Quiz Lectures 1-6

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What are the abbreviations for billions and millions of years ago?
Ga, Ma
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What are the four Eons into which geologists divide Earth history called?
Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic
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What are the four ‘spheres’ that interact to form the Earth system?
Geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere
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How old is the universe?
13.7 Ga
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Which two elements were made as the universe cooled after the big bang?
H (hydrogen), He (helium)
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What process has made all the other elements?
Nuclear fusion
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What is the heaviest element manufactured in the centre of giant stars?
Fe (iron)
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How are even heavier elements than this made?
Supernova explosions, neutron capture
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What is the process of rocky planet formation called?
Accretion
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What heated up the earliest Earth?
Kinetic energy from accretion converted to heat, radioactive decay
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What element forms most of the Earth’s core?
Fe (Iron)
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What element forms much of the mantle?
Si (silicon)
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Why do they separate into two layers?
Fe is denser than Si, the two elements are immiscible
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How old is the Earth?
4.56 Ga
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How was the moon formed?
Collision with ‘Theia’ a planetary embryo about the size of Mars
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Where do the oceans and atmosphere come from?
Degassing from the mantle, carbonaceous chondrite meteorites coming in from the outer solar system where there was liquid water beyond the ‘snow line’
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How old is the oldest zircon grain?
4.4 Ga
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How old are the oldest rocks still with us at the surface of the Earth?
.28 Ga or 4.04 Ga depending on which evidence you accept
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Name two gases that were abundant in the earliest atmosphere.
N2 (nitrogen), CO2 (carbon dioxide)
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When was the ‘late heavy bombardment’?
4.1-3.8 Ga
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How old are the oldest sedimentary rocks?
3.8 Ga
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How old is the first proposed evidence for life on Earth?
Nearly 3.8 Ga
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What is a ‘stromatolite’?
a fossilised layered carbonate rock structure thought to have been made by microbial communities
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How old are the oldest fossils of life?
Either 3.5 Ga or 3.26 Ga depending on which evidence you accept
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Who came up with the theory of continental drift?
Alfred Wegener
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Name two bits of evidence supporting sea floor spreading.
Symmetric magnetic reversals either side of mid-ocean ridges, sediments getting thicker as you move away from mid-ocean ridge
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How old (roughly) is the oldest ocean floor?
150 Ma
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What was the key evidence in support of the subduction of ocean plates?
Lots of seismic activity (earthquakes) concentrated along lines that are near some edges of ocean basins
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Roughly how fast do the continental plates move apart/together?
10cm/yr, or the speed at which fingernails grow
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What’s the process of splitting a continent apart called?
Rifting
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What gets created at the surface when continents collide?
Mountain Ranges
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What are the ancient bits of continental crust called?
Shields or cratons
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Name a surface location today that is above a mantle plum/hot spot
Hawaii
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If a plume comes up through continental crust what gets created at the surface?
Flood basalts (a big lake of lava)
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Name two gases co-existing that indicate disequilibrium in the Earth’s atmosphere?
O2 (oxygen) and CH4 (methane), or O2 and H2
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What gas dominates the atmospheres of Mars and Venus?
CO2 (carbon dioxide)
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What does the Gaia hypothesis propose is being regulated by life?
Atmospheric composition and climate
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Who collaborated with Jim Lovelock in formulating the Gaia hypothesis?
Lynn Margulis
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Give one of the biologists’ arguments against the Gaia hypothesis.
It implies teleology, or the Earth is not a unit of selection, or why should organisms by naturally selected for making a better environment that is enjoyed by everyone (not just them)
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What was the model answer to their criticisms called
Daisyworld
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What is the habitable zone?
The range of distances from a star at which water on a planet is liquid (temperature range of 0-70 degrees centigrade)
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How much less luminous was the Sun when the Earth was formed?
30%
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What kept the early Earth warm?
CO2, possibly lower albedo
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What is the long-term process that removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?
Silicate weathering
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What counteracts the steady brightening of the Sun?
The fact that warming accelerates silicate weathering and removes CO2
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Card 2

Front

What are the four Eons into which geologists divide Earth history called?

Back

Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic

Card 3

Front

What are the four ‘spheres’ that interact to form the Earth system?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

How old is the universe?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Which two elements were made as the universe cooled after the big bang?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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