Earth System Science Review
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Course Introduction
Earth System Science is an interdisciplinary field that explores the complex interactions among the Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and human systems. This course examines how physical, chemical, biological, and human processes shape the planet's past, present, and future, emphasizing the interconnectedness of natural systems on a global scale. Students investigate topics such as energy flows, biogeochemical cycles, climate dynamics, and environmental change, utilizing principles from geology, biology, chemistry, and physics to understand the Earth as an integrated, dynamic system.
Recommended Textbook Essentials of Oceanography 6th Edition by Tom S. Garrison
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Chapter 1: The Origin of the Ocean
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Q1) The death of a star is characterized by a massive release of energy called a ____.
A) nebula
B) protostar
C) supernova
D) comet
Answer: C
Q2) Which of the following best describes biosynthesis?
A) The discovery of organic molecules in space.
B) The evolution of living organisms from simple organic building blocks.
C) The evolution of inorganic molecules in seawater.
D) Experiments that show that early organisms lived in an oxygen-free environment.
Answer: B
Q3) The ocean holds more than 97 percent of Earth's water.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 3
Chapter 2: A History of Marine Science
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Q1) Which of the following statements is FALSE regarding latitude and longitude?
A) Longitude lines are drawn parallel to the equator while latitude lines are drawn from pole to pole.
B) Latitude and longitude is a system of imaginary lines dividing the Earth's surface into a grid.
C) The distance between the lines of longitude varies with latitude while the lines of latitude are always equidistant.
D) Zero latitude is the equator and zero longitude is Greenwich, England, or the prime meridian.
Answer: A
Q2) The importance of Matthew Maury's work included:
A) the discovery of the Hawaiian Islands.
B) the formulation of a working hypothesis for the formation of coral reefs.
C) the invention of a chronometer for the determination of longitude.
D) the charting of ocean currents that sailors used to significantly shorten their travel time.
Answer: D
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4
Chapter 3: Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics
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Q1) Evidence for plate tectonics can be seen in:
A) the distribution of marine microbes.
B) ancient glaciers.
C) the distribution of dissolved compounds in isolated regions of the ocean.
D) modern snail species.
Answer: B
Q2) Density is a measure of relative heaviness and is defined as mass per unit volume.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Geologists believe that a new ocean basin is forming:
A) at the East African Rift Valley.
B) in the Red Sea.
C) along the divergent zone between India and Asia.
D) along the divergent zone between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate.
Answer: A
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Ocean Basins
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Q1) An example of a continental rise that is extraordinarily wide is found:
A) in the Red Sea.
B) in the Pacific at the active margin called the "Ring of Fire."
C) in the Bay of Bengal.
D) off the east coast of Florida.
Q2) The landscape of the seafloor could best be described as:
A) a featureless plain.
B) a smooth descent with the deepest portions farthest from land.
C) similar in rock type, sediment thickness, and erosional processes to those found on the land.
D) huge abyssal plains containing ridges, trenches, seamounts.
Q3) Flat-topped seamounts that rise from the ocean floor are called:
A) ridges.
B) island arcs.
C) guyots.
D) abyssal hills.
Q4) The Mariana Trench is about 20% deeper than Mount Everest is high. Explain how this statistic was determined and describe how each of these features were formed.
Q5) What is a submarine canyon and how are they formed?
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Chapter 5: Ocean Sediments
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Q1) Which of the following are hydrogenous sediments?
A) quartz sand
B) evaporites
C) siliceous oozes
D) tektites
Q2) An example of a siliceous ooze are those formed from radiolarian shells.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Scientists can derive all of the following types of information from observing deep ocean cores EXCEPT:
A) how much light penetrates the ocean
B) the presence or absence of mineral resources
C) historical water temperatures
D) ancient current patterns.
Q4) Which of the following metals is not usually found in manganese nodules?
A) iron
B) uranium
C) nickel
D) cobalt
Q5) What are the main sources of terrigenous sediments?
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Water
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Q1) The hydrogen bonds of water molecules account for which of the following?
A) Water is the universal solvent.
B) Water has a low surface tension.
C) Water has a low boiling point.
D) Water has a low heat capacity.
Q2) Red light is able to penetrate the water deepest.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Heat can be carried to the polar regions:
A) in ocean currents from the tropics.
B) in the circumpolar ocean current.
C) as water is transported away from the poles.
D) as water is transported towards lower latitudes.
Q4) The hydrogen atoms in a water molecule tend to bond to:
A) each other.
B) oxygen atoms of another water molecule.
C) hydrogen atoms of another water molecule.
D) all positively charged ions.
Q5) Describe the distribution of oxygen in the ocean from the surface to the deep sea.
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Chapter 7: Atmospheric Circulation
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Q1) What are some of the variables that are important when developing a heat budget for Earth?
Q2) Hurricanes are most common off the coast of Australia.
A)True
B)False
Q3) One of the driving forces of atmospheric circulation is:
A) convection.
B) conduction.
C) evaporation.
D) transpiration.
Q4) Hadley atmospheric circulation cells are found at mid-latitudes.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A ________________ is a pattern of wind circulation that changes with the seasons.
A) monsoon
B) typhoon
C) hurricane
D) cyclone
Q6) Describe atmospheric convection.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Ocean Circulation
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Q1) The largest of the western boundary currents is the:
A) Gulf Stream.
B) California Current.
C) East Pacific Gyre.
D) Canary Current.
Q2) The North Atlantic gyre is composed of the Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, the Canary Current and the North Equatorial Current.
A)True
B)False
Q3) All of the following statements are true about an Ekman spiral EXCEPT:
A) the net flow of a wind-driven surface current in the northern hemisphere will flow about 90° angle to the wind.
B) with increasing depth, each layer will move at an angle to the overlying layer of water.
C) because of Ekman transport, at some depth, known as the friction depth, water will be moving in the opposite direction from the surface current.
D) Ekman spiral is not influenced by Coriolis.
Q4) What is upwelling and why is it important for biological productivity?
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Chapter 9: Waves
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Q1) A tsunami is a shallow water wave that moves at high speeds.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The ultimate height of a wind wave will depend on:
A) the fetch.
B) the length of time the wind blows.
C) the velocity of the wind.
D) all of these
Q3) As the wind velocity increases during a storm:
A) the wave height increases.
B) the wave velocity decreases.
C) the wind tends to flatten the ocean surface.
D) mass transport decreases in the open ocean.
Q4) Near shore, if the wave crests are 200 feet apart, the wave will "feel" bottom when the depth is about:
A) 20 feet.
B) 50 feet.
C) 100 feet.
D) 200 feet.
Q5) What is fetch and how does it influence wind wave development?
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Tides
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Q1) The rise and fall in sea level as a tide crest approaches and passes will cause a(n):
A) tidal bore.
B) tidal wave.
C) ebb current.
D) tidal current.
Q2) A steep wave moving upstream generated by the action of the tide crest in the enclosed area of a river mouth is called a:
A) tidal node.
B) tidal wave.
C) tidal surge.
D) tidal current.
Q3) The type of tide associated with the full and new moons are:
A) neap tides.
B) spring tides.
C) diurnal tides.
D) tidal currents.
Q4) For tides as long waves, the amphidromic point corresponds to the wave crest.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Coasts
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Q1) A long-term effect of wave refraction is:
A) to smooth and straighten a coast.
B) to build out points of land.
C) to erode and deepen bays.
D) to remove sand from the beach.
Q2) One mechanism by which sediments are transported in the surf zone is via longshore currents.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The variation in sea level that can be measured over the world ocean is called:
A) erosional change.
B) tectonic change.
C) dynamic change.
D) eustatic change.
Q4) A sand spit forms when:
A) a long-shore current speeds up.
B) a long-shore current slows.
C) a turbidity currents flows near a coast.
D) a gyre approaches coasts.
Q5) How have human activities influenced coastal processes? Give a specific example.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Life in the Ocean
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Q1) Primary productivity measures the grams of carbon bound into organic material per square meter of ocean surface area per year.
A)True B)False
Q2) Marine organisms are limited in terms of where in the ocean they can live because of the enormous amount of pressure in the deep sea.
A)True B)False
Q3) The scientific name of an organism includes the genus and species name. A)True B)False
Q4) In the ocean as a whole, the limiting factor for primary productivity is: A) oxygen. B) light.
C) carbon dioxide. D) carbohydrates.
Q5) Describe how energy enters biological ecosystems in the ocean.
Q6) What is a limiting factor and how do they affect the distribution of primary producers?
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Chapter 13: Pelagic Communities
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Q1) The distribution of phytoplankton in the ocean is directly influenced by the distribution of nutrients.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is produced in primary productivity?
A) carbon dioxide
B) light
C) carbohydrates
D) gametes (egg cells and sperm cells)
Q3) Explain why phytoplankton is critical to all of life on Earth.
Q4) Which of the following statements is FALSE concerning the baleen whales?
A) They are marine mammals and hence are air breathers.
B) Some species of baleen whales migrate long distances between their feeding and breeding grounds.
C) The baleen whales are the smallest of the true whales because they only feed on plankton.
D) Some species of baleen whales use complex songs to group communicate.
Q5) Explain the properties of water that have led to the evolution of a "torpedo" shaped body in most open water fish.
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Chapter 14: Benthic Communities
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Q1) What is an atoll? Describe the steps that occur in the formation of an atoll.
Q2) Tropical coral reefs require all of the following conditions to thrive EXCEPT:
A) clear, shallow water, preferably less than 10 meters ( 33 feet).
B) cold nutrient-rich water.
C) average salinity or slightly higher.
D) symbiotic dinoflagellates that reside inside the animal.
Q3) Ahermatypic corals are:
A) found in shallow waters in the tropics.
B) have symbiotic algae.
C) are found in the deep-sea.
D) are actually plants.
Q4) A reason for the great diversity and success of organisms in the rocky intertidal is:
A) the large quantity of food available.
B) the vast amount of space available.
C) the lack of nekton.
D) the rise and fall of the tides.
Q5) Is the distribution of benthic organisms random? Explain why or why not.
Q6) Compare and contrast the stability of habitats found in the deep-sea.
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Chapter 15: Uses and Abuses of the Ocean
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Q1) The maximum of each species that can be caught without negatively influencing future populations of that species is called the:
A) maximum sustainable yield.
B) annual catch.
C) maximum global landing.
D) maximum global harvest.
Q2) The best fishing grounds are located:
A) in the middle of the open ocean.
B) in temperate waters over continental shelves.
C) in tropical waters of the deep sea.
D) in equatorial deep waters.
Q3) The per capita world fish catch has changed in what way?
A) It has been climbing steadily since the 1950s.
B) It has declined drastically since the 1950s.
C) It has stayed at the level of the 1960s.
D) It has declined significantly since the 1970s.
Q4) Sometimes, the best thing to do in the event of a crude oil spill is to do nothing.
A)True
B)False
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