How Did Earth and Its Biosphere Originate? (PART II)

Week 7: Monday, October 6th

_______ explains how life began from a “prebiotic soup”

prebiotic evolution

_______, _______, and _______ helped synthesize and develop essential biomolecules

volcanic activity, lightning, and hydrothermal vents

_______ supports the idea that organic molecules can form from early Earth conditions

Miller-Urey Synthesis

_______ is an acronym for the 6 essential chemicals for life

CHNOPS (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur)

_______ is a stage of earth’s atmosphere defined as mostly hydrogen adn helium from the protosun, both of which were stripped away by solar winds

primordial atmosphere

_______ is a stage of earth’s atmosphere defined as mostly water and carbon dioxide with sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) hydrochloric acid (HCL), and methane

secondary atmosphere

true or false: the secondary atmosphere of earth lacked free oxygen and had a lot of volcanic outgassing

true

_______ is a stage of earth’s atmosphere defined as a modification of early atmosphere by life processesas a result of removing carbon dioxide and having an encrichment of free oxygen

modern atmosphere

oceans on earth formed from _______ (major), and _______ (minor)

volcanic outgassing, comets

RNA has catalytic activity and functions as _______ because it spices out its own introns

ribozymes

_______ is a type of bacteria that released oxygen into the atmosphere and ocean 3 billion years

cyanobacteria

_______ led to increased oxygen, which drove evolution of multicellularity and aerobic organisms 2.4 billion years ago

great oxygenation event

the _______ was built up in atmosphere to protect Earth from UV solar radiation 2 billion years ago

ozone (O₃) layer

_______ is the process and features that shape words

geology

the _______ of earth is solid and made of iron and nickel

inner core

the _______ of earth is liquid, and made of iron and nickel

outer core

the _______ of earth is made of solid silicate minerals

lower mantle

the _______ of earth contains the ather=nosphere, which is weak and allows plates to move

upper mantle

the _______ of earth is above the upper mantle and is the location of tectonic plates

lithosphere

the _______ of earth is felsic and has low density

continental crust

earth’s _______ is generated by electric currents due to its convection currects from milten iron and nickel in the outer core

magnetic field

currents from earth’s magnetic field are caused by _______, heat escaping from the core

genodynamo

earth’s magnetic field shields the planet from _______ and _______

solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs)

________ is an element that moves between rocks, minerals, seawater, and the atmosphere

carbon

_______ are organisms that play an important role in the carbon cycle and maintain marine ecosystems

phytoplankton