Earth System Science Exam
Preparation Guide
Course Introduction
Earth System Science is an interdisciplinary course that explores the complex interactions among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, and human systems. Students will investigate how these spheres function individually and collectively to shape Earth's environment over time. Emphasis is placed on understanding energy flow, biogeochemical cycles, natural and human-induced processes, and feedback mechanisms that regulate the planet's climate, landscapes, and life. Through case studies, data analysis, and modeling, learners will develop a holistic perspective on Earth as a dynamic, interconnected system, preparing them to address environmental challenges with an integrated scientific approach.
Recommended Textbook
Elemental Geosystems 6th Edition by Robert W. Christopherson
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16 Chapters
1791 Verified Questions
1791 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Foundations of Geography
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140 Verified Questions
140 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) On the Mercator projection, areas at high latitudes appear ________.
A) larger than areas of the same size located nearer to the equator
B) smaller than areas of the same size located nearer to the equator
C) the same size as areas of the same size located nearer to the equator
Answer: A
Q2) If you were preparing a map showing the distribution of world climates, which type of map projection would you want to use to allow accurate comparison of areas and regions?
A) equal area
B) a gnomonic projection
C) true shape
D) a Mercator projection
Answer: A
Q3) The \(\underline {\text { inductive } }\) method of reasoning used by Earth scientists to discern patterns in nature involves reasoning from
A) the complex to the simple.
B) the simple to the complex.
C) the specific to the general.
D) the general to the specific.
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Solar Energy, Seasons, and the Atmosphere
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169 Verified Questions
169 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The solar constant is measured at
A) the outer boundary of the exosphere.
B) the outer boundary of the thermosphere.
C) the top of the stratosphere.
D) the top of the troposphere.
E) Earth's surface at the equator.
Answer: B
Q2) Based on function, the atmosphere has
A) five regions beginning with the outermost thermosphere.
B) two functional areas that absorb radiation from the Sun.
C) one continuous region.
D) the troposphere and the stratosphere.
Answer: B
Q3) \(\underline {\text { Variable } }\)atmospheric components refer to A) only natural gases and materials.
B) nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and carbon dioxide.
C) natural sources of dust and aerosols, such as volcanic dust and forest fire smoke, but nothing anthropogenic (human-caused).
D) both natural and anthropogenic gases and materials.
Answer: D
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Chapter 3: Atmospheric Energy and Global Temperatures
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130 Verified Questions
130 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The greatest annual temperature ranges are characteristic of places like
A) Los Angeles and Vancouver.
B) Los Angeles and London.
C) Verkhoyansk and Oymyakon.
D) Santa Fe and Kansas City.
Answer: C
Q2) The principal controls and influences of temperature patterns include
A) Earth's tilt, rotation, revolution, and sphericity.
B) latitude, altitude, land-water heating differences, cloud cover, ocean currents, and surface conditions.
C) land-water heating differences only.
D) specific heat only.
Answer: B
Q3) An isoline that connects all points of the same temperature on a map is called A) an isobar.
B) the mean temperature isoline.
C) the thermal equator.
D) min/max line.
E) an isotherm.
Answer: E
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Chapter 4: Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ocean currents play a relatively small role in regulating climate.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is false regarding thermohaline circulation?
A) Fresh water is entering the ocean from melting glaciers.
B) Its speed is increasing.
C) A complete cycle can take 1000 years to complete.
D) Surface polar waters are becoming less saline, while surface tropical waters are becoming more saline.
Q3) Which of the following is a benefit of wind power as opposed to other, more traditional power sources?
A) It does not produce radioactive wastes.
B) It is renewable.
C) It does not produce air pollution and acid rain.
D) It does not require mining.
E) All of the above are benefits.
Q4) The pressure gradient force drives air from areas of higher pressure to areas of lower pressure.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Atmospheric Water and Weather
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161 Verified Questions
161 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The moist adiabatic rate (MAR) is less than the dry adiabatic rate (DAR) as a result of the release of the latent heat of condensation within the rising parcel of air.
A)True
B)False
Q2) \(\underline { \text { Sublimation } }\) produces snowflakes.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Cooling of a surface overnight that chills the air layer directly above that surface may form
A) an advection fog.
B) an upslope fog.
C) an evaporation fog.
D) a radiation fog.
Q4) The process of sublimation in the atmosphere produces A) fog.
B) freezing rain.
C) snowflakes.
D) sleet.
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Chapter 6: Water Resources
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83 Verified Questions
83 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Transpiration refers to
A) the movement of free water molecules away from a wet surface.
B) the outward movement of water from plant leaves.
C) an amount of moisture loss from the surface that cannot be measured.
D) evaporation.
Q2) On a hot day, a tree can transpire \(\underline {\text { hundreds } }\) of liters of water.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is an example of the consumptive use of water?
A) water that evaporates from an irrigated field
B) hydroelectric power production
C) using water for a bath
D) river navigation
E) all of the above
Q4) As transpiration occurs, water enters plant roots because ________.
A) a neutral pressure gradient is created
B) the water pressure in the soil is more than the water pressure in the plant
C) the water pressure in the soil is less than the water pressure in the plant
D) gravity acts on the water in the soil
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Global Climate Systems
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The bulk of the Amazon River drainage basin is dominated by which one of the following climate classifications?
A) Tropical Monsoon
B) Tropical Savanna
C) Tropical Rain Forest
D) Humid Subtropical, Hot Summer Climates, Moist All Year
Q2) Los Angeles, located in a Mediterranean climate zone, is kept ________ during the summer because of the presence of ________.
A) dry; mountains along the western side of the city
B) dry; the cold California current off the coast
C) wet; the ITCZ overhead
D) wet; the warm California current off the coast
Q3) The U.S. produces more carbon dioxide than any other country in the world.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Mediterranean dry-summer climates
A) experience dry conditions in summer due to the subtropical high overhead.
B) experience wet conditions in winter due to the ITCZ overhead.
C) are bordered poleward by steppe climates.
D) experience wet conditions in summer due to the ITCZ overhead.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: The Dynamic Planet
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100 Verified Questions
100 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Mafic minerals are ________ minerals.
A) dark colored, high density
B) dark colored, low density
C) light colored, high density
D) light colored, low density
Q2) Pangaea is currently dated at
A) 4.6 billion years ago.
B) about half the timespan of Earth's existence.
C) 225 to 200 million years ago.
D) 65 million years ago.
E) the beginning of the Holocene.
Q3) Which of the following supports the continental drift concept?
A) magnetic field patterns preserved in the rocks
B) plant and animal fossil records
C) radioactive decay dating of rocks on either side of a spreading center
D) All of these support the theory.
E) None of these is valid evidence of continental drift.
Q4) The crust is thickest under mountains and thinnest under the oceans.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
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99 Verified Questions
99 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is true regarding the moment magnitude scale-a scale which quantifies the amount of energy released by an earthquake?
A) It is a scale of magnitude based on arithmetical progressions (1,2,3,4, etc.).
B) It is a closed scale that begins at 0.0 and ends at 10.0.
C) An 8.0 on the scale is equal to 31.5 times more energy release than a 7.0.
D) It is the same as the Mercalli scale.
Q2) The most detailed order of relief applies to ________ order relief features.
A) first
B) second
C) third
Q3) Because of the processes responsible for the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the crust in this region of the world has been
A) shortened.
B) extended.
C) folded.
D) extended and folded.
E) shortened and folded.
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Chapter 10: Weathering, Karst Landscapes, and Mass Movement
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161 Verified Questions
161 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) When a river reaches a base level, its forward velocity rapidly decelerates as it enters a larger body of standing water and ________ is formed.
A) an estuary
B) an alluvial terrace
C) a delta
D) a stream terrace
Q2) A cutoff on a meandering stream results in the formation of
A) an oxbow lake.
B) a levee.
C) a point bar.
D) a terrace.
Q3) An increase in turbulence
A) results in deposition of sediment.
B) results in aggradation.
C) causes terraces to form.
D) increases the river's erosive power.
Q4) Soil creep is a natural process sometimes related to a freeze-thaw cycle of soil moisture.
A)True B)False
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Chapter 12: Wind Processes and Desert Landscapes
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73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Principal arid and semiarid lands only occur on the continental landmasses of the Northern Hemisphere.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Active sand dunes and sandy deserts cover approximately what percentage of continental land between 30° N and 30° S latitude?
A) 10 percent
B) 50 percent
C) 70 percent
D) 90 percent
Q3) Which of the following can result from ORV (off road vehicle) use in a desert environment?
A) It can cause destruction of vegetation through both direct and indirect effects.
B) It can lead to a reduction in small animal populations.
C) It can initiate erosion.
D) All of the above can occur.
E) None of the above-ORV's have never been shown to cause measurable impacts on desert environments.
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Chapter 13: The Oceans, Coastal Processes, and Landforms
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75 Verified Questions
75 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is false regarding tides?
A) They are produced solely by the gravitational pull of the Sun.
B) They are complex daily oscillations in sea level.
C) They are influenced by the size, depth, and topography of ocean basins.
D) They are influenced by shoreline configuration and latitude.
Q2) Waves in shallow water that "feel bottom" are ________ and more ________ spaced than the swell they are related to.
A) taller; closely
B) taller; widely
C) smaller; closely
D) smaller; widely
Q3) Barrier islands make ________ sites for real estate development because
A) good; they provide excellent scenery
B) good; they are made of rock and are quite stable
C) poor; they are unstable and often mobile
D) poor; they can be overrun by storm surges
E) both C and D
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Chapter 14: Glacial and Penglacial Landscapes
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95 Verified Questions
95 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Till plains refer to
A) the flat bottomland located in U-shaped glaciated valleys.
B) sorted and stratified fluvial deposits.
C) unsorted coarse deposits characterized by low, rolling relief.
D) glacial deposits that have been actively farmed by humans.
Q2) Alpine glaciers include all of the following except A) an ice cap.
B) a mountain glacier.
C) a cirque glacier.
D) a valley glacier.
Q3) A specific landform produced by the deposition of glacial till is known as A) glacial drift.
B) outwash.
C) a moraine.
D) alluvium.
Q4) Unfrozen ground in a region of discontinuous permafrost is known as A) nunatak.
B) talik.
C) cryotic zone.
D) patterned ground.
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Chapter 15: The Geography of Soils
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101 Verified Questions
101 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A cation has a ________ charge, and an anion has a ________ charge.
A) positive; negative
B) negative; positive
C) positive; neutral
D) neutral; positive
Q2) The principal natural soil-forming factors
A) are both dynamic and passive in nature.
B) include climate, parent material, topography, biotic processes and time.
C) are all inorganic.
D) include peds, separates, solums, and horizons.
E) Both A and B are related soil forming factors.
Q3) At present, which of the soil orders of Soil Taxonomy occupy the most land area in the United States?
A) Oxisols
B) Aridisols
C) Mollisols
D) Spodosols
Q4) The C horizon lies within the zone of significant biological activity.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Ecosystems and Biomes
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171 Verified Questions
171 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The practice of repeatedly planting huge acreages of land in a single crop, such as wheat, ________ stability, and it makes an area ________ susceptible to disease.
A) increases; more B) increases; less C) decreases; more D) decreases; less
Q2) Which of the following expresses the correct relationship?
A) chloroplasts are chlorophyll
B) chlorophyll is in chloroplasts
C) guard cells control stomata
D) both A and C
E) both B and C
Q3) The tropical seasonal forest and scrub biome experiences a wet season when ________ and a dry season when ________.
A) the ITCZ is overhead; the subtropical high is overhead
B) the subtropical high is overhead; the ITCZ is overhead
C) the subtropical high is overhead; the equatorial low is overhead
D) the ITCZ is overhead; the equatorial low is overhead
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Chapter 17: Earth and the Human Denominator
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24 Verified Questions
24 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) There are over 10,000 oil-spill accidents each year.
A)True
B)False
Q2) This is not one of the variables of the planetary impact equation.
A) population
B) affluence
C) technology
D) education level
Q3) During the 1980s, efforts to develop alternative energy supplies and to increase energy efficiency \(\underline { \text { increased } }\text { substantially }\).
A)True
B)False
Q4) According to the author of the text, who should speak for Earth?
A) economists
B) military leaders for nuclear superpowers
C) physical geographers and other scientists who study the natural world
D) political leaders
E) all of the above
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