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LPC 2020 EAE1011 - Earth Science > EAE1011 Test 2 > Flashcards

EAE1011 Test 2 Flashcards

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1
Q

Since 1980, the global mean temperature has:

A

Increased by 1°C

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2
Q

Significant contributing factors to Global Sea Level Rise?

A
  • Added meltwater
  • Thermal expansion
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3
Q

The Earth’s climate system involves linkages between:

A
  • The atmosphere, the oceans, and the biosphere.
  • The oceans, the biosphere, and the atmosphere
  • The biosphere, the lithosphere, and the cryosphere
  • The Lithosphere, the cryosphere, and humans
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4
Q

The Earth’s atmosphere is primarily composed of:

A

Nitrogen (N₂)

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5
Q

Where is the greater heat storage capacity on earth?

A

The Earth’s oceans have a greater capacity to store heat than the Earth’s atmosphere.

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6
Q

What are key comparisons between the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans?

4 comparisons

A
  • It is easier to move things up and down in the atmosphere than it is in the ocean.
  • The atmosphere is warmest at the bottom, while the ocean is the warmest at the top.
  • The atmosphere and the oceans are able to pass heat between them.
  • Warmer air/water in general has a lower density than colder air/water.
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7
Q

What is the main source of energy for the Earth’s climate system?

A

The Sun

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8
Q

Where is the Earth’s albedo is highest?

A

It is highest over ice sheets

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9
Q

The amount of water vapour that can be present in the atmosphere depends on temperature - does cold or warm contain more water vapour?

A

Warmer air can contain more water vapour than cold air.

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10
Q

The Earth’s temperature, without the Greenhouse effect, would be:

A

Colder

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11
Q

The main driving force of Earth’s atmospheric circulation is:

A

The temperature difference between the equator and the poles, caused by differences in insolation.

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12
Q

What are the impacts of the Coriolis force?

A

The amount of deflection is dependent on wind speed and latitude.

The Coriolis force deflects objects to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Coriolis force deflects objects to the right in the Northern Hemisphere.

The deflection is largest near the poles and zero at the equator.

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13
Q

How is the Hadley Cell is formed?

A

It is formed when air rises at the equator and sinks at 30°N.

It is formed when air rises at the equator and sinks at 30°S.

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14
Q

The Ferrel Cell is important for weather in Melbourne, because:

A
  • Melbourne is within the area covered by the Ferrel Cell.
  • Eddies formed by the Ferrel Cell are responsible for the cold fronts that cross over Melbourne periodically, bringing rain and storms.
  • The Ferrel Cell eddies carry cold air, carried by south westerly winds, across Melbourne.
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15
Q

The Land-Sea breeze is primarily controlled by:

A

The changes in temperature on land between night and day

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16
Q

When you are studying rainfall caused by Monsoons, it is important to know:

A
  • Where the ITCZ is
  • What time of year it is
  • The direction of the winds
  • The locations of low and high pressure zones
17
Q

You can trigger rainfall over an area by:

A

Cooling the air

18
Q

Where are you less likely to be exposed to cyclones:

  • Northern Australia
  • Tasmania
A

Tasmania

19
Q

The distribution of temperature and precipitation in Australia is controlled by:

4 items

A
  • Hadley, Ferrel and Polar cells
  • The subtropical high pressure systems
  • The extratropical westerlies with their highs and lows
  • The monsoons
20
Q

When did the non-avian dinosaurs go extinct?

A

At the end of the Cretaceous

21
Q

What is the hypothesis used by Alvarez to explain the events that led to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs?

A
  1. Large meteor, or asteroid, or comet, struck the Earth 66 Ma.
  2. Explosion from impact produced vast quantities of dust and smoke which blocked out sunlight for an extended period of time months or years.
  3. Absence of sunlight killed the plants or base of the food chain which in turn killed herbivores, and consequently, the carnivores.
22
Q

Fallout debris from the Chicxulub impact, which marks the boundary between the Cretaceous and the Palaeogene, can be detected and identified in sedimentary layers worldwide, as the asteroid that struck the Earth was rich in which element?

A

Iridium

23
Q

During the Cretaceous, the Earth was:

A

Warmer than today

Had higher CO₂ levels than today

Had higher sea levels than today

24
Q

Did Earth in the Cretaceous had much higher albedo levels than today due to extensive polar ice caps, and ice sheets present almost to the Equator?

A

No

25
Q

Tsunamis generated by the Chicxulub impact were estimated to be:

A

1-2km high

26
Q

The Cretaceous-Palaeogene (K-Pg) boundary event caused the extinction of:

A
  • 36-47% of all genera on Earth
  • 60-77% of all species
27
Q

True/False

At the end of the Cretaceous, dinosaurs lived in Antarctica, which was covered in forests and surrounded by oceans full of life.

A

True

28
Q

Seymour Island, Antarctica, is a good place to search for fossils because:

A
  1. Its rocks contain both marine and terrestrial fossils
  2. It is free of snow and ice for the Antarctic summer
  3. It contains fossils from before and after the K-Pg boundary event
  4. It has no plants, so fossils at the surface are easy to see
29
Q

Studying the Quaternary is important because:

A

It allows us to distinguish natural climate variations from man-made climate variation.

It provides analogue models to allow us to understand the way that the Earth behaves as it becomes warmer.

It provides examples of a rapidly changing climate.

30
Q

In order to study the Quaternary, you get to use knowledge in:

A
  1. Geology
  2. Climate science
  3. Environmental Science
  4. Physics and Chemistry
31
Q

True/False

The concept of Ice Ages was first suggested by Louis Agassiz, when he found:

A
  1. Large deposits of boulders and rocks that had been left behind when glaciers melted, in places where glaciers no longer existed.
  2. Old rocks that had been scratched by the action of glaciers in places where glaciers no longer existed, like the ones that you can see today in Central Park, New York.
32
Q

The difference between a glacier and an ice sheet is best described as:

A

A glacier is a frozen mass of ice and snow that flows under its own weight

An ice sheet is a glacier larger than 50,000 km².

33
Q

How much would global sea level rise if the Antarctic ice sheet melted completely?

A

60 metres

34
Q

When you look at the data for the Earth’s climate for the past 400,000 years, as shown by mud and ice cores:

A

The Global Temperature data, CO₂ Concentration data, and Sea Level data show similar trends, with saw tooth patterns of decrease and increase over time, suggesting that they are linked.

35
Q

Glacial and Interglacial cycles in the Quaternary are mainly driven by:

A

Minor changes in the Earth’s orbit through time, known as Milankovitch Cycles.

36
Q

During the last Ice Age, Lake Mungo, in NSW was:

A

A dry lake, eroding away to form clay dunes downwind and
Intermittently full of water, and a location where indigenous Australians lived nearby

37
Q

During the last Interglacial (Eeemian, MIS 5e), the sea level was:

A

6-9m higher than the present day sea level

38
Q

Cosmogenic nuclide dating of stones dropped by glaciers in Antarctica tells us that the rates of glacial melting around 6000 years ago are:

A

Similar to those seen today in the Amundsen Sea area, which could lead to a rapid rise in global sea level

39
Q

Why is there no variation with longitude in the downward shortwave radiation (insolation)?

A

It is because the radiation travels only through a vacuum so there is nothing to influence it therefore no variation.

LPC 2020 EAE1011 - Earth Science (4 decks)

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