Deck 1: Understanding Earth: A Dynamic and Evolving Planet

Question 1

What are two examples of geology-related environmental concerns? Briefly explain why geology holds an important position in environmental science.

Answer 1

Water quality and distribution,soil formation and erosion,monitoring pollution,finding suitable locations for power plants and other potentially dangerous buildings,climate change,and so on-there are many to choose from.Geology is concerned with all aspects of the physical Earth and their interactions with the biosphere.

Question 2

What is the scientific method?

Answer 2

The scientific method is an orderly,logical approach to understanding our world that involves gathering and analyzing data about a natural phenomenon,formulating hypotheses to explain the phenomenon,testing the hypotheses,which,if one survives,is put forth as a theory.

Question 3

Briefly explain the importance of the principle of uniformitarianism to the study of historical geology.

Answer 3

Uniformitarianism provides the basis for interpreting the geologic history of Earth because geologists cannot travel back in time to study events.By using modern analogies,geologists can make reasonable interpretations about past events.

Question 4

Briefly explain how geologists can formulate theories about events that occurred on Earth before humans were here to make observations.

Question 5

What is the definition of the word theory as used in science? How is the word misused in day-to-day language?

Question 6

How is a theory formulated?

Question 7

What is the basic tenet of the theory of organic evolution? What is the mechanism for organic evolution called,and how does it work?

Question 8

What are some of the consequences of global warming predicted to be?

Question 9

Briefly explain how the themes of plate tectonics,organic evolution,and geologic time provide a cohesive story of the history of Earth.

Question 10

What is the greenhouse effect,and how does it work? What happens when greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere increase?

Question 11

Describe how the universe,galaxies,stars,and chemical elements formed.

Question 12

What distinguishes science from other forms of human inquiry?

Question 13

Name,locate,and describe Earth's three concentric layers.What are these divisions based on and what volume does each layer take up?

Question 14

What is a system? What are four Earth systems?

Question 15

Briefly explain the importance of the geologic time scale.

Question 16

How have natural resources been important in history? Provide an example of a situation in which natural resources have altered the course of history.

Question 17

How are the rock cycle and plate tectonics related?

Question 18

Why is overpopulation a geologic issue?

Question 19

Briefly explain the current theory of Earth's origin,including how and why it came to be differentiated by composition.

Question 20

Describe the ways in which geology affects our everyday lives.

Question 21

Why is Earth considered to be a dynamic (as opposed to static)planet?

Question 22

What is the basic premise of the principle of uniformitarianism?

Question 23

What is the name of the method that is used to determine the absolute age of a rock body?

Question 24

How do igneous rocks form?

Question 25

What are the characteristics of the Jovian planets?

Question 26

How do metamorphic rocks form?

Question 27

What is the central thesis of the theory of organic evolution?

Question 28

What are the three types of tectonic plate boundaries?

Question 29

What is the difference between a rock and a mineral?

Question 30

Describe how temperature increases will occur in all global warming scenarios.

Question 31

What is one way in which geologic knowledge is used to help humans?

Question 32

What are the three ways sedimentary rocks can form?

Question 33

What extremely important theory is as foundational and unifying to geology as the theory of evolution is to biology?

Question 34

What are the characteristics of the terrestrial planets?

Question 35

What does geology have to do with the standard of living that societies have?

Question 36

State the principle of uniformitarianism.

Question 37

What is Doppler effect?

Question 38

What is Pluto now that it is no longer a planet,and what are the characteristics of that type of body?

Question 39

The three major groups of rocks are ____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 40

What is natural selection?

Question 41

Historical geology is the study of ____________________.

Question 42

When the universe originated,it was composed of 100% ____________________ and ____________________,but now consists of ____________________% hydrogen and 2% ____________________ elements.

Question 43

The two types of crust are ____________________ and ____________________.

Question 44

Earth's six principal subsystems are ____________________,____________________,____________________,____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 45

A combination of related parts that interact in an organized fashion is a(n)____________________.

Question 46

Theories are formulated through the process known as ____________________.

Question 47

The two primary materials that geologists use as clues to understand Earth's past are ____________________ and ____________________.

Question 48

Physical geology is the study of ____________________.

Question 49

Earth's human population reached ____________________ in 2011 and is prjected to be ____________________ in 2045.

Question 50

The crust and the underlying uppermost mantle make up the ____________________.

Question 51

Earth formed ____________________ billion years ago.

Question 52

The four basic forces are ____________________,____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 53

The material in Earth's inner core is ____________________,while the outer core is ____________________.

Question 54

Earth's solid portion is divided into concentric layers of rock and other materials that may be solid,liquid,or partially molten.From the center to the surface,these are known as the inner ____________________,outer ____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 55

The three eras that have taken place since the end of the Precambrian from oldest to youngest are the ____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 56

Planetesimals are ____________________.

Question 57

The scientific theory for the origin of our solar system,involving the condensation and collapse of interstellar material in a spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy,is the ____________________ theory.

Question 58

Which of the following statements about a scientific theory is not true?

A)It is an explanation for some natural phenomena.
B)It has a large body of supporting knowledge.
C)It is testable.
D)It is conjecture or guess.
E)none of the above

Question 59

Global warming is caused by increased concentrations of ____________________ in the atmosphere.

Question 60

Anthropology is the study of human beings.Therefore,the name of the system that refers to humans on Earth is the ____________________.

Question 61

Most scientists argue that the greatest environmental problem facing the world today is:

A)climate change.
B)the ozone hole.
C)water pollution.
D)overpopulation.
E)overfishing.

Question 62

The theory that all living organisms are descendants of different life forms that existed in the past is called:

A)organic evolution.
B)astrology.
C)paleontology.
D)plate tectonics.
E)natural selection.

Question 63

Which of the following statements about the asthenosphere is not true?

A)It lies beneath the lithosphere.
B)It is a rigid rock layer.
C)It behaves plastically.
D)Partial melting within it generates magma.
E)It is surrounded by the upper mantle.

Question 64

The Big Bang took place approximately ____ years ago.

A)140 billion
B)40 billion
C)14 billion
D)14 million
E)4,000

Question 65

Overpopulation will affect many Earth systems,but there is enough fresh water for many billions of people.

Question 66

A theory - such as the theory of plate tectonics or the theory of evolution - is not accepted by a large number of scientists.

Question 67

The Jovian planets are:

A)Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,and Neptune.
B)Mercury,Venus,Earth,and Mars.
C)Earth,Mars,and Jupiter.
D)Uranus,Neptune,and Pluto.
E)Mercury,Earth,Mars,and Pluto.

Question 68

Science does not utilize beliefs or supernatural explanations because they

A)have been proven to be true and so science isn't needed.
B)none of these.
C)have been proven to be untrue.
D)cannot be tested.

Question 69

Historical geology is the study of how geology is related to human history.

Question 70

A hypothesis is

A)thought to be the truth by most scientists.
B)a tentative explanation.
C)a description of something that happens without fail.
D)a guess.

Question 71

Fossils are:

A)useful for reconstructing past environmental conditions.
B)evidence that evolution has occurred.
C)evidence that Earth has a long history predating humans.
D)the remains or traces of once-living organisms.
E)all of these

Question 72

Scientists have proven that there is no supernatural or spiritual realm.

Question 73

The age of the universe is estimated by the:

A)temperature of the universal background radiation.
B)age of comets formed in interstellar space.
C)rate at which galaxies are moving away from one another.
D)age of subatomic particles as determined by radioactive decay.
E)age of the sun.

Question 74

The zone between the core and the crust is the:

A)innersphere.
B)lithosphere.
C)mantle.
D)convection center.
E)molten zone.

Question 75

Many wars are fought over natural resources.

Question 76

In 19th century,geologists developed the geologic time scale using

A)fossils.
B)radiometric dating techniques.
C)absolute ages.
D)the principle of uniformitarianism.

Question 77

At the moment of the Big Bang,both ____ and ____ were set at zero.

A)matter,energy
B)time,space
C)nuclear power,weak nuclear forces
D)gravity,chemistry
E)matter,weak nuclear forces

Question 78

Historical geology is concerned only with the sequence of events in Earth history,and not with processes that caused the events.

Question 79

Earth's core is probably:

A)composed of rock with high silica content.
B)hollow.
C)molten throughout.
D)composed of potassium and aluminum rich silicates.
E)composed mostly of iron and nickel.

Question 80

At the moment of the Big Bang,both ____ and ____ were compressed into an infinitely small high-temperature and high-density state.

A)matter,energy
B)gravity,energy
C)nuclear power,matter
D)energy,matter
E)matter,weak nuclear forces