Introduction To Geology: A Comprehensive Exam

Radiocarbon dating

Potassium-Argon dating

Ring counting and correlation

Is observable because of the greater number of high-resolution climate proxies than are available for earlier time periods in Earth's history

Is not real but actually an artifact of an incomplete dataset

Means that there cannot be a common cause for any trends in the combined records

Shows a distinct separation between climate changes in oceans compared to it on land

Both C and D

An increase in sulfate concentration causes volcanoes to explode

There have been more volcanic explosions on average since 1900 than during the previous two centuries

The baseline sulfate concentration increased because of human emissions after 1850 AD.

Sulfate concentrations were lower in 1990 than in 1980.

Population changes

Changes in the quality of life

Efficiency changes in fossil fuel use

All of the above

Both A and C

Pleistocene

Cenozoic

Paleozoic

Mesozoic

~5000 years

~9000 years

~13,000 years

~20, 000 years

Must simulate the modern climate reasonably well to be trusted as a tool for exploring past climate

Track geochemical tracers through the climate system

Are structured to allow continuous interaction of the atmosphere and ocean

Modify physical laws of radiation and circulation of fluids (ocean and atmosphere) to match data from geologic archives

Both C and D

Methane

Water vapor

Sulfates

Nitrous oxide

Work under the assumption that the terrestrial, ocean, and atmospheric environments are all closed systems

Recover and study cores from trees, corals, ice, lake sediments, and ocean sediments

Develop climate models that require no assumptions

Limit study to a single proxy from any particular archive

Use all of the above

Carbon-containing brown clouds have not yet fully responded to the CO2 warming

The ocean has not yet fully responded to the CO2 forcing

Sulfate aerosols have yet not fully responded to the CO2 forcing

All of the above are correct

Climate change is exclusively global, whereas weather is exclusively regional

Climate includes temperature, while weather addresses precipitation, snow and ice cover, and wind conditions

Climate is a broad composite of weather conditions over time scales of years and decades

Climate and weather do not differ, they are interchangeable terms

Wind power

Oil

Coal

Nuclear energy

Occurred ~15 million years ago

Produced a unique high elevation area in the late Cenozoic

Resulted in increased rates of sediment accumulation in the northern Indian Ocean

Resulted in the development of a strong monsoon system

All of the above

76 deg F

15 deg C

The same as the temperature at the equator

Both A and C

Is exclusively studied by meteorologists

Requires an Earth system science perspective

Spans vast temporal scales

Spans vast spatial scales

All but A

Roughly equal time scales of forcing and response result in varying degrees of response by the climate system to the forcing

Slow response time permits the climate system to fully track slow forcing

Fast response time allows little climate response to fast changes in forcing

All of the above

None of the above

Typically accumulate on high exposed spots (e.g. mountain tops)

Will have recorded the same climatic event at the same depth everywhere

Have a temporal (time) resolution-dependent on the rate that the sediment accumulated and whether it has been disturbed (mixed-up) after deposition

All of the above

Both A and C

~0.1 deg C

~0.25 deg C

~0.4 deg C

~0.7 deg C

None

560 ppm

280 ppm

385 ppm

140 ppm

643 ppm

~0.5 deg C

~0.25 deg C

~5 deg C

~7 deg C

~10 deg C

Promote greater photosynthesis and thus tree growth

Could complicate tree ring interpretations

Would produce the same effect on the tree ring pattern as would a trend toward wetter climates in dry regions

All of the above

The amount of high-elevation terrain in existence today must be unusually large in comparison with that of earlier intervals.

This high terrain must be causing unusual amounts of rock fragmentation

The exposure of fresh debris must be causing unusually high rates of chemical weathering

All of the above are correct

Is predicted to reach 10 billion in

Is predicted to increase most in economically developing countries

Growth is predicted to cause a rise in carbon emissions

All of the above

None of the above

Occurred from about 1400-1850 A.D.

Was marked by the growth and advance of continental sized ice sheets in North America

Was global in extent

All of the above

Climate hasn't changed during the existence of humans and their ancestors

Humans didn't evolve until 2000 years ago

The human fossil record is sparse and human fossils are very rare

Climate records in Africa for this time are sparse

All of the above are correct

Oil companies like Exxon Mobil who gouge us everyday.

Oil commodity traders in future markets in New York and around the world

Oil consumers primarily in the U.S.

Oil producing nations like Saudi Arabia

Changes in Earth's orbit around the Sun

Changes in the strength of the Sun

Changes in plate tectonics (geography of land and sea)

Human activities

All of the above

Informs scientists about climate forcings and system interactions, which are necessary for predicting future climate change

Occurred only during the last 1000 years

Has been influenced by both natural and human forcings

All of the above

Both A and C

Wood

Bone

Volcanic ash

Cloth

Shells

Global avg temperatures have warmed by ~0.7 deg C in the last ~100 years

The last year that global avg temperatures dropped by 1975

Global avg temperatures were significantly colder in 1900 than in 1950

All of the above are correct

Both A and B are correct

The last winer snow melting a week earlier in the NH

Chlorophyll production beginning two weeks earlier in the NH

The growing season beginning a week earlier in the NH

All of the above

A and C only

~500 years

~100 years

~40 years

~10 years

They generally result in a cooling for a year or two.

They affect climate for up to 1000 years after an eruption

They cause warming due to their output of sulfate particles

All of the above are correct

Both A and C are correct

20,000

40,000

60,000

120,000

Using 100 kilowatts of electricity generated from coal

Riding your bicycle to work while breathing very hard

Burning a small pile of leaves in your yard

Using one gallon of gasoline while driving

Occurred after the Little Ice Age

Was marked by less sea around the coasts of Iceland and Greenland

Ended very abruptly

Had a duration of 1000 years

Require that scientists cut trees down, examining the ring structures in the stumps of the tree

Involve the comparisons of tree ring width and density to local records of instrumental rainfall and temperature

Are only effective for reconstructing climate changes occurring over the last few decades

All of the above

Both A and B

The existence of global glacial-interglacial cycles

A general shift to drier climates in Africa

Increased variability in the global climate

All of the above

None of the above

Analyze the climate data output by comparing them w/independent geologic data-->specify boundary conditions-->Run a climate simulation

Run a climate simulation, specify boundary conditions, analyze the climate data output by comparing them w/independent geologic data

Specify boundary conditions-->Run a climate simulation-->Analyze the climate data output by comparing them w/independent geologic data

Run a climate simulation, analyze the climate data output by comparing them w/independent geologic data, specify boundary conditions

Sea water will become more acidic

Sea water will dissolve seafloor carbonates

Corals and other animals that build carbonate hard parts will be stressed

All of the above

Both A and C

0.7 deg C

1 deg C

2 deg C

2.5 deg C

5 deg C

In the high mid-latitudes in the winter

In the tropics in the winter

In the tropics in the summer

In the high mid-latitudes in the summer

None of the above because temp changes will be globally uniform

95%

85%

78%

60%

30%

95%

85%

78%

60%

Open and close because of changes in ocean circulation

Are narrow passages connecting different ocean basins

Transport land-derived sediment to the deep sea

Do not exist in the modern ocean

All but C

Burial flux of ice-rafted debris at a deep marine site

A data set of temperature-sensitive planktic foraminifera species changes over time at a deep marine site

Instrumental temperature measurements recorded at a weather station

Isotopes of oxygen in benthic foraminifera from a deep marine site

All of the above

9/10

4/5

1/2

1/3

1/4

Stepwise warming

Erratic cooling

Gradual warming

Steady state

Rapid cooling