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global env change
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Questions in this quiz (43)
1The major depositional basin spanning the Permian-Triassic boundary and famous for its vertebrate fossils is:
- Athe Karoo basin
- Bthe Belfast basin
- Cthe Belfield bowl
- Dthe Sahr basin
2THE Permian-Triassic boundary is abbreviated:
- AP/Tr
- BP/T
- CPe/Tr
- DPn/Tc
3
The end Permian mass extinction event occurred around- A250 million years ago
- B25 million years ago
- C1250 million years ago
- D50 million years ago
4
The Lootsberg and Bethulie Sections in the Karoo Basin indicate which of the following broad changes upwards across the Permian – Triassic boundary
A shift from olive green to red mudstones
B reduction in number of desiccation cracked horizons
C lower proportion of sandstone above boundary D a difference in fluvial styles- AA and D
- BB and C
- CA only
- DC only
5Which of the following statements are true?
A Late Permian coal deposits occur at low and temperate latitudes
B Globally the transition from the Permian to Triassic is marked by a shift towards greater aridity
C Coals are exceptionally rare in Lower Triassic successions
D Many of the environmental shifts observed in individual P-Tr sections would have resulted in an increase in sediment yield to oceans- Aall are true
- Bonly B and D are true
- CC and D are true
- DA only is true
6The supercontinent in existence at the time of the end Permian mass extinction is known as:
- APangaea
- BPanama
- CPancea
- DPanem
7Which of the following statements is incorrect?
A. The composition of Earth’s atmosphere has varied over time
B. The principal source of oxygen in the atmosphere is via the activities of photoautotrophs
C. Terrestrial ‘Red beds’ first appear in the geological record about 100 million years ago
D. Before the accumulation of appreciable quantities of free oxygen in the atmosphere detrital minerals such as pyrite would have not decomposed rapidly
E. 2Ga does not mark the timing of the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis- AC is incorrect
- BA and B are incorrect
- CD is incorrect
- DA and D are incorrect
8Which of the following statements about greenhouse gases is incorrect?
A. The amount of water vapour is controlled directly by human activities
B. The geological record indicates there is no variation in the abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is not the result of human activities
C. The rate at which greenhouses gases such as C02 are increasing today is similar to episodes in the recent geological past (last 10,000 years)
D. The primary source of increased C02 since the pre-industrial period are fossil fuel use and land use change.- AA B and C are incorrect
- BB only is correct
- CA and B only are incorrect
- DC and D only are incorrect
9Which of the following statements about greenhouse gases is incorrect?
A. The amount of water vapour is controlled directly by human activities
B. The geological record indicates the only variation in the abundance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over time is the result of human activities
C. The rate at which greenhouses gases such as C02 are increasing today is more rapid than other episodes in the recent geological past (last 10,000 years)
D. The primary source of increased C02 since the pre-industrial period are fossil fuel use and land use change.- AA and B only are incorrect
- BA and C only are incorrect
- CA and D only are incorrect
- Dall are incorrect
10In the equation below which word or phrase should fill the boxed area?
- Amethane
- Boxygen
- Csulphuric acid
- Dsulphur dioxide
11Which of the following statements is false?
(a) a slight increase in surface temperature will lead to increased evaporation from the oceans, more water vapour in the atmosphere, and an enhanced greenhouse effect
(b) Northern Hemisphere snow cover declined over the 20th century, especially in the latter part of the 20th Century
(c) positive feedback serves to amplify accelerate or enhance the output created by a stimulus
(d) relative to melting of glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets, thermal expansion of the oceans is an insignificant cause of on-going sea level rise today- AA
- BB
- CC
- DD
12In the following diagram which line indicates the latitudinal variation in solar radiation reflected by the Earth’s surface?
- Aline 4
- Bline 2
- Cline 1
- Dline 3
13If the Earth was completely covered in water its surface temperature would be ?
- A-52°C
- B32°C
- C13°C
- D24°C
14The density of water is a function of its salinity and which of the following:
- Abiogenic content
- Btemperature
- Cchlorophyll content
- Dturbulence
15Which of the following statements about aerosols is false?
- Ascattering of radiation by aerosols attenuates the incoming solar beam
- Btheir presence leads to absorption of outgoing long wave radiation
- Cthey can serve as condensation nuclei, thus affecting cloud formation
- Dthey reflect incoming radiation, thus increasing total insolation in troposphere
16The aphelion is
- Athe longest distance between the Earth and the Sun over the course of the year
- Bthe shortest distance between the Earth and the Sun over the course of the year
- Cthe time taken for the Earth to complete one orbit of the Sun
- Dthe angle at which the Earth is tilted relative to the plane about which it orbits the Sun
17The obliquity cycle occurs over a period of:
- A11 years
- B19,000 to 23,000 years
- C41,000 years
- D100,000 years
18Sunspots are accompanied by brighter areas known as:
- Afaculae
- Bhaloes
- Corbs
- Dsunzones
19The Sun’s total energy output (its luminosity) has a value today of
- A1
- B4.87
- C10
- D42
20
Why do Miller et al. (2012) consider volcanic activity alone inadequate to explain the advance and persistence of glaciers in northern Canada in the period after 1250 AD?- Aincreased volcanic activity would have had a mainly warming effect and increased, not lowered, temperatures regionally
- Bthe effects of sulphate aerosols would have been relatively short-lived
- Cthere is a mis-match between the timing of the two: the peak of volcanic activity is approximately 250 years younger than the initial ice advance
- Dnone of the above
21The San Andreas Fault is an example of:
- Aa convergent plate boundary
- Ba divergent plate boundary
- Ca transform plate boundary
- Dnone of the above
22In a ‘chemical’ classification of the Earth, the mantle is of which rock type?
- Abasalt
- Bgranite
- Charzburgite
- Dperidotite
23
The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province is associated with opening of what ocean during the break up of the supercontinent Pangaea- Athe Atlantic Ocean
- Bthe Pacific Ocean
- Cthe Labrador Seaway
- Dthe Tethys Ocean (approximately to present-day Mediterranean)
24A principal cause of the initiation of the glaciation of Antarctica in the Paleogene was:
- Aseparation of Southern Hemisphere continents
- Bglobal cooling initiated by a small bolide impact, coupled with positive feedback as a result of
elevated albedo in the region - Cregional cooling due to shortening of the southern extent of the Mid Atlantic Ridge system and termination of volcanic activity in the region
- Drestructured ocean circulation patterns as a result of an elevated rate of subduction below the Andes
25Changes in ocean circulation that result in deep sea warming could potentially make which of the following unstable?
- Aunlithified (soft) sediments due to their undergoing thermal expansion
- Bevaporites
- Cmid ocean ridges
- Dclathrates
26Which of the following is false?
- Ain the asthenosphere the rocks are mechanically stronger than those underlying them
- Bin the asthenosphere (within the mantle) the rocks are solid
- Cthe 1300°C isotherm is deflected towards the surface at mid ocean ridges
- Dthe lithosphere comprises the continental crust or oceanic crust plus the upper part of the
mantle
27Methane released from clathrates as a result of deep sea warming may oxidise to CO2, another greenhouse gas, leading to further warming. This is an example of which of the following phenomena
- Aa positive feedback mechanism in the Earth System;
- Ba tipping point in the Earth System
- Ca phase shift in the Earth System
- Da threshold event in the Earth System
28Which of the following is true?
- Athe lithosphere comprises the crust and the upper part of the mantle
- Bin the asthenosphere (within the mantle) the rocks are solid
- Cthe 1300°C isotherm is deflected towards the surface at mid ocean ridges
- Dthe lithosphere is made of peridotite
29Eustatic sea level change is least likely to arise from which of the following?
- Achanges in the rate of sea floor spreading
- Bchanges in the total length of mid ocean ridges
- Ccontinent-continent collision
- Dglacial/interglacial cycles
30Which of the following statements about foraminifera is incorrect? They are: A: planktic or benthic micro-organisms
B: non-marine
C: non-testate (i.e. lack a shell)
D: are protozoa (single celled)- AB and C are incorrect
- BB and D are incorrect
- CE and F are incorrect
- Dall are incorrect
31The chemically different layer that is excluded from gas exchange with the atmosphere at the bottom of a meromictic lake is the:
- Amonimolimnion
- Bepilimnion
- Chypolimnion
- Dthermolimnion
32The half life of 14C is
- A5.730(+/-40) years
- B57,300(+/-40) years
- C573 (+/-40) years
- D57 (+/-40) years
33The interval between c. 1650 and 1700AD corresponds to which of the following phenomena
- Athe Maunder Minimum
- Bretreat of the Rhone glacier
- Cthe last time Liverpool won the Premiership title
- Ddesiccation of Elk Lake, northern Minnesota
34Ludlow et al. (2013) used the written records of the medieval Irish chronicles to identify short term cold events in Ireland from 431-1649 CE. They concluded that the origin of these episodes was:
- Aepisodic shifts in atmospheric circulation patterns across western Europe
- Bepisodic glacier advance in Scandinavia
- Cepisodic shifts in patterns of ocean currents offshore western Ireland
- Drepeated episodes of volcanic forcing
35
Which of the following statements about the environmental history of Elk Lake, northern Minnesota is correct?
A. varve thickness reflects the amount of silt and clay (fine-grained sediment) supplied and thus is a proxy for wind activity
B. peaks in the abundance of the diatom Aulacoseira coincide with intervals where varves are thicker
C. the abundance of sodium in the sediments reflects how much plagioclase feldspar was deposited
D. the environment surrounding the lake is currently conifer dominated
E. pollen records show an interval between about 8,500-4,000 years ago in which sagebush oak and grasses dominated the vegetation (i.e. prairie vegetation)
F during climate warming between 10,00 and 8,500 years ago spruce forest was replaced rapidly by pine forest- Aall are correct
- Bonly A B and F are correct
- COnly B is correct
- Donly A B D and F are correct
36Cross dating and the extension of a tree ring width-based chronology backward in time is known as the:
- ABridging Technique
- BInferential Potential Method
- CIndirect Cross Collaboration System
- DIndirect Sample Comparison Method
37The annual ring produced by a tree comprises:
- Aearlywood and latewood
- Bearlywood, latewood and phloem
- Cvascular cambium and phloem
- Dnone of the above
38The atomic number of an element refers to:
- Athe number of electrons in the nucleus of an atom
- Bthe number of protons in the nucleus in the atom
- Cthe number of neutrons in the nucleus of an atom
- Dthe number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom
39The Maunder Minimum extended from
- Acirca 1930-1950AD
- Bcirca 1650-1700AD
- Ccirca 1300-1380AD
- Dcirca 1260-1320AD
4014C forms in the upper atmosphere by the effect of cosmic ray neutrons on:
- A18O
- B13C
- C14N
- D210Pb
41Paleolake Megachad was situated inside the:
- AJikariya Oasis
- BKajemarum Oasis
- CBodélé Depression
- DJos Plateau
42Cockerton et al. (2014) studied the dust content of Holocene cores from offshore western Africa (ODP site 658C) and onshore sites from the western Africa Sahel. Which of the following four statements is/are correct?
(1) At ODP site 658C the core shows a sharp increase in dust flux at 5.5 kyrBP. This is attributed to an abrupt widespread aridification episode across northern Africa.
(2)The dust record in the cores from Jikariya and Kajemarum Oases are likely to reflect wind-borne input rather than surface run-off as the surrounding sediments are extremely permeable sand dunes
(3) The dust record in the core from the Jikariya Oasis shows a strong resemblance to the signal from ODP site 658C.
(4) The dust record in the core from the Kajemarum Oasis shows a decline in dust flux from 10,000- 5.5,000 years BP, a gradual increase between 5.5,000 and 1,000 years BP, and a rapid rise in the past 1,000 years BP- Aonly statement 1
- Bstatements 2 and 3
- Cstatements 1,2 and 4
- Dstatements 1, 3 and 4
43In a study of the environmental history of Elk Lake, northwestern Minnesota, %sodium (Na) is most abundant in the sediments between about 8,500 and 4,000 years ago. The authors of the study attributed this to:
- Aa warmer phase when more evaporation resulted in precipitation of evaporite minerals
- Bwetter conditions when an increase in surface run-off resulted in a greater component of detrital
material entering the lake - Ca drier phase when less feldspar was decomposed prior to entering the lake system
- Da series of meteor airbursts in the atmosphere above North America that resulted in the incorporation of extra-terrestrial material into the lake sediments
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- Quiz on global env change , created by Hugh Cronin on 11/12/2019.
- Author
- Hugh Cronin
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