Physical Earth Science Semester 2 Final Review –Key
1. The energy that drives surface ocean currents comes from ____. WIND
2. The rising of cold water from deeper layers to replace warmer surface water is called ___ UPWELLING
3. What phenomena associated with upwelling? INCREASED NUTRIENTS, INCREASED PLANKTON
POPULATION, VERTICAL WATER MOVEMENTS
4. What processes do NOT decrease the salinity of water? FORMATION OF SEA ICE AND EVAPORATION
5. According to the conveyor belt model of ocean circulation, what happens when water reaches the poles? THE
SALINITY OF WATER INCREASES
6. What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere? NITROGEN
7. What is air? IT’S A MIXTURE
8. The form of oxygen that combines three oxygen atoms into each molecule is called ____. OZONE
9. What is the lowest layer of the atmosphere? TROPOSHPERE
10. Most important weather phenomena occur in which layer of the atmosphere? TROPOSPHERE
11. A metal spoon becomes hot after being left in a pan of boiling water. This is an example of ____. CONDUCTION
12. The heating of the lower layer of the atmosphere from radiation absorbed by certain heat-absorbing gases is called
THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT
13. Earth receives energy from the sun through what method of heat transfer? RADIATION
14. The two most important heat-absorbing gases in the lower atmosphere are WATER VAPOR &CARBON
DIOXIDE
15. In general, what is true about places at higher altitudes? COOLER TEMPS THAN LOWER ALTITUDES
16. What happens to the temperatures of a city located along a windward coast in the winter and the summer? COOLER
SUMMER TEMPERATURES THAN AN INLAND LOCATION AT THE SAME LATITUDE
17. Who’s your favorite science teacher?
18. Isotherms are lines that connect points of equal ____. TEMPERATURE
19. Rain, snow, sleet, and hail are all examples of ____. PRECIPITATION
20. What term describes the conversion of a solid directly to a gas, without passing through the liquid state?
SUBLIMATION
21. The process of converting a liquid to a gas is known as ____. EVAPORATION
22. Air that has reached its water-vapor capacity is said to be ____. SATURATED
23. What is true about warm, saturated air? CONTAINS MORE WATER VAPOR THAN COLD AIR
24. The ratio of air’s water-vapor content to its capacity to hold water vapor at that same temperature is the ____.
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
25. The force exerted by the weight of the air above is called ____. AIR PRESSURE
26. What is the ultimate energy source for most wind? SOLAR RADIATION
27. Which force generates winds? PRESSURE DIFFERENCES
28. Closely spaced isobars indicate ____. HIGH WINDS
29. Variations in air pressure from place to place are the principal cause of ____. WIND
30. High-altitude, high-velocity “rivers” of air are called ____. JET STREAMS
31. The Coriolis effect influences ____. WIND DIRECTION
32. Centers of low pressure are called ____. CYCLONES
33. Air subsides in the center of a(n) ____. HIGH-PRESSURE SYSTEM
34. High-pressure systems are usually associated with what type of weather? CLEAR , DRY WEATHER
35. How do low pressure systems move across the United States? WEST TO EAST
36. What surface winds blow between the subtropical high and the equator? TRADE WINDS
37. When is a sea breeze most intense? MID TO LATE AFTERNOON
38. How are winds labeled? BY THE DIRECTION FROM WHICH THEY BLOW
39. What is a warm countercurrent that periodically flows southward along the coasts of Ecuador and Peru? El Nino
40. An immense body of air characterized by similar properties at any given altitude is known as a(n) ____. AIR MASS
41. Maritime air masses form ____. OVER WATER
42. On a weather map, which type of front is shown by a line with triangular points on one side? COLD FRONT
43. On a weather map, which type of front is shown by a line with semicircles extending from one side? WARM
FRONT
44. Which region is located between 23.5° north and south of the equator? TROPICAL ZONE
45. The rain shadow effect is associated with ____. MOUNTAINS
46. The leeward side of a mountain is often ____. DRY
48. Increased altitude generally causes lower ____. TEMPERATURES
49. Global winds move warm air toward the ____. POLES
50. Heat and moisture are distributed around Earth by ____ . GLOBAL WINDS
51. What two factors are used to classify climate in the Köppen climate classification system? TEMPERATURE AND
PRECIPITATION
52. What factor distinguishes wet tropical climates from tropical wet and dry climates? PRECIPITATION
53. In dry climates, rates of evaporation exceed ____ THE RATE OF PRECIPITATION
54. Which type of climate is characteristic of Antarctica? POLAR
55. How does volcanic ash in Earth’s atmosphere affect solar radiation? INCREASES THE AMOUNT OF SOLAR
RADIATION THAT IS REFLECTED INTO SPACE
56. What phenomenon naturally warms Earth’s lower atmosphere and surface? GREENHOUSE EFFECT
57. Which greenhouse gas is the most powerful absorber of radiation emitted by Earth? WATER VAPOR
58. A measure of the total amount of matter an object contains is called ____. MASS
59. What movement of Earth is responsible for night and day? ROTATION
60. What occurs when the moon casts its shadow on Earth? SOLAR ECLIPSE
61. Round depressions on the moon’s surface are called ____. CRATERS
62. Why does the moon have more craters than Earth? WEATHERING AND EROSION DO NOT OCCUR ON THE
MOON47.
What is the relationship between elevation and climate? HIGHER ELEVATION = COLDER CLIMATE
63. List the Jovian planets. JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, NEPTUNE
64. List the terrestrial planets. MERCURY, VENUS, EARTH, MARS
65. The most obvious difference between the terrestrial and the Jovian planets is ____. SIZE
66. Which planet has a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere and high surface temperatures? VENUS
67. Which planets do NOT have rings? TERRESTRIAL PLANETS
68. What features on Mars point to the possibility of liquid water on the planet? GULLIES AND STREAMLIKE CHANNELS
69. What color has the longest wavelength? RED
70. Gamma rays, X-rays, visible light, and radio waves are all types of ____. ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
71. Which color has the most energetic photons? VIOLET
72. What does a prism do? SEPARATES VISIBLE LIGHT INTO SEVERAL COLORS
73. A typical incandescent light bulb produces a(n) ____. CONTINUOUS SPECTRUM
74. What will happen to an object’s wavelength as the object moves toward you? THE WAVELENGTH WILL BE
SHORTENED
75. Using the Doppler effect, astronomers can determine a star’s ____. MOVEMENT TOWARD OR AWAY FROM EARTH
76. The layer of the sun that radiates most of the light that reaches Earth is the ____. PHOTOSPHERE
77. The outermost layer of the sun is called the ____. CORONA
78. The sun’s surface has a grainy texture produced by numerous bright markings called ____. GRANULES
79. Streams of electrons and protons that shoot out from the sun’s corona make up the solar ____. WIND
80. What are the most explosive events that occur on the sun? SOLAR FLARES
82. Know the various solar features. PHOTOSPHERE, CHROMOSPHERE, CORONA, SUNSPOTS, PROMINENCES,
SOLAR FLARES, GRANULES, SOLAR WIND
83. Sunspots appear dark because they are ____. RELATIVELY COOL
84. The source of the sun’s energy is ____. NUCLEAR FUSION
85. Stars of which color have the highest surface temperature? BLUE
86. Stellar distances are usually expressed in what units? LIGHT YEARS
87. The measure of a star’s brightness is called its ____. MAGNITUDE
88. The difference in the brightness of two stars with the same surface temperature is attributable to their ____. SIZES
89. About 90 percent of stars on the H-R diagram are ____. MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
90. Which main-sequence stars are the most massive? BLUE
91. What main-sequence stars are brightest? THE HOTTEST
92. Another name for the interstellar matter that will eventually form a star is ____. NEBULA
93. A star is said to be born when ____. NUCLEAR FUSION BEGINS
94. Massive stars terminate in a brilliant explosion called a ____. SUPERNOVA
95. The sun is a ____. MAIN SEQUENCE STAR
96. What is the next stage in the sun’s life cycle? RED GIANT
97. Our galaxy is called the ____. MILKY WAY
98. Where is our sun located in the Milky Way? WITHIN ONE OF THE SPIRAL ARMS
99. List the types of galaxies. SPIRAL, ELLIPTICAL, IRREGULAR
100.What evidence supports the big bang? COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION, EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE