Textbook: Chapter 1 - An Evolving Earth 4

Question 1

What are glacial and interglacial cycles?

Answer 1

Cycles of cold (glacial) and warm (interglacial) periods every 100,000 years that influence sea levels and ecosystems.

Question 2

What is the Holocene Epoch?

Answer 2

The current warm period starting around 11,600 years ago, characterized by climate stability that supported human development.

Question 3

How did the Mediterranean Sea evolve over millions of years?

Answer 3

It dried into a desert at times due to tectonic shifts, but later refilled with water when connections to the Atlantic reopened.

Question 4

What effect did tectonic collisions have on Earth’s climate?

Answer 4

They altered wind and ocean currents, mountain formation, and temperatures, impacting global climate cycles.

Question 5

Why is water vapor significant in Earth’s climate system?

Answer 5

It acts as a major greenhouse gas by trapping solar radiation.

Question 6

What is continental drift?

Answer 6

The gradual movement of tectonic plates that shifted continents from a single landmass to their current positions.

Question 7

Fill-in-the-Blank

Earth’s ________________ field protects it from high-energy particles from space.

Answer 7

magnetic

Question 8

Fill-in-the-Blank

________________ drift refers to the gradual movement of Earth’s tectonic plates

Answer 8

Continental

Question 9

Fill-in-the-Blank

________________ were the early one-celled organisms that produced oxygen through photosynthesis.

Answer 9

Cyanobacteria (or photosynthetic bacteria)

Question 10

The Snowball Earth Theory suggests that:

A. Earth was once a desert planet without any oceans.

B. Earth was completely covered in ice at certain times in its history.

C. Continents formed by rapid cooling of Earth’s molten surface.

D. Earth’s magnetic field caused the formation of early life.

Answer 10

B