Earth History Quiz 14 to 20

?
Quaternary Start and End dates ?
2.6 Ma to present
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What is the average CO2/CH4 composition of the atmosphere during a Glacial/Interglacial and how does it compare to present day concentrations
. Glacial: ~200ppm CO2, ~450ppb CH4. Interglacial: ~280ppm CO2, ~650ppb CH4. Present: 400ppm CO2, ~1800ppb CH4
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What is Catastrophism?
The theory that the geologic record can be explained by sudden, short-lived, violent events
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What is Uniformitarianism?
The theory that the geological record has resulted from the action of continuous and uniform process (which still operate today)
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Who were the key players in the Catastrophism vs Uniformitarianism debate?
Georges Cuvier, William Buckland (catastrophists), James Hutton, Charles Lyell (uniformitarians)
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What are the three key Milankovitch cycles that drive Glacial/Interglacial climate during the Quaternary?
Eccentricity , Precession and Obliquity
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What are the three key Milankovitch cycles that drive Glacial/Interglacial climate during the Quaternary?
Eccentricity , Precession and Obliquity
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Perihelon?
Closest point to the sun
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Aphelion?
Furthest Point from the sun
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Glacials are the
long-lived cold intervals
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Interglacials
are the short-lived warm intervals
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The Holocene is the
current interglaicial
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The Last Interglacial / MIS5e
was around 120ka (the Eemian interglacial)
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What is a Stadial?
A particularly cold period during an ice age
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What is an Interstadial?
A warm interval during an ice age
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What two stable isotopes of oxygen are used as a palaeo tracer for studying past variability in the hydrological cycle? 1
18O, 16O
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The oxygen isotopic concentration of rainwater is strongly controlled by what environmental variable?
Temperature
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What is a chironomid?
A type of fly (non-biting midge) used as a paleoenvironmental proxy
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What is dendrochronology?
Study of Tree rings
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What is 14C and what is it used for in Quaternary Science?
Radiocarbon, dating
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Latin name for modern humans - Genus/Species
Homo Sapiens
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Place the following hominids in age order - oldest first: Homo heidelbergensis; Homo habilis; Homo neandertalensis; Astralopithecus afarensis
s Astralopithecus afarensis, Homo habilis, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neandertalensis
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Earliest evidence for stone tool use?
2.5-26 Ma
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First hominid with the potential for speech?
Homo heidelbergensis
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Latin name for the hobbit!
Homo floresiensis
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When did Neanderthals vanish from the fossil record?
28 Ka (Gibraltar) , extinction thought to be 24 Ka
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What and when was the Devensian in the UK?
The last ice age 110,000-11,700 ka
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What does the acronym LGM stand for?
Last Glacial Maximum
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When was the LGM/?
21 ka
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How thick was the last British Ice sheet and how far south did it extend south?
1.5 km, S. Wales and N. Norfolk
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Global Sea level during the last glacial fell by how much?
120m
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The end of the last Glacial was due in part to changes in what orbital parameters?
Obliquity and Precession
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What was Doggerland?
The land that joined GB to Europe which is now under the NOrth Sea
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Mean annual temperatures in the UK during the Interstadial Thermal Maximum were how high?
10c
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The Younger Dryas/Loch Lomond Stadial dates to when?
12.5 to 11/7 ka
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The onset of the Younger Dryas is thought to have been driven by what forcing factors?
Outburst of glacial lake Agassiz and consequent weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) (although some argue for a meteorite impact)
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What is a Dansgaard-Oeschger event (DO)?
An abrupt warming event during a glaciation
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What is the parallel (?) of DO events in the southern Hemisphere?
Antarctis Warm Periods
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How many DO events have there been over the past 120,000 years?
25
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What is a Heinrich event? How many Heinrich events have been recorded over the past 60,000 years?
A Massive Iceberg rafting event in the North Atlantic 6
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Describe the seasonal atmospheric cycle that drives the Asian monsoon.
Summer warms the land faster than the ocean causing low pressure air to rise over land drawing in moist air from over the ocean, in the winter the cycle is reversed
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What makes Loess an ideal geological archive for studying past climate change in Asia?
It reflects the strength of the winter monsoon winds
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What is a Speleothem?
A cave deposit (e.g. stalagmite or stalactite)
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How does the intensity of Asian Monsoon vary over Glacial-Interglacial timescales?
Strong in glacials, weaker in inter-glacials
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What is the long term trend of the Asian Monsoon during the Holocene?
Weakening
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Where are the tropics? How is their geographical extent defined?
Around the equator, 30N-30S
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What is the ITCZ? What role does it play in the Global Climate system?
Inter-tropical convergence zone = band of rainfall around the planet caused by rising moist air
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What is ENSO? What role does it play in the Global Climate system?
El-Nino Southern Oscillation, it’s the most important mode of variability after the seasonal cycle
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How has ENSO and the ITCZ varied over the Holocene?
Strong ENSO 1630 -1650 AD
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What information can corals yield on past climate variability in the tropics?
Tropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs)
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What is the pattern of hydrological change in Africa over the Late Quaternary?
Megadrought 135-75 ka, wetter from ~70 ka
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When was the African Humind Period?
16-6 Ka
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Who was Alphonso Nino?
A retire submariner living in Nipomo, California
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What is the average CO2/CH4 composition of the atmosphere during a Glacial/Interglacial and how does it compare to present day concentrations

Back

. Glacial: ~200ppm CO2, ~450ppb CH4. Interglacial: ~280ppm CO2, ~650ppb CH4. Present: 400ppm CO2, ~1800ppb CH4

Card 3

Front

What is Catastrophism?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is Uniformitarianism?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Who were the key players in the Catastrophism vs Uniformitarianism debate?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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