Download The correct answers are written in bold, italic and underlined. The

Comins DEU 3e Ch 04 Quiz 1 completed
The correct answers are written in bold, italic and underlined.
The most important questions to study for the exam are highlighted.
1. How many molecules of nitrogen will there be in a sample of air at the Earth's surface
for every two molecules of oxygen?
• Eight
• Two because these molecules are equally abundant
• One
2. The present atmosphere of the Earth is different from the atmosphere that the Earth had
when it was FIRST formed because
• the original atmosphere was made primarily of light gases that escaped into space.
• chemical reactions with iron and other minerals in the Earth's crust removed most of
the oxygen from the original atmosphere.
• much of the carbon dioxide in the original atmosphere was absorbed into the Earth's
oceans or transformed into shells by primitive creatures and subsequently deposited
as sediments.
3. The source of the life-supporting oxygen in our present atmosphere is thought to have
been
• the capture of the gas from interplanetary space by the gravity of the Earth.
• outgassing from the interior of the early planet.
• biological processes of early life forms.
4. Which of the following will apply a greater pressure on a floor: an elephant weighing
2000 lb, balancing on one of its feet whose area is 10 by 10 inches (100 square inches);
or a woman weighing 100 lb, standing on one stiletto heel of her shoe, of area 0.5 by 0.5
inches (0.25 square inches)?
• The elephant
• They both exert the same pressure on the floor.
• The woman
5. The ozone molecule, important in absorbing harmful solar ultraviolet radiation before
it reaches the Earth's surface, consists of
• one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom.
• two oxygen atoms.
• three oxygen atoms.
6. How does the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere vary with height over the range 0
to 120 km?
• It rises steadily until it reaches a high and constant value above 120 km.
•
•
It decreases and increases two or three times.
It remains approximately constant at room temperature over the whole range.
7. Why does the temperature in the lower stratosphere increase with increasing altitude?
• These higher altitudes are closer to the Sun.
• Infrared radiation from the Earth is absorbed by ozone in these layers, heating them.
• It is heated by the absorption of solar ultraviolet radiation by ozone.
8. The present structure of the surface of the Earth is
• a solid crust that is occasionally disturbed by earthquakes but otherwise remains as a
single unit.
• two large slabs or plates, the Pacific and the African plates, that are rotating and
colliding with each other.
• a series of large slabs or plates that are moving relative to one another.
9. The geological process that formed the long underwater mountain range extending
along the center of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, is
• the deposition of the shells of early forms of animal life over a line under the Atlantic
Ocean where tidal forces balance, creating the sedimentary rocks of the mountain
range.
• the up-thrust of molten magma between two regions that are separating that then
solidifies into a mountain range.
• up-thrusting the crustal material as two separate sections, or plates, of the Earth's
surface collide and push against one another.
10. What process has produced large mountain ranges on the Earth such as the Andes and
the Himalayas?
• Build-up of mountains from deposition of material by volcanic eruptions
• Continuous pressure from tidal flow of ocean water in one particular direction,
enhanced by the Earth's rotation
• Collisions of adjacent tectonic plates moving at different speeds
11. The interior structure of the Earth has mostly been explored by
• the analysis of fluctuations and variations in the motion of the Moon around the
Earth.
• the analysis of rocks extracted from deep drilling into the interior of the Earth.
• the measurement and analysis of seismic or low-frequency sound waves caused by
earthquakes.
12. The material in the innermost core of the Earth is
• hot and molten.
• hot and solid.
• cool and solid.
13. Which of the following processes would NOT have contributed to the heating of the
early Earth?
• Radioactive decay of nuclei in the rocks of the Earth
• The burning of carbon in chemical reactions or "fires"
• The impact energy of objects hitting the Earth from space
14. The Earth's core consists largely of iron, while the surface is made up of lighter rocks
and minerals. The reason for this is that
• the Earth was formed in this way in the solar nebula, the heavier iron collecting
together first, to be followed by the lighter elements that were attracted to this core.
• the iron has been formed from lighter elements by nuclear processes within the hot
interior of the early Earth.
• heavier elements sank and lighter elements rose within the early molten Earth in a
process known as planetary differentiation
15. The Earth's magnetic field protects the Earth and its inhabitants from
• all of the high-energy cosmic rays or hydrogen nuclei moving through our universe.
• the solar wind, which would otherwise irradiate and damage life forms if not
deflected.
• the majority of minute but high-speed micrometeorites, which otherwise would crater
the Earth and cause significant damage to property.
16. The magnetosphere is
• a magnetic field structure surrounding the Earth that forms a cavity within the
solar wind.
• an upper ionized layer of the Earth's atmosphere that reflects radio waves and
conducts electricity.
• the rotating molten region within the Earth's interior that generates the terrestrial
magnetic field.
17. The light of the northern (or southern) lights, or aurora, is caused by
• radiation originating from the heating of the atmospheric gases by the impact of
charged particles on the upper atmosphere.
• chemical reactions between atoms as they recombine into molecules in the night sky
after being dissociated by sunlight during the daytime.
• fluorescence of atmospheric gases after excitation by high-energy electrons from
the magnetosphere.
18. Particles of the solar wind, the Sun's expanding outer atmosphere,
• only reach the Earth's surface near the equator, where the Sun is overhead and where
there is the least depth of absorbing atmosphere in their way.
• only reach the Earth's surface near the poles, where the magnetic field is weakest.
• never reach the Earth's surface because they are deflected by its magnetic field.
19. The Earth's magnetic field is produced by
•
•
•
electric currents deep within the Earth's outer molten core.
inductive effects of the movement of charged solar wind particles as they pass by the
Earth.
magnetism locked in the iron in the crust and upper mantle.
20. One curious fact about the overall surface of the Moon is that
• there are about as many extinct volcanoes as there are impact craters over the lunar
surface.
• while there are a large number of maria on the Earth-facing side, there is only one
small mare on the far side of the Moon.
• there is evidence of plate tectonic activity, such as moonquakes and up-thrust
mountain ranges similar to those on the Earth.