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69 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back

When the Sun is at its ________ , it is at the highest elevation above a reference longitude.

zenith

Earth has been divided into time _______ that are 15 degrees of longitude wide, although some adjustments have been made when necessary to follow political boundaries for the convenience of the people living in those areas.

zones

GPS stands for _______

Global positioning system

In the eighteenth century, a _______ was used to help determine longitude more precisely on ships.

chronometer

Greenwich Mean Time is also called _______ Time as well as _______ Time.

Universal, ZULU

The three states of water on Earth's surface are ______ , ______ , and ______ .

gas, liquid, solid

What is necessary in order for you to find your position on Earth using GPS?

- precise measurements of distance between a receiver and four satellites


- satellites to transmit a unique digital code to a ground receiver

The hydrologic cycle involves __________ .

a constant movement of water into and out of reservoirs.

What is transpiration?

The release of water by plants

What is sublimation?

The conversion of ice directly to water vapor

After the oceans, the second greatest amount of the Earth's water is contained in ______________

ice caps and glaciers

The length of time that a given water molecule spends in any one of the Earth's water reservoirs is called its __________________

residence time

Most of the world's landmasses are located in the _______________ Hemisphere

Northern

The __________ Ocean is the smallest.

Arctic

The shallowest of the five oceans is the _________ Ocean.

Arctic

The _____________ Ocean is considered the "newest" ocean because its concept was only adopted by the International Hydrographic Organization in the year 2000.

Southern

The hypsographic curve indicates that only ___________ percent of the Earth's surface is above sea level.

29

The clock time is set to noon when the Sun is at its zenith above the prime meridian. This time is __________________.

Greenwich Mean Time

This image depicts the _________ Cycle.

This image depicts the _________ Cycle.

hydrologic

The Atlantic Ocean is roughly _____________ the size of the Pacific Ocean

half (it covers 16.7% of the Earth's surface)

In terms of its size, the "new" Southern Ocean ranks as number ________ of the five.

four (it is smaller, by far, than the Pacific, Atlantic, or Indian Oceans)

The hypsographic curve compares what?

Land and water elevation relationships

Where is the Sun's position relative to the Earth during the Summer solstice? Autumnal equinox? Winter solstice?

Summer solstice - The Sun stands above the tropic of cancer




Autumnal equinox - The Sun stands above the equator




Winter solstice - The Sun stands above the Tropic of Capricorn

What do the positions of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles at 66.5°N and 66.5°S, respectively, represent?

On the summer solstice, the Sun does not set above the Arctic Circle and does not rise above the Antarctic Circle.

The lunar month, whereby the Moon passes through all four phases, takes _______ days.

29 and a half

A sidereal day is about _______ than the mean solar day.

four minutes shorter

The topographic relief of Earth's highest elevations and greatest depths is ________ compared to the overall size of the planet.

minor (Earth is considered quite smooth)

In the lunar month, the Moon ____________ .

passes through its four phases

What is a solar day?

The average time for Earth to make one rotation relative to the Sun.

What is a sidereal day?

The measurement of a day on Earth based on making a complete rotation with respect to a far-distant point in space.

A scientific method used for determining the age of the Earth is based upon the radioactive decay of _____________ .

isotopes

Which processes added heat to the early Earth?

- Early Earth was bombarded by particles of all sizes, and some of that energy was converted to heat on impact.


- The growing layers of accumulated material resulted in the energy of compression being converted to heat.

Rank the following water reservoirs from longest residence time to shortest residence time.




Ocean, Pond, Large lake, Atmosphere

Ocean, large lake, pond, atmosphere

Which planets, inner or outer, are rich in metals and rocky materials?

Inner planets (outer planets are rich in ices of water, ammonia, and methane)

The boundaries of the various units of geologic time were established mainly by which two methods?

The appearance or disappearance of certain fossils and radiometric dating

_________ is ultraviolet light, invisible to the naked eye, emitted by atomic oxygen in the upper atmosphere when it absorbs and re-radiates energy from the Sun.

Dayglow

If our galaxy has a thickness of about 1000 light-years, this is equal to _________ .

the distance that light can travel in a single year multiplied by 1000

During the first few hundred million years after Earth was formed, its interior reached the melting point of iron and nickel. How did this process lead to even hotter temperatures occurring in Earth's interior?

The iron and nickel melted and migrated toward the center of the planet, and frictional heat was generated.

What is dark matter?

This is though to make up about 30% of all energy in the universe, and does not interact with light

What is familiar matter?

This kind of matter is found in planets and stars, making up only 5% of the energy in the universe.

What is dark energy?

This is thought to make up 65% of all energy in the universe and to be causing the expansion of the universe.

What evidence is there that supports the presence of oceans on two of Jupiter's moon?

- The surfaces of the moons are ice covered, but heat is generated by friction from Jupiter's strong gravitational force.


- There are induced magnetic fields around both moons, indicating that they both consist partly of strong conducting material, such as seawater.

Match the eras of geologic time (Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Cenozoic) with the corresponding dominant life-forms (Age of Reptiles, Age of Marine Invertebrates, Fishes, and Amphibians, Age of Mammals)

Mesozoic - Age of Reptiles


Paleozoic - Age of Marine Invertebrates, Fishes, and Amphibians


Cenozoic - Age of Mammals

Using the North Star to determine latitude _________ .

- will not work forever because the Earth's axis of rotation changes slowly over time


- has been possible for the past 1000 years

Any circle at Earth's surface with its center at Earth's center is called _______ .

a great circle

Lord Kelvin based his estimate of the Earth's age on ________ , but his results were way off compared to modern-day methods of dating.

temperature (He looked at the time it would take for a molten Earth to cool to its present temperature)

Nuclear _______ is the process by which stars create elements that can have a greater atomic weight than lithium.

fusion

A ____________ is equal to one minute of arc length of latitude or longitude at the equator.

nautical mile

Which of the following reservoirs would likely show a marked increase decades after an ice age (during a warming period)?




The oceans, rivers, or ice caps

The oceans

The Milky Way is found in a group called a _____________ .

cluster

Lines of latitude, also known as ________ , are reference to the equator.

parallels

Which of the following time periods is based upon the lunar cycle?




Year, month, or day

Month

A __________ is composed of clumps of stars, and one example is the Milky Way

galaxy

The 180 degree longitude line approximates the ___________ .

International date line

The North Pole is located one-quarter of a circle in degrees latitude from the equator; thus its latitude is ___________ degrees north.

90°

What evidence indicates that Mars possessed water?

- sedimentary rocks with ripple marks


- data from soil and ice samples analyzed on the planet (Phoenix Probe)

Rank the five parts of the world's oceans form largest to the smallest.

Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic

The most probable sources of the water in the Earth's oceans are ______________________ .

- continual addition of water from outer space


- the Earth's mantle, some of which is bought to the surface through volcanic activity

The most important gaseous element to accumulate in the Earth's atmosphere, which had to await the evolution of photosynthesis in order to exceed its loss to space, is ____________ .

oxygen

If a ________ is supported consistently, it may be advanced to the level of a theory.

hypothesis

Rank the locations or reservoirs of the Earth's water in order from the largest quantity of water held at the top to least quantity of water held at the bottom.




Atmosphere, groundwater, ice caps, oceans, freshwater lakes

Oceans, ice caps, groundwater, freshwater lakes, atmosphere

The major changes in the state of the universe that occurred immediately after the Big Bang were changes in ________ and ________ .

temperature and size

The most widely accepted age of the Earth is between 4.5 and 4.6 ___________ years.

billion

Old maps are accurate in their north and south depictions of the Earth's surface but many are badly distorted by their east and west dimensions of geographic form, This is because _____________ .

sailors have been able to calculate latitude since ancient time (Since latitude can be calculated by observing the angle to a known object in space, early sailors were able to make accurate calculations with very simple technology)

The Earth's tilt of 23.5 degrees as it orbits the Sun is responsible for the _____________ , which occur in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres at opposite times of the solar year.

seasons

It is necessary to know the time of day and the position of the Sun or the stars relative to one's longitude line because ___________ .

the longitude line rotates with Earth, 360 degrees in 24 hours

The two natural periods of time caused by the movement of the Earth are the ______ and the ______ .

day, year

The origin of our solar system is attributed to the collapse of a single, rotating interstellar cloud of gas and dust known as a __________ .

nebula

The four eons - the Hadean, The Archean, The Proterozoic, and the Phanerozoic - collectively make up what scientists refer to as _____________ time.

geologic