Download Chapter 13 Essay Questions

Chapter 13 Essay Questions
(last updated 08/25/2012)
Short essay questions (answer with one
or two sentences):
Long essay questions (answer with a
paragraph):
1
1 What is plate tectonics? What causes plate
tectonics? Describe how plate tectonics
both creates and destroys Earth's crust.
Although we have never drilled all the way
through the crust of the Earth, we know
something about the interior structure of the
Earth. Specifically, how do we know about
that interior structure?
2
Name the various layers of the Earth, from
the surface to the center.
3
How do we know that the outer core of the
Earth is liquid?
4
Volcanism on Earth is often associated with
regions where one plate descends below
another plate, that is, at subduction zones.
What is happening at subduction zones that
causes magma to rise?
5
Most solid surfaces in the solar system are
heavily scarred by impact cratering. Why
isn't the earth's surface heavily scarred by
impact cratering?
6
What are the three greenhouse effect gases
in Earth's atmosphere?
7
When looking at the moon through even a
modest telescope, you can see that the
maria are smoother and the highlands are
more cratered. What does that tell you
about the age of each, and why?
8
What is the explanation for the long ridges,
also known as scarps, that formed on
Mercury?
9
What is the primary constituent of the
atmosphere of Venus? Of the clouds of
Venus?
10 Mars once had liquid flowing water on its
surface but now the water is frozen in the
ground in the form of permafrost. What
changes made this happen?
11 What evidence visible from orbiting
spacecraft indicates that there has been
flowing liquid water on Mars in the distant
past?
2 Earth's primary atmosphere was rich in
carbon dioxide but had no free oxygen.
What processes happened over time that
lowered the amount of carbon dioxide to
almost a trace level and raised the amount
of oxygen to its current substantial level?
3 What gas have human beings greatly
released into the Earth's atmosphere over
the past two hundred years, and what effect
is it having on the Earth's climate and why?
In the twentieth century, humans
manufactured CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons)
and released them into the atmosphere.
What specific damage did they do to the
atmosphere, and how does that endanger
humans?
4 What is the runaway greenhouse effect that
happened on Venus and how did Earth
avoid the runaway greenhouse effect that
made Venus so hot?
5 Explain in detail the various reasons that
the Olympus Mons volcano on Mars could
grow so large, but it would be very unlikely
that such a large mountain could form on
Earth.