisms Obtain Organic Matter by

Feeding on other organisms

What is the Most Productive Biome

Tropical rainforests

What are Two Examples of Subcellular Organelles

Mitochondria and chloroplasts

Proteins are Built From

Amino acids

Two Types of Nucleic Acid are

DNA and RNA

Lipids include

Waxes, fats, and oils

Carbohydrates include

Sugar, starch, and cellulose

Nutrients that Constrain the Development of an Ecosystem are Called

Limiting nutrients

Biological Deposits of Geological Importance Include

Carbonate, silica, or phosphate

The Classification of Life is Called

Taxonomy

What is an Earthquake

Shaking due to abrupt motion between two rock bodies

Where do most Earthquakes occur

Along plate boundaries

Are Earthquakes along Transforms Shallow or Deep

Shallow

Are Earthquakes along Convergent Boundaries Shallow or Deep

Both

Where do the Largest Earthquakes occur

Subduction zones

What is Induced Seismicity

Seismicity caused by human activity

What is the Cause of most Induced Seismicity

Subsurface disposal of water in oil and gas fields

What are the Two Measures of Earthquakes

Magnitude and intensity

What Controls Intensity

Magnitude, distance from the epicenter, earthquake depth, and geology

What are Earthquake Impacts

Damage to buildings and infrastructure, fires, slope failures, liquefaction, and tsunamis

What is the Cause of Tsunamis

Large subduction earthquakes

Can Earthquakes be Predicted

No

How is Earthquake Risk Assessed

Probability of a magnitude within a certain time

What is the Purpose of Earthquake Risk Assessment

To inform public awareness, emergency plans, regulations, and enforcement

What is an Aftershock

An earthquake caused by a preceding earthquake

Which Waves arrive First

P waves

Which Waves cause most Damage

S waves and surface waves

What is Earthquake Early Warning

An alert triggered by detection of P-waves

Is Shaking Worse on Strong or Weak Geology

Weak

What Controls Slope Stability

Slope angle, material, water content

How are Slope Failures Classified

Material, movement, and speed

What are the Types of Slope Failure Motion

Freefall, sliding, and flow

What are Slope Failure Types

Rockfall, rockslide, rock avalanche, creep, slump, and debris flow

How is Creep or Solifluction Recognized

Tilted trees or posts

How are Slope Failures Delayed

Strengthening the slope and managing drainage

What Controls Wave Size

Wind speed, fetch, and time

How is Wave Geometry Specified

Wavelength, amplitude, and speed

What is the name for Sediment Transport driven by Oblique Waves

Longshore drift

Over Geological Time, do Coasts become Straighter or more Irregular

Straighter

What is Eustatic Sea-Level Change

Global Sea Level change mainly related to global ice volume

What is Isostatic Sea-level Change

Local sea-level change mainly due to local ice volume

What is a Spit

An elongated longshore current deposit extending into open water

Name an Area of Prominent Barrier Islands

US east coaste

What causes Barrier Islands

Long term water level rise on a low gradient coast

What is an Unintended Consequence of Shoreline Protection

Erosion down the longshore trend

Major Human uses of Water

Consumption, irrigation, transportation, electricity, and industry

Processes in the Water Cycle

Evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and flow

Two types of Fresh Water

Surface water and groundwater

What makes Rivers Larger

Tributaries and springs

Does an Overflowing Lake have a Positive or Negative Hydrological Budget

Positive

What does a Water Budget account for

Hydrological inputs and outputs

What do Rivers Transport

Water, bed load, suspended load, and dissolved load

What are the Units of River Discharge

Units of water volume per unit time - cms or cfs

In the US, what does the 100th Meridian Delineate

Arid to the west and humid to the east

Define Glacier

Ice deforming under its own weight

In what Direction do Alpine Glaciers Flow

Down-valley

In what Direction do Ice Caps and Ice Sheets Flow

Radially in all directions

Where do Present Tropical and Mid-Latitude Glaciers Occur

High altitude

Where do Additional Glaciers presently occur

High latitudes

Thickness of the Antarctic Ice Sheet

4 km

What is distinctive about the West Antarctic Ice Sheet

A marine ice sheet grounded below sea level

Name for a Glacial Ice Bucket

Mass balance

What is the ELA

Line between the accumulation zone and the ablation zone

Term used for Glaciers Frozen to their Bed

Cold glacier

Term used for Glaciers with a Melted Bed

Warm glacier

Long and Straight Scratches left on Rock Surfaces by Glacial Ice

Glacial stritations

Form of a Glaciated Mountain Valley

U-shaped

Unsorted Glacial Sediment

Glacial erratics

A Glacially Streamlined Hill

Drumlin

Sinuous Glacial Meltwater Ridge

Esker

Ice Marginal Deposit

Moraine

Dust blown from Glacial Outwash Plains

Loess

Annual Glaciolacustrine Deposit

Varves

A Pebble Dropped by an Iceberg

Dropstone

Term for Proposed late Proterozoic Global Glaciation

Snowball earth

What caused late Cenozoic Glaciation

Continental reconfiguration

What has caused Regular Cycles in Recent Glaciation

Earth orbit

Define Mineral

Naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline, has a defined composition

Most Important Mineral in Earth’s Crust

Silicate

Define volcano

A vent in the Earth’s crust through which rock or lava is ejected

Three Tectonic Settings for Volcanism

Divergent plate boundaries, convergent plate boundaries, hot spots

Define Chemical Weathering

The natural process that breaks down rocks and minerals through chemical reactions

Define Sediment

A solid material made of loose particles that is transported to a new location where it is deposited

Most Common Chemical Sedimentary Rock

Limestone

Concept that allowed a Scientific Approach to Earth History

Uniformitarianism