Practice Test Questions: Final
1. Assume the Earth is 30% by mass iron. How much heat is released during core
formation?
2. What is the equilibrium temperature of Venus? Its albedo is 0.75.
3. What is the hill sphere of the Moon? Of a Jupiter mass exoplanet orbiting a solar
mass star at 0.1 AU?
4. What is the late heavy bombardment?
5. Look at the distribution of craters on Earth. What does that say about the relative
ages of the continents?
6. The Tharsis budge is centered on the Martian equator. Is that a coincidence?
7. Discuss the process of hot-spot volcanism and how that relates to the construction
of Olympus Mons.
8. What drives the coulomb stability of a material?
9. What is the effect of water on the stability of materials?
10. How do extensional forces produce chains of pits?
11. What is liquefaction?
12. Discuss methods of slow mass movement.
13. What kind of deposits do you get from rapid mass movement?
14. Discuss the atmospheric loss mechanisms covered in “Planetary Air Leak”.
15. How would a more massive Sun effect atmospheric loss rates?
16. Why is the Tibetan plateau so much higher than other mountain ranges?
17. What is the critical radius for an impactor on the Earth?
18. Why does Jupiter have more Hadley cells than the Earth?
19. How can you use the atmosphere to identify the existence of life on a planet?
20. What drives the differences between maritime and continental climates?
21. What are the characteristics of an oceanic gyre?
22. What is the ITCZ?
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23. What is a greenhouse gas?
24. What are Hadley Cells?
25. Why are there deserts?
26. What is deflation?
27. What is going to happen to a desert pavement disturbed by the tire tracks?
28. What is the effect of aerosols on climate?
29. What are the modes of aeolian sediment transport?
30. What is a yardang? A ventifact?
31. What is a barchan?
32. What does a star dune tell you about the prevailing winds?
33. How is desert pavement produced?
34. How do you make dust devils?
35. Planetary equilibrium temperature depends primarily on what?
36. Why does a piece of rock explode during a hypervelocity impact?
37. Is there anything special about the current level of oxygen in the atmosphere?
What is “normal” for the Earth?
38. Is there anything special about the current sea level?
39. What are two ways of raising/lowering sea level?
40. What does the 15N to 14N ratio tell us about the Martian atmosphere?
41. What is the evidence that the early Martian atmosphere was much thicker?
42. What is Jeans escape? Calculate the Jeans escape potential of hydrogen from a
Jupiter mass planet with a temperature of 1200K.
43. What is a scale height? What is the scale height of the Earth’s atmosphere?
44. What causes Ice Ages?
45. What are the three orbital factors that affect ice ages?
46. What are three major pre-industrial sources of greenhouse gases?
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47. Is there anything special about the current level of oxygen in the atmosphere?
The current sea level? What is “normal” for the Earth?
48. What is a Hill Sphere?
49. What transport mechanism produces well sorted sediment? Poorly sorted
sediment?
50. What is the physical effect of long fluvial transport on rocks?
51. What is a graded bed?
52. What are the factors that influence mass movement?
53. What is the angle of repose?
54. Large angular blocks indicate what kind of flow?
55. What are the three ways streams can move sediment? What are the three ways
wind can move sediment?
56. What are meanders? Natural levees? Deltas?
57. When does aggradation occur? Degradation?
58. What limits the depth of groundwater?
59. How do you recognize Karst topography?
60. What is sapping?
61. What is the climate point?
62. Glacial equilibrium depends on what?
63. What are Striations, U-shaped valleys, Moraines, Drumlins, Kettle-holes?
64. What is a rock glacier?
65. What are the factors that control climate on Earth?
66. What are the symptoms of altitude sickness?
67. What is the difference between a scientific law and a theory?
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