Final Exam

Question 1

2. Marked climatic changes within recorded history have been caused by a very small change of only a couple of degrees Celsius in average temperature during a period known as “The Little Ice Age”, which ranged from about

Answer 1

1,400 A.D. to 1,800 A.D.

Question 2

3. The amount of incoming solar radiation absorbed by clouds is

Answer 2

4-5%

Question 3

4. The amount of incoming solar radiation that is reflected by clouds is

Answer 3

4-6%

Question 4

5. The amount of incoming solar radiation reflected by Earth’s surface is

Answer 4

5%

Question 5

6. Much of the outgoing terrestrial infrared radiation is absorbed by

Answer 5

water vapor

Question 6

7. The reradiated amount back to the surface following the absorption of the outgoing terrestrial infrared radiation is nearly

Answer 6

50 per cent

Question 7

8. Without the absorption of the outgoing terrestrial infrared radiation by the atmospheric “green house” gases, the average surface temperature would be approximately

Answer 7

-18 degrees C

Question 8

9. The albedo of Earth, which is the fraction of the incoming solar radiation that goes back into space, including the amounts backscattered by air, reflected by clouds, and reflected by surface, is approximately

Answer 8

0.30

Question 9

The principal pollutant of “London”-type fog is

Answer 9

sulfur dioxide

Question 10

11. Aerosols generally include particles that range in size from a cluster of molecules to

Answer 10

about 20 micrometers in radiu

Question 11

12. Aerosols with the following composition serve as very effective cloud condensation nuclei

Answer 11

halite

Question 12

14. A radical atom or a radical molecule is a chemical species that

Answer 12

has unpaired electrons

Question 13

15. The maximum concentration of ozone in the atmosphere is at an altitude of

Answer 13

about 24 to 28 km

Question 14

18. Other than destruction by photolysis, ozone in the stratosphere is also destroyed at a significant rate by the reaction with

Answer 14

nitric oxide

Question 15

19. Which one of the following is considered to be probably the most important atmospheric “scavenger” for removal of a large number of atmospheric pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4)

Answer 15

OH• (or hydroxyl radical),

Question 16

20. The primary production of hydroxyl radical (OH•) in the troposphere is by

Answer 16

the ultraviolet dissociation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)

Question 17

23. Ozone hole over the Antarctic is due to production of

Answer 17

excess chlorine atoms that destroy ozone

Question 18

The pH of rainwater due to the current level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is about

Answer 18

5.6

Question 19

26. The acid rain refers to rain water with pH

Answer 19

5 or less

Question 20

27. The atmospheric rain water acidity is reduced by reaction with

Answer 20

calcite aerosol particles

Question 21

A continental shelf

Answer 21

consists of layers of primarily land derived sediments amounting to few thousands feet thick

Question 22

Reefs

Answer 22

grow in shallow, warm, and clear oceans

Question 23

The crust of the sea floor is essentially composed of

Answer 23

basalt

Question 24

A continental slope begins on the average at a depth of about

Answer 24

200 meters

Question 25

The flattest feature on earth is

Answer 25

abyssal plain

Question 26

The total length of the mid-ocean ridge is about

Answer 26

70,000 km

Question 27

The width of the mid-ocean ridge is more than

Answer 27

100 km

Question 28

A rift valley on the mid-oceanic ridge is

Answer 28

(D) all of these

(A) produced by tension, (B) 1-2 km deep, (C) as wide as the Grand Canyon in Arizona

Question 29

The rift valley is generally absent in

Answer 29

the Pacific Ocean

Question 30

Oceans came into existence about

Answer 30

200 million years ago

Question 31

Average depth of the modern ocean is about

Answer 31

3-3.5 km

Question 32

If all existing glaciers and ice caps melt, the global sea level will rise by about

Answer 32

80 meters

Question 33

Two major chemical components of ocean waters are

Answer 33

sodium and chloride

Question 34

The pH of surface ocean water is between

Answer 34

7.5 and 8.5

Question 35

The pH of ocean water is buffered primarily by

Answer 35

carbonate-bicarbonate reactions or changes

Question 36

Average salinity of modern ocean waters is about

Answer 36

35 parts per thousand

Question 37

In general, the temperature of the modern ocean within the interval from about 1 km to the bottom decreases

Answer 37

from about 5 to 3 degrees C

Question 38

Oceans have oxygen minima at about 1 km below the surface. The oxygen minima are due to

Answer 38

loss of oxygen by oxidative decomposition of organic matter

Question 39

The carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere will increase by

Answer 39

increase in the salinity of the ocean

Question 40

Black smokers consist primarily of

Answer 40

metal-rich sulfide deposits

Question 41

The collective ocean body has about

Answer 41

100 times more carbon dioxide than the atmosphere