Earth Systems Science
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Course Introduction
Earth Systems Science explores the complex interactions between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere that collectively shape our planet. This course covers key processes such as plate tectonics, climate regulation, biogeochemical cycles, and energy flows, emphasizing how these systems are interdependent and influence both natural environments and human society. Through an integrated approach, students will develop an understanding of Earth as a dynamic and evolving system, examine scientific methods for studying global change, and consider the impacts of human activity on planetary health.
Recommended Textbook
Earth Science 1st Edition by Stephen Marshak
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Earth in Context
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Sample Questions
Q1) If two atoms of deuterium (an isotope of hydrogen) are bound together at the atomic level (nuclear fusion), what element is formed?
A)carbon
B)helium
C)beryllium
D)lithium
Answer: B
Q2) Is it less strenuous to go for a jog in San Diego (at sea level) or in Denver (at an altitude of 1 mile)?
Answer: Air pressure decreases with increasing elevation. Thus, it is easier to jog at sea level in San Diego because it is at a lower elevation and has a higher air pressure than in "mile-high" Denver.
Q3) Which of the following bodies is the smallest?
A)planet
B)star
C)protoplanet
D)planetesimal
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Evidence that glaciers once covered an area might include A)glacial striations.
B)glacial piles.
C)remnants of ice.
D)well-sorted sediment.
Answer: A
Q2) Seafloor spreading is MOST likely to occur at A) convergent boundaries.
B) transform boundaries.
C)divergent boundaries.
D)hot spots.
Answer: C
Q3) The discovery of seafloor spreading finally provided a mechanism for A)subduction zones.
B)continental drift.
C)transgressions.
D)normal faulting.
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Patterns in Nature: Minerals
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Sample Questions
Q1) Diamonds are usually found in
A)pegmatite.
B)kimberlite.
C)sandstone
D)granite.
Answer: B
Q2) A __________ is a mineral-lined cavity in a rock.
A)crystal
B)geode
C)Mohs cavity
D)precipitate
Answer: B
Q3) A facet is a __________ on a gem.
A)polished surface
B)cleavage plane
C)small impurity
D)crystal face
Answer: A
Q4) Draw and label a silicon-oxygen tetrahedron.
Answer: 11ea5217_bcc7_1363_b9bb_4fce70cfaf6f_TB4836_00
Page 5
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Chapter 4: Up From the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) Despite the fact that the temperatures within Earth are hot enough to melt rock, Earth is mostly solid. Why do the rocks within Earth NOT melt?
A)The pressure is too high.
B)The pressure is too low.
C)There is not enough water.
D)They are not in contact with air.
Q2) Granite, a course-grained, felsic intrusive igneous rock is most similar in mineral composition to __________ , which is a fine-grained, felsic extrusive equivalent.
A)andesite
B)basalt
C)gabbro
D)rhyolite
Q3) What is a caldera? How is a caldera different from a stratovolcano?
Q4) Describe the difference between the relative viscosity of felsic versus mafic magma and how this affects the rate of flow of each type.
Q5) Compare and contrast a dike and a sill. How are they similar? How are they different?
Q6) What are some of the main volcanic hazards?
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Chapter 5: A Surface Veneer: Sediments and Sedimentary
Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) A well-sorted sandstone with asymmetric ripples was MOST likely deposited as sand by a(n)
A)river (far from source).
B)glacier.
C)river (near source).
D)alluvial fan.
Q2) What type of basins contain the largest accumulation of marine sediments?
A)rift
B)passive-margin
C)foreland
D)intracontinental
Q3) What is the difference between chemical and physical weathering?
Q4) What is a soil profile?
Q5) How are chalk and chert different?
A)They have different grain sizes.
B)They are made of different source materials.
C)Chalk is terrestrial; chert is marine.
D)Chalk is biochemical; chert is chemical.
Q6) Describe the difference between lithification and diagenesis.
Q7) In which type of basin would it be possible to find oil forming and why? Page 7
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Page 8
Chapter 6: A Process of Change: Metamorphism and the Rock Cycle
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Q1) Geologists classify metamorphic rocks primarily according to
A)whether they are foliated or nonfoliated.
B)whether they contain pseudomorphs.
C)the percentage of silica.
D)the size of their crystals
Q2) What metamorphic facies would most commonly be associated with a subduction zone and why?
Q3) Which of the following is a common protolith involved in the formation of quartzite?
A)limestone
B)sandstone
C)shale
D)slate
Q4) A type of foliation defined by the preferred orientation of large crystals of mica is termed
A)slaty cleavage.
B)phyllitic luster.
C)schistosity.
D)compositional banding
Q5) What is the difference between schist and phyllite?
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Chapter 7: Crags, Cracks, and Crumples: Crustal
Deformation and Mountain Building
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Q1) The formation of the Basin and Range Province, a fault-blocked mountain range in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, is associated with which of the following processes?
A)continental rifting
B)continental collision
C)fold and thrust faulting
D)subduction zone volcanism
Q2) Which of these properly illustrates the principle of isostasy?
A)High-density crust floats on top of low-density mantle.
B)Mountains stand high because they are gravitationally balanced by their deep crustal roots.
C)When weight is added to the crust, the crust responds by rebounding upward.
D)When material is removed from the crust, the crust maintains the new, lower elevation.
Q3) How were the mountains in the Basin and Range Province formed?
Q4) Normal faults are generally the result of _________ stress.
A)tensional
B)compressional
C)shear
D)triaxial
Page 10
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Chapter 8: A Violent Pulse: Earthquakes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why is an early warning system NOT considered a short-term earthquake prediction tool?
Q2) Why do deep-focus earthquakes occur along convergent plate boundaries? Why do they not occur along divergent or transform boundaries?
Q3) The Mercalli intensity scale tends to be very subjective and thus is generally only used for historical earthquakes that were near people but were not recorded by seismometers. The Mercalli scale may be considered subjective because it
A)relies on testimony from people.
B)does not take distance into account.
C)can only be used for large earthquakes.
D)cannot be used in heavily populated areas.
Q4) Moderate- and deep-focus earthquakes occur along ONLY
A)convergent-plate boundaries.
B)divergent-plate boundaries.
C)transform-plate boundaries.
D)hotspots.
Q5) Why is an empty field the safest place to be in an earthquake?
Q6) Describe two earthquake-related hazards.
Q7) Explain why tsunamis are NOT tidal waves.
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Chapter 9: Deep Time: How Old Is Old
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Sample Questions
Q1) How much of a radioactive parent isotope will remain after 3 half-lives have passed?
A)one-third
B)three-halves
C)one-eighth
D)one-sixth
Q2) It appears that the dates that early geologists identified as the boundaries between eras coincide with mass extinction events. What is a mass extinction event? What might this event look like in the fossil record?
Q3) Your friend the archaeologist, who studies the ancient human past, has asked you to find a numerical date for some hominid artifacts found buried by ash from a volcanic eruption. To do this, you can use carbon-14 dating, which has a half-life of 5,730 years, or uranium-238, which has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Based on their half-lives, which isotopic dating system will give your friend the most accurate numerical age? Explain.
Q4) Discuss what the numerical age represents when radiometrically dating a basalt, a gneiss, and a quartz sandstone.
Q5) Why have no rocks older than 4.12 Ga been found in Earth's crust?
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12
Chapter 10: A Biography of Earth
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Q1) Which of the following is NOT true of Earth's glacial history?
A)The Earth's climate has cooled enough in the past for large ice sheets to cover expanses of the continents.
B)A glacial maximum at the end of the Proterozoic resulted in the great oxygenation event.
C)The term snowball Earth refers to a time in which Earth's surface was almost entirely covered in glacial ice.
D)Periods of increased glaciation in Earth's history are correlative with times of lower sea levels.
Q2) Oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is derived from A)volcanic outgassing.
B)photosynthesis.
C)animal respiration.
D)evaporation.
Q3) Describe how fossils can be used to interpret the geologic history of an area.
Q4) What is an epicontinental sea? Why might an epicontinental sea form and retreat?
Q5) Why are rocks formed before 3.85 Ga so rare?
Q6) How do gradual change and catastrophic change impact the Earth system? Provide an example of each.
Page 13
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Chapter 11: Riches in Rock: Energy and Mineral Resources
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Q1) The classification of coal is based on the concentration of carbon in the rock. Which of the following chain of processes causes the concentration of carbon to increase?
A)burial decay of plant matter release of organic molecules concentration of carbon
B)burial chemical reactions release of gases concentration of carbon
C)decay of plant matter burial release of gases concentration of carbon
D)chemical reactions burial release of gases concentration of carbon
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a likely environmental issue associated with mining operations (both underground and on the surface)?
A) acid mine runoff
B) acid rain
C)earthquakes
D)large manmade topographic depressions (holes) on Earth's surface
Q3) Mineral resources are
A)renewable because they are naturally formed.
B)renewable because we use them at slower rates than they are formed.
C)nonrenewable because they are formed at slower rates than we use them.
D)nonrenewable because they are no longer formed.
Q4) Explain how sources of energy for society have changed over time.
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Page 14
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following landforms would be the result of subsidence?
A)mountain range
B)wave-cut terrace
C)butte
D)basin
Q2) Which of the following factors decreases the risk of mass movement?
A)nearby earthquakes
B)excavation into the base of a hill
C)adding weight to the top of a hill
D)adding vegetation to the side of a hill
Q3) Which of the following increases the risk of mass movement?
A)adding a small amount of moisture to loose, dry sediment
B)waves breaking before they reach sea cliffs
C)flooding the sediment with water to the point of saturation
D)reducing the grade of the slope
Q4) What type(s) of energy control(s) erosion? Explain your answer.
Q5) Describe the similarities and differences between a debris flow and a debris slide.
Page 15
Q6) What is uplift and what is an outcome of uplift? What type of energy drives uplift?
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Chapter 14: Extreme Realms: Desert and Glacial Landscapes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Fine-grained sediment, such as dust and silt, is transported by wind in A)suspension.
B)saltation.
C)deflation.
D)surface creep.
Q2) Sea level __________ during glaciation and __________ during interglaciation. A)decreases; increases B)increases; decreases C)remains constant; decreases D)decreases; remains constant
Q3) An intermediate product in the transformation of snow to glacial ice is A)firn.
B)deposition.
C)ablation.
D)terminus.
Q4) Imagine you are a farmer moving into the Great Plains area after the Dust Bowl of 1933. What can you do to make the land fertile enough for farming again? What about grazing of livestock?
Q6) Explain why the deposits made by glacial outwash are stratified. Page 17
Q5) What is the dominant erosional force in deserts, wind or water? Why?
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Page 18
Chapter 15: Ocean Waters: the Blue of the Blue Marble
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Sample Questions
Q1) Draw a representation of the motion of an ocean wave, including labels denoting the different parts of the motion in an ocean wave. Students should include the following labels: amplitude, wavelength, wave height, crest, trough, and directional arrows.
Q2) Which of the following accounts for the largest amount of biomass in our oceans?
A)plankton
B)nekton
C)dinoflagellates
D)mammals
Q3) The __________ is the rapid change in seawater density from less dense water above to more dense water below, whereas the __________ is the gradual boundary between warmer water above and colder water below.
A)pycnocline; thermocline
B)thermocline; pycnocline
C)insolation; halocline
D)halocline; insolation
Q4) Outline the impacts of our ocean dead zones, and discuss where they are forming.
Q5) What is thermohaline circulation and how does it work?
Q6) Define the flow of the Ekman transport and explain its process.
Q7) How does the desalinization process convert ocean water into freshwater?
Page 19
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Chapter 16: Marine Geology: the Study of Ocean Basins and Coasts
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Q1) The entire state of Florida is composed of fossiliferous limestone (indicative of a coral reef environment). This implies that in the recent past, Florida was A)covered with caves.
B)a submergent coast.
C)an emergent coast.
D)in the mountains.
Q2) Gently sloping fringes of sediment along the shore are known as A)tidal flats.
B)beaches.
C)lagoons
D)inlets.
Q3) A(n) __________ is a vegetated, flat-lying stretch of coast that floods at high tide, becomes particularly exposed at low tide, and does not feel the impact of strong waves.
A)marine terrace
B)coral reef
C)coastal wetland
D)estuary
Q4) Why is it NOT a good idea to build on barrier islands?
20
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Chapter 17: The Air We Breathe: Introducing Earths
Atmosphere
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Q1) A __________ is used to measure __________.
A)rain gauge; temperature
B)thermometer; wind direction
C)wind vane; precipitation
D)barometer; atmospheric pressure
Q2) How is atmospheric pressure different from a directed force?
A)Directed force acts equally in all directions.
B)Atmospheric pressure acts equally in all directions.
C)Directed force and atmospheric pressure act the same.
D)Atmospheric pressure is directional by nature.
Q3) Water held in the atmosphere is a__________ , whereas water in the form of snow, ice, or hail is a_________.
A)liquid; solid
B)vapor; solid
C)vapor; aerosol
D)solid; gas
Q4) Explain the role and process the ionosphere plays in radio transmission.
Q5) Hypothesize why someone would feel hotter on a steamy, humid day in Mississippi than on a hot, bone-dry day in the Mojave Desert.
Page 21
Q6) List the three laws that govern the behavior of blackbody radiation.
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Page 22
Chapter 18: Winds of the World: the Earths Major Weather Systems
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Q1) Which type of storm is most likely found along the comma head of the mid-latitude cyclone?
A)hail
B)snow
C)typhoon
D)dry front
Q2) Which phenomenon can best be described as significant atmospheric disturbances involving strong winds and heavy precipitation that can become hazardous to landscapes, ecosystems, society, and ships at sea?
A)volcanoes
B)earthquakes
C)mudslides
D)storms
Q3) Describe the four important properties of the Coriolis force.
Q4) A very fast high-altitude river of air that forms in the upper troposphere is called a(n)
A)typhoon.
B)jet stream.
C)monsoon.
D)air mass.
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Chapter 19: Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, and Local Weather Systems
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Q1) What is implied by a tornado watch? How is this different from a warning?
Q2) A parcel of air that has undergone initial lifting in a region that contains unstable air will most likely
A)continue to rise.
B)sink back down.
C)mix with the air around it.
D)remain in its new location.
Q3) A layer in the atmosphere in which the temperature increases with altitude is known as a(n)
A)inversion.
B)mesocyclone.
C)katabatic wind.
D)squall line.
Q4) A tornado that forms over water is known as a(n)
A)hurricane.
B)mesocyclone.
C)water spout.
D)typhoon.
Page 24
Q5) How can people best protect themselves from lightning?
Q6) Compare and contrast an ordinary thunderstorm and a supercell thunderstorm.
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Page 25
Chapter 20: Climate and Climate Change
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Q1) Typically, volcanic eruptions
A)do not result in significant long-term climate change.
B)result in climate cooling because of the extra ash in the atmosphere.
C)result in climate warming because they release so much carbon dioxide.
D)result in climate warming because they release so much methane.
Q2) Current changes in Earth's climate are most likely caused by
A)increased albedo.
B)The climate is not changing.
C)natural forcing.
D)anthropogenic forcing.
Q3) Where is solar heating least likely to vary with seasons?
A)Tropic of Capricorn
B)South Pole
C)equator
D)Tropic of Cancer
Q4) Discuss three lines of evidence that global climate change is currently taking place.
Q5) Is the primary cause of recent climate change natural or anthropogenic? How do we know?
Q6) Why does Earth have seasons?
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Chapter 21: Our Solar System and Beyond
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Q1) Astronomers use the geometric parallax by precisely measuring the angles at which a star's position changes, astronomers use trigonometry to calculate the _________ nearby stars less than _________ away from Earth.
A)distance to; 1 light-year
B)temperature of; 500 light-years
C)distance to; 500 light-years
D)Astronomers do not use the geometric parallax, only meteorologists use it.
Q2) What advantages do space telescopes have over earthbound telescopes?
A)Space telescopes do not have any advantages over earthbound telescopes.
B)A space telescope that orbits above Earth's energy-absorbing atmosphere is able to detect the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
C)Earthbound telescopes can ONLY detect short and long wavelengths that can pass through the radio windows to the ground.
D)Space telescopes last longer and are easier to repair because they are less impacted by Earth's gravity.
Q3) What is a simple, everyday example of the Doppler effect?
Q4) Outline Newton's Laws of Physics.
Q5) How does an astronomer use Cepheid variables to determine distance in space?
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Chapter 22: Our Neighborhood in Space
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Q1) Which of the following is MOST true about Jupiter's moon(s)?
A)Jupiter has no moons.
B)Jupiter has one moon named Io.
C)Jupiter has two moons named Phobos and Demos.
D)Jupiter has many moons (67 confirmed).
Q2) Which of the following is MOST true of the presence of water on Mars?
A)There is no water, nor any evidence of water, on Mars.
B)There is evidence that suggests that there may have once been water on Mars, but no water remains.
C)There is evidence that suggests that liquid water may have existed on Mars, and the presence of water as ice has been discovered in the subsurface.
D)Liquid water has been discovered on the surface of Mars.
Q3) What is a moon? Do all planets have moons?
Q4) Loosely bound aggregates of rock and ice are A)comets.
B)asteroids. C)meteors.
D)meteorites.
Q5) What is a planet? Why is Pluto no longer considered a planet?
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Chapter 23: The Sun, Stars, and Deep Space
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Q1) How do astronomers differentiate galaxies from one another?
Q2) A very high-mass star with a mass greater than about 25Ms enters its death throes. It undergoes a supernova explosion, leaving the remnant neutron star that still contains as much mass as three Suns and can become a A)main sequence star.
B)supergiant.
C)black hole.
D)red dwarf.
Q3) A patch on the surface of the photosphere becomes about 1,300°C to 2,700°C (800°F to 1,700°F) cooler than brighter regions of the photosphere. These patches are known as ____________ because their lower temperatures make them look darker than the surrounding regions.
A)solar flares
B)solar cycles
C)sunspots
D)solar prominence
Q4) How might expansion rates of the Universe change in the future, and what would such changes mean for the future of the Universe?
Q5) What provides the energy of a nova? What provides the energy of a supernova?
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