Geology 110: Earth and Space Science
Chapter 14 (The Atmosphere) Homework
SELF-REFLECTION AND COMPREHENSION SURVEYS
Checkpoint 14.2, p. 382
#1: When would oxygen have started to accumulate in the atmosphere if the early Earth
had fewer landmasses? (read page 382 carefully before answering this question).
a) Before 2.5 billion years ago
b) After 2.5 billion years ago
c) 2.5 billion years ago (no change)
Page 383
#2: The density of air decreases rapidly as you travel upward from Earth’s surface. What
is the internationally accepted boundary with space (basically where the Earth’s
atmosphere ends)?
a) 10 kilometers above the Earth’s surface
b) 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface
c) 500 kilometers above the Earth’s surface
d) All of the way to the Earth’s moon
Checkpoint 14.7, p. 384
#3: At extremely low temperatures the thin polyethylene fabric (0.002 inches thick) that
made up the balloon carrying Joe Kittinger’s capsule would have become nearly brittle.
Any small flaws in the fabric could have caused the balloon to spring a leak and deflate.
At what location during the ascent would the risk of this potential danger have been most
acute?
a) Lower troposphere
b) Upper troposphere
c) Middle stratosphere
Checkpoint 14.8, p. 385
#4: Soon after Joe Kittinger began his jump he was traveling at over 610 mph (982 km
per hour). What characteristic of the atmosphere caused him to slow down as he
descended (before opening his main chute)? Why did he not hear the sound of air
whistling by him as he began to fall?
Checkpoint 14.9, p. 386
#5: The ozone hole over Antarctica actually represents a thinning of the ozone layer.
What are the consequences of the loss of ozone?
Checkpoint 14.13, p. 392
#6: Your body feels cooler when you step out of a warm shower because
a) water evaporates on your skin.
b) water condenses on your skin.
c) water evaporated from the surrounding air.
d) water condenses in the surrounding air.
Checkpoint 14.14, p. 393
#7: Measurements reveal that a cubic meter of air at 12 ºC actually holds 6 grams of
water. What happens if the temperature of the air increases? Explain your answer.
a) Absolute and relative humidity both increase.
b) Absolute humidity increases and relative humidity remains constant.
c) Absolute and relative humidity both decrease.
d) Absolute humidity remains constant and relative humidity decreases.
Checkpoint 14.16, p. 393
#8: Explain why a person can see their breath on a cold winter’s day, in terms of water
changing state and latent heat.
Checkpoint 14.17, p. 395
#9: Which of the following images best approximates the distribution of the two principal
gases in Earth’s atmosphere?
Checkpoint 14.21, p. 399
#10: Classify the clouds in each of the following images.
a)
b)
c)
d)
Checkpoint 14.22, p. 400
#11: I. On July 2, 1982, truck driver Larry Walters decided to attach 45 helium-filled
weather balloons to a lawn chair and go for a ride. Lawn Chair Larry rose to an altitude
of nearly 5 km (16,000 feet). The high elevations and lack of oxygen made him dizzy, so
he decided it was time to deploy his principal altitude control device, a pellet gun. He
shot out several balloons and descended back to Earth. Which process was most
significant in Lawn Chair Larry’s balloon ride? Explain your reasoning.
a) Density Lifting b) Orographic Lifting
Explain:
c) Convergence Lifting
d) Frontal Lifting
II. In the following landscape, how would the amount of rainfall change at location X if
the mountain eroded down to the dashed line?
a) Rainfall would increase.
b) Rainfall would decrease.
c) Rainfall would stay the same.
For question below, first read beginning on page 396
#12: A parcel of warm air with an average temperature of 29oC is present at sea level.
The surrounding air has a temperature of 18.5 oC. The parcel of warm air begins to rise
due to density lifting (this lifting mechanism is described on page 399). Assume that the
relative humidity of the air mass steadily increases but never reaches 100 percent.
Analyze how the temperature of the air mass would change as it rises, and determine at
what elevation it would become stable.
(This is a relatively tough question, please get help if you need it; keep in mind the dry
adiabatic lapse rate is 10 degrees C per kilometer; the wet adiabatic lapse rate is 6 degrees
C per kilometer; and the normal lapse rate, which applies to air that is not rising or
sinking, is 6.5 degrees per kilometer. Also, note that a parcel of air will continue to rise
as long as it is warmer than the surrounding air ((so, cold air will not rise through warmer
air)). One other hint, the wet adiabatic lapse rate applies to rising air that reaches
saturation (or 100 percent relative humidity). The wet rate is lower because latent heat is
released due to water changing from vapor to liquid state; and this liquid state is the
clouds we see in the atmosphere. When reading the question above, will you apply both
the dry and wet rate to the rising air mass??).
Checkpoint 14.26, p. 403
#13: Draw arrows indicating direction of winds for Figure 14.26 (below) based on
pressure gradient alone.
a) Where would the fastest winds be found?
b) Pick a state of the U.S. on the map below and describe what direction the wind is
blowing (based on the isobars).
Checkpoint 14.11, page 390 (extra credit)
Explain if the interaction of EMR with Earth would cause global temperatures to increase
or decrease under the following conditions.
1. The atmosphere is thicker.
2. The atmosphere contains more carbon dioxide.
3. The atmosphere contains more aerosols.
4. The atmosphere contains more black soot.
5. Tree leaves are white in color.
6. There is no ice on Earth.