Earth Science Test Preparation
Course Introduction
Earth Science is an interdisciplinary field that explores the physical constitution and processes of the Earth, integrating concepts from geology, meteorology, oceanography, and astronomy. This course examines the formation and structure of the planet, the dynamics of its atmosphere and oceans, and the natural forces shaping its landscape, such as earthquakes, volcanism, and erosion. Students will also investigate Earth's history, its resources, environmental challenges, and its place within the broader universe, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between Earths systems and the impact of human activity on the planet.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Oceanography 6th Edition by Tom S. Garrison
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15 Chapters
675 Verified Questions
675 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: The Origin of the Ocean
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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
Q2) 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
Q3) The ocean is divided up into distinct natural divisions called oceans and seas.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 3
Chapter 2: A History of Marine Science
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Q1) How are clocks used to determine longitude and why does a pendulum clock fail to produce accurate estimates of longitude at sea? Why was the invention of the chronometer so important for explorers?
Answer: Longitude lines are imaginary lines that run from pole to pole dividing the surface of the earth into a grid. You can find longitude using a clock by: (1) determining local noon by observing the path of a shadow of a vertical shaft which is shortest at noon. (2) Set a clock and begin to travel west. At the new location, noon on the clock will no longer correspond with the shortest shadow of the shaft. (3) Determine the time between the "clock" noon and the "shaft" noon and calculate how far west (in hours) you have traveled from the starting point. (4) Since we know that the earth rotates east making 1 rotation every 24 hours, the rotation rate is 15 degrees per hour (360 degrees/24 hours= 15 degrees/hour). In summary, the more accurate the clock and the measurement of the shadow of the shaft will increase the accuracy of the longitude reading.
Pendulum clocks are useless on a moving ship because the motion of the sea alters the swing of the pendulum and therefore the time, rendering the clock useless. It was not until the advent of the chronometer that used spring mechanisms instead of a pendulum, that longitude could be determined with any degree of accuracy.
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) How has the history of plate movement been captured in residual magnetic fields?
Answer: A compass needle points to the magnetic north pole because of the persistent magnetic field caused by the movement of molten metal in the Earth's outer core. As new seafloor is produced at spreading centers, the magnetic minerals' (naturally occurring in basaltic magma) align with the Earth's magnetic field. As the new rock cools and hardens, the orientation of the Earth's magnetic field at that particular time is frozen and records information like a fossil does. Scientists use this information to measure spreading rates and are able to create detailed charts of the ocean floor dating back about 200 million years.
Q2) A boundary in which crustal plates move past one another is called a:
A) transform fault.
B) convergent zone.
C) divergent zone.
D) rift valley.
Answer: A
Q3) Convection in the asthenosphere, in part, facilitates continental drift.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Ocean Basins
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Andes mountain range is an example of a(n):
A) ridge system.
B) island arc system.
C) passive margin.
D) active margin convergent zone.
Q2) Which of the following statements accurately describes a turbidity current?
A) A fast dense current of water that carries sediments offshore.
B) The cause of mid-ocean trenches.
C) A phenomenon associated with violent atmospheric storms at sea.
D) Something that always occurs at river mouths in shallow water, but does not extend into water more than 50 meters (165 feet) deep.
Q3) The origin of submarine canyons is not well understood, but most likely
A) is erosional, started by streams during periods when the sea level was lower.
B) is tectonic, and represents down-folds of rock within the continental shelf.
C) is organic, resulting from the activities of burrowing organisms.
D) is glacial, the work of glaciers depositing rock debris on the shelf.
Q4) A guyot is found at spreading centers.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What methods do scientists use to determine the bathymetry of the ocean floor?
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Ocean Sediments
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Sample Questions
Q1) The age of most marine sediments is:
A) no older than about 10,000 years old.
B) about 1 million years old.
C) rarely older than about 180 million years old.
D) not possible to determine.
Q2) Which of the following arrive in the ocean from continents via rivers?
A) terrigenous sediments
B) biogenous sediments
C) hydrogenous (or authigenic) sediments
D) cosmogenous sediments
Q3) Sediments that originate in the ocean are called:
A) pelagic sediments.
B) abyssal sediments.
C) biogenous sediments.
D) neritic sediments.
Q4) Stratigraphy is the study of the deposition and layering of sediments over time.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is sediment and what are the 4 classifications of marine sediments based on their origin?
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Chapter 6: Water
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Sample Questions
Q1) The geometry of the covalent bonds shared by the hydrogen atoms and oxygen atom in a water molecule account for its polarity.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The salinity of seawater is a measure of the amount of sodium and chloride in a water sample.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Scientists believe the global change in greenhouse gases is making the surface ocean fresher in high latitudes.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The type of bond that enables water molecules to stick together is a:
A) covalent bond.
B) molecular bond.
C) hydrogen bond.
D) atomic bond.
Q5) Describe how carbon dioxide acts as a buffer in seawater.
Q6) What is meant by the mixing time of the ocean?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Atmospheric Circulation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Near the poles (both in the north and south) the jet stream flows west to east.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Describe atmospheric convection.
Q3) Hadley atmospheric circulation cells are found at mid-latitudes.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explain the Coriolis Effect.
Q5) Conditions that contributed to the destructive nature of Hurricane Katrina included all of the following EXCEPT:
A) a huge storm surge.
B) very strong winds, up to 125 miles per hour.
C) very high levels of rainfall, up to 10 inches per hour.
D) an exceptionally cold pocket of water over the Gulf of Mexico.
Q6) Tropical cyclones are also called:
A) willi-willis.
B) typhoons.
C) hurricanes.
D) all of these
Q7) What is a hurricane and how are they formed?
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Chapter 8: Ocean Circulation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most deep water masses form:
A) near the ocean floor in the arctic.
B) near the ocean floor in the Antarctic.
C) near the ocean surface in the arctic.
D) near the ocean surface in the Antarctic.
Q2) The ultimate source of most of the energy for ocean currents is:
A) weather.
B) wind.
C) the sun.
D) the tides.
Q3) Which of the following is NOT an eastern boundary current?
A) Canary Current
B) Benguela Current
C) Gulf Stream
D) West Australian Current
Q4) The densest water in ocean currents is the:
A) warmest and saltiest.
B) coldest and saltiest.
C) warmest and freshest.
D) coldest and freshest.
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Chapter 9: Waves
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Sample Questions
Q1) The best place to study the effects of a seiche is:
A) on a shallow beach at the edge of the Pacific.
B) in a harbor or lake.
C) near tropical islands in the Pacific or Atlantic.
D) in the open sea.
Q2) Wave reflection causes interference in the form of vertical oscillations that are called standing waves.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The energy that causes ocean waves to form is called a disturbing force.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The diameter of the orbits of water particles in a deep-water wave is equal to the: A) wavelength.
B) wave period.
C) wave velocity.
D) wave height.
Q5) Describe how a tsunami is formed and how it can travel great distances at great speeds.
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Chapter 10: Tides
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Sample Questions
Q1) When the sun and moon are in a line with the Earth, the:
A) gravitational attraction will be less.
B) difference between high and low tides will be minimal.
C) arrival of high tide will be delayed.
D) highest high and lowest low tides will occur.
Q2) Tractive forces:
A) are never responsible for the tides.
B) cause water to flow away from some ocean areas.
C) are the primary causes of tidal surges.
D) influence the atmosphere only.
Q3) Which of the following statements is FALSE concerning the equilibrium theory of tides?
A) The theory assumes that the seafloor does not influence tides.
B) The theory states that the surface of the ocean cannot conform to the combination of forces acting on it.
C) The theory presumes the surface of the ocean does conform to acting forces.
D) The theory states that there is a balance between all of the forces that influence the surface of the ocean including those that allow Earth to stay in stable orbit around the sun.
Q4) Tides are shallow-water waves. Explain this statement.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Coasts
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Sample Questions
Q1) The steep cliffs and rugged coast of much of the West Coast of the United States are primarily the result of:
A) faulting and earth movement.
B) marine deposition.
C) river deposition.
D) glacial erosion.
Q2) Barrier islands were once part of the mainland when sea levels were lower.
A)True
B)False
Q3) An example of a partially mixed estuary is:
A) Milford Sound.
B) Chesapeake Bay.
C) Sydney Harbour.
D) San Francisco Bay.
Q4) A problem facing many beaches along the U.S. east and west coasts is:
A) excess sand being deposited around seaside installations.
B) the rapid growth of deltas at the mouths of rivers.
C) the development of barrier beaches across harbors.
D) the loss of sand and the erosion of beaches.
Q5) Define the term coast and describe the factors that shape coastlines.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Life in the Ocean
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Sample Questions
Q1) The zone where most biological productivity of the ocean occurs is called:
A) euphotic zone.
B) aphotic zone.
C) hyperphotic zone.
D) disphotic zone.
Q2) The scientific name of an organism includes the genus and species name.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In photosynthesis, the energy of sunlight ultimately rests in:
A) carbon dioxide molecules.
B) the carbon-hydrogen bonds of carbohydrates.
C) oxygen molecules.
D) the oxygen-hydrogen bonds of water molecules.
Q4) Why is evolution important in the study of the ocean?
Q5) All other factors being equal, a greater quantity of dissolved gas can be held in solution in ____ seawater.
A) cold
B) warm
C) high salinity
D) low salinity
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Pelagic Communities
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe at least 3 ways that marine mammals are adapted to life in the marine environment.
Q2) Organisms such as diatoms or copepods that spend their entire life cycle as plankton are called:
A) nanoplankton.
B) meroplankton.
C) holoplankton.
D) zooplankton.
Q3) An area that has high nutrient levels and very high seasonal primary productivity are the:
A) subpolar zones.
B) tropical coastal regions.
C) coral reefs.
D) tropical open ocean.
Q4) Penguins are found world-wide and although they cannot fly, they can swim great distances.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain why phytoplankton is critical to all of life on Earth.
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Chapter 14: Benthic Communities
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Sample Questions
Q1) Seaweeds are:
A) vascular plants.
B) unicellular algae.
C) muticellular algae.
D) zooxanthellae.
Q2) One of Earth's most rigorous habitats is a:
A) sand beach.
B) coral reef.
C) kelp forest.
D) rocky intertidal.
Q3) The symbiotic dinoflagellate that lives within coral tissue is called:
A) kelp.
B) Riftia.
C) zooxanthellae.
D) polyp.
Q4) Primary productivity in estuaries is high because:
A) light is seasonal and dim.
B) nutrients are abundant.
C) symbiotic autotrophs live within the tissues of estuary animals.
D) nutrients are abundant and light is dim.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Uses and Abuses of the Ocean
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Sample Questions
Q1) The farming specifically of marine organisms for human use is called:
A) nonextractive resource harvesting.
B) fish farming.
C) aquaculture.
D) mariculture.
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) Though desalination is a theoretically attractive method for obtaining fresh water from seawater, no large commercial facilities for desalination exist.
A)True
B)False
Q4) 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.
Q5) Define "Bycatch" and explain how it is damaging to marine populations.
Page 17
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