Practice Quiz

Question 1

How much water is though to be stored in Earth’s mantle?

a) About 90 times the water that is stored in our oceans
b) About 90% of Earth’s water is in the Earth’s mantle
c) About 3 times the water that is stored in our oceans
d) More that 1% of the entire Earth’s mantle is water

Answer 1

c) About 3 times the water that is stored in our oceans

The amount of water present in Earth’s mantle is still not accurately known, but recent studies suggest that it could be up to three times the volume of water in all of Earth’s oceans. However, this estimation is still uncertain and more research is required to confirm the actual amount of water stored in the Earth’s mantle.

Question 2

What is shown in the red square in this image?

a) Mid-oceanic ridge
b) Continental rift
c) Volcanic seamount
s) Subduction zone

Answer 2

c) Mid-oceanic ridge

Question 3

What is the Snowball Earth episode?

a) A runaway glaciation, leading to increased planetary albedo
b) A runaway glaciation, leading to reduced planetary albedo
c) A sudden growth in continental ice sheets due to Earth’s orbital cycles
d) A sudden growth in oceanic ice sheets due to Earth’s orbital cycles

Answer 3

a) A runaway glaciation, leading to increased planetary albedo

The “Snowball Earth episode” is a geological hypothesis that suggests that Earth’s surface was entirely or nearly entirely frozen over during at least one period of the planet’s history, likely between 720 and 635 million years ago. This hypothesis is supported by various lines of evidence, including the presence of glacial deposits in tropical regions and the occurrence of distinctive isotopic signatures in rocks from this time period.

Question 4

What is depicted in the blue colours in this image?

a) Near-equatorial humid belt with high precipitation
b) Near-equatorial ocean upwelling
c) Snowball Earth ice sheets
d) Regions of low precipitation

Answer 4

a) Near-equatorial humid belt with high precipitation

Question 5

What does this image indicate?

a) The continental Drift hypothesis
b) The Expanding Earth hypothesis
c) The Geosynclinal hypothesis
d) The Plate Tectonic theory

Answer 5

b) The Expanding Earth hypothesis

The expanding Earth hypothesis suggests that the Earth’s continents and oceans have increased in size over geological time due to the planet’s gradual expansion rather than the movement of tectonic plates.

Question 6

What region is shown on this map, and what process is being depicted?

a) Southeast Asia coastline 200 million years ago during the early Jurassic icehouse
b) Southeast Asia coastline 200 million years ago during the early Jurassic greenhouse
c) Southeast Asia coastline 20,000 years ago depicting the Last Glacial Minimum
d) Southeast Asia coastlines 20,000 years ago depicting the last Glacial Maximum

Answer 6

c) Southeast Asia coastline 20,000 years ago depicting the Last Glacial Minimum

• The Jurassic (A.K.A Mesozoic) period occurred between ~201MYA and 145 MYA
• “Icehouse” refers to a prolonged period of Earth’s history characterized by cooler temperatures, while a “glacial minimum” is a shorter period within the icehouse when ice sheets and glaciers reach their maximum extent.
• “Greenhouse” refers to a period of Earth’s history characterized by high atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and warmer temperatures, while a “glacial maximum” is a period during an ice age when ice sheets and glaciers reach their maximum extent, resulting in cooler temperatures.

Question 7

What ice sheet is depicted on this map, and what caused the glaciation?

a) Laurentide ice sheet; caused by Milankovitch Cycles
b) Fennoscandian ice sheet; caused by volcanic aerosol emissions
c) Fennoscandian ice sheet; caused by silicate weathering and greenhouse gas draw-down
d) Laurentide ice sheet; caused by volcanic aerosol emissions

Answer 7

a) Laurentide ice sheet; caused by Milankovitch Cycles

• Laurentide ice sheet: was a massive ice sheet that covered much of present-day Canada and parts of the northern United States during the last glacial period, which ended approximately 11,700 years ago.
• Milancovitch Cycles (Orbit, axal tilt, and precession): Periodic changes in Earth’s climate which result in variations int he amount and distribution of solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface over tens to hundreds of thousands of years.