Umbc Ges 110 Exam 3

Front 1

Earth's long-term climate can be described as quasi-steady, with long periods of hothouse eras punctuated by (geologically) brief ice ages.

Back 1

TRUE

Front 2

At least twice in Earth's history, the planet has nearly frozen over, during Snowball Earth episodes.

Back 2

TRUE

Front 3

Glacial/interglacial cycles are briefer than Ice Ages.

Back 3

TRUE

Front 4

We are presently in the Holocene interglacial. The last ice age was termed the Pleistocene, but this was part of a greatly extended glacial that began nearly 50 million years ago.

Back 4

FALSE

Front 5

Ice ares are thought to be primarily controlled by orbital variations (Milankovic cycles) while glacial cycles are driven by plate tectonic processes.

Back 5

FALSE

Front 6

During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), global average temperature rose by about 5 C, from the massive release of carbon into the atmosphere as CO2.

Back 6

FALSE

Front 7

The Early Anthropocene was thought to have started about 5000-6000 years ago, perhaps leading to the beginnings of global warming.

Back 7

TRUE

Front 8

The largest rates of global warming are found in Earth's tropical belts.

Back 8

FALSE

Front 9

About 1/3 to 1/2 of the atmosphere's missing carbon is believed to have been absorbed by the upper oceans.

Back 9

TRUE

Front 10

The water vapor feedback in climate change is a positive feedback, such that the temperature rise associated with an increase in CO2 is effectively doubled.

Back 10

TRUE

Front 11

Most of the minerals in Earth's upper crust are composed predominantly of:

Back 11

SILICA AND OXYGEN

Front 12

An igneous rock that is extrusive and mafic (black colored), formed from volcanism, is termed:

Back 12

BASALT

Front 13

An igneous rock that is intrusive and felsic (light colored), formed from sowly cooling magma, is termed:

Back 13

GRANITE

Front 14

An example of a clastic sedimentary rock is:

Back 14

SANDSTONE

Front 15

An example of a non-clastic sedimentary rock is:

Back 15

LIMESTONE

Front 16

Marble, a metamorphic rock, derives from:

Back 16

LIMESTONE

Front 17

Quartzite, a metamorphic rock, derives from:

Back 17

SANDSTONE

Front 18

THe semi-solid, hot layer inside Earth, which undergoes slow convection, is termed the:

Back 18

MANTLE

Front 19

Which of the following statement(s) is TRUE about the composition and properties of oceanic (seafloor) crust?

Back 19

1. It has an average density of 3000 kg/m3, is composed of basalt, and "sinks down" or rides low on the mantle

2. It's formed where tectonic plates spread apart

Front 20

Orogenic belts:

Back 20

ALL OF THE ABOVE

Front 21

Continental shields - the ancient, rocky cores of continents - are also called:

Back 21

CRATONS

Front 22

The Pacific Ring of Fire is characterized by:

Back 22

ALL OF THE ABOVE

Front 23

Divergent or spreading plate boundaries are located:

Back 23

1. Along ocean floors, i.e. along the center of the Atlantic Basin

2. On land, i.e. the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa

Front 24

The Cascadia Fault Zone:

Back 24

ALL OF THE ABOVE

Front 25

The San Andreas Fault Zone:

Back 25

IS A TRANSFORM-TYPE FAULT

Front 26

Plate subduction zones, involving an ocean plate and land plate, generate which of the following geophysical hazards?

Back 26

ALL OF THE ABOVE

Front 27

When two continental plates converge, what happens?

Back 27

1. Earthquakes are generated

2. Lofty mountains are lifted

Front 28

Tectonic plates are thought to move horizontally due to:

Back 28

1. The "push" of shallow, rising magma in the uppermost mantle

2. The "pull" of old plate slabs that are cold, dense, and sinking

Front 29

Hot spots:

Back 29

ALL OF THE ABOVE

Front 30

Isostasy explains:

Back 30

ALL OF THE ABOVE

Front 31

Continental growth:

Back 31

ALL OF THE ABOVE

Front 32

This type of magma leads to explosive styles of volcanism:

Back 32

High silica, high viscosity, high dissolved gas concentration

Front 33

This type of volcano underlies the Hawaiian Islands:

Back 33

SHIELD VOLCANO

Front 34

Which of these volcanic hazards involves slow, deep burial by a water-ash mixture?

Back 34

LAHAR

Front 35

Which of the following volcanic hazards involves a rapid, hot, suffocating cloud that behaves like a blast wave?

Back 35

PYROCLASTIC FLOW

Front 36

Climate change (cooling) of the planet often ensues for several years after a major volcanic eruption, caused by which of the following chemicals in the volcanic plume?

Back 36

SO2

Front 37

This type of extreme volcano issues forth from a vent-like structure, causing massive amounts of lava to form thick plateaus and plains, possibly triggering mass extinction events:

Back 37

FLOOD BASALT

Front 38

This type of extreme volcano generates exceptionally violent explosions (never witnessed in recorded history) and massive calderas, buries enormous areas under thick ash, and currently underlies Yellowstone National Park:

Back 38

SUPERVOLCANO

Front 39

The 3D coordinate of an earthquake, lying on a fault plane, is termed the

Back 39

FOCUS

Front 40

Which of the following is NOT true about the propagation of earthquake energy?

Back 40

SOFT SOILS TEND TO ACCENTUATE THE HIGH FREQUENCY OF SHAKING P-WAVES

Front 41

Which of the following statements is NOT true about earthquakes?

Back 41

THE DEADLIEST EARTHQUAKES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN HIGH MAGNITUDE EVENTS

Front 42

Which of the following statements is NOT true about earthquakes beneath the eastern US?

Back 42

THEY ARE VERY LOCALIZED EVENTS, FELT ONLY A FEW MILES FROM THE EPICENTER.

Front 43

When describing a region's "normal" high temperature on a given day, the better statistic to use instead of the mean is the mode.

Back 43

TRUE

Front 44

A Mediterranean or dry summer climate is typical of a the southeastern US, while southern California enjoys a humid subtropical climate regime.

Back 44

FALSE

Front 45

The Great Lakes and New England typify a severe midlatitude climate zone, mainly because of the brief, excessively hot summers there.

Back 45

FALSE

Front 46

Two geographic realms where we find abrupt transitions between climate zones include increasing elevation in highland regions, and mountain ranges characterized by strong rain shadows.

Back 46

TRUE

Front 47

The CO2-weathering feedback is a negative feedback that helps stabilize long-term climate on Earth, involving linkages between the land, ocean, atmosphere and deep (internal) Earth.

Back 47

TRUE