ESS 101 EXAM 1 Questions with Correct Solutions
Question:
1. nebular hypothesis
Answer:
1. supernova and formation of primordial dust cloud
2. condensation of primordial dust forms disk shaped nebular cloud rotating
counter-clockwise.
3. proto sun and planets begin to form
4. accretion of planetesimals and differentiation of planets and moons (4-6 billion years ago).
5. existing solar system takes shape.
Question:
2. Evidence of nebular hypotheses
Answer:
1. Planets and moons revolve in a counter-clockwise direction (not random)
2. almost all planets and moons rotate on their axis in a counter-clockwise direction.
3. planetary orbits are aligned along the suns equatorial plane (not randomly organized)
4. observations from Hubble telescope and radio astronomy indicate that other planetary
systems are forming from condensed nebular dust.
Question:
3. Terrestrial Planets
Answer:
Close to the sun, dense, small/rocky, silicate minerals, metallic cores Twelve earths would fit
across the diameter of Jupiter.
Question:
4. Jovian Planets
Answer:
Far from the sun, low density, large, gaseous (hydrogen, methane)
Question:
5. Why does the earth and terrestrial planets have so little molecular hydrogen comprising
their respective atmosphere, yet the primordial dust cloud was mostly comprised of hydrogen
gas?
,Answer:
Hydrogen gas and helium gas escapes to space when put in our atmosphere. Jupiter, saturn,
and neptune maintain molecular hydrogen gas in the atmosphere because they have high
density.
Question:
6. Differentiated Earth
Answer:
1. Iron Nickel Core (outer core liquid) (inner core solid)
2. Fe-Mg silicate mantle
3. Fe-Mg-Al Silicate Crust (Ocean and Continental)
4. Oceans
5. atmosphere
Question:
7. How is the earth compositionally zoned?
Answer:
Along a density gradient
Question:
8. How did the earth become compositionally zoned?
Answer:
1. Accretion of planetesimals
2. initial heating due to kinetic energy of colliding planetesimals and compressional heating.
3. additional heating from radioactive decay.
4. iron catastrophe: melting temp of iron reached and dense iron nickel sink to core and
lighter materials are displaced outwards (including silicate rock of mantle and crust, ocean
waters and atmospheric gases)
5. earth becomes compositionally zoned based on density (densest iron nickel in core-least
dense materials comprise the atmosphere) 500 mil yrs after the initial accretion process.
6. convective overturn in asthenosphere, mantle and outer core still occur today.
Question:
9. Why did the earth heat up and then rapidly cool during the differentiation process?
Answer:
When earth was solid-heat gain was greater than the heat lost to space. This means that the
internal temperature rises until it exceeded the melting temp of oxygen and nitrogen until
exceeded iron nickel catastrophe. Earth is completely molten and then compositionally zoned.
When earth was liquidconvection-hot gas rises , after it became molten, the earth rapidly
cooled off and solidified.
,Question:
10. Why does earth possess little evidence of its early accretion history?
Answer:
Because of weathering, plate tectonics, moon has no atmosphere and biosphere.
Question:
11. Emissions from degassing of the earth during its differentiation.
Answer:
h2o, co2, h2, he, n2
Question:
12. Where did molecular H and He escape to?
Answer:
space
Question:
13. When did oxygenation of the atmosphere occur?
Answer:
later following evolution of marine algae and plants that use photosynthesis to convert co2 to
o2 as a part of their life processes.
Question:
14. What layers of the earth can be directly observed?
Answer:
crust and uppermost mantle.
Question:
15. Evidence of initial composition of the solid earth based on meteorite studies. There are
two major classes of meteorites that dominate collected samples. Carbon based meteorites
are much rarer, but indicate that the prescursor of life was present early on.
Answer:
1. Metallic meteorites (iron nickel density 9.0-10 gm/cm3)
2. chondritic meteorites: Fe-Mg silicate, rocky, density is 3.0-3.3)
3. carbonaceous chondrites (rare)
Question:
16. What is earths average density?
Answer:
5.5 g/cm3
, Question:
17. How can average density of earth be inferred?
Answer:
Based on gravitational properties and its effect on known masses such as orbiting satellites.
Question:
18. Density of earths crust?
Answer:
2.6-3 g/cm3
Question:
19. density of uppermost mantle?
Answer:
3.0-3.3 g/cm3
Question:
20. Based on the density information, what can you infer about the density of the lower
mantle and the earths core?
Answer:
Density must be higher than the average.
Question:
21. What does the presence of the Earth's magnetic field provide evidence for?
Answer:
Earth is likely to possess a metallic core and that a component of this core must be liquid and
convecting around the solid metallic portion of the core.
Question:
22. Seismic waves
Answer:
s and p waves
Question:
23. P waves
Answer:
Compression waves, velocity: 6-7 km/sec within lithosphere, propagate through all phases of
matter.
Question:
1. nebular hypothesis
Answer:
1. supernova and formation of primordial dust cloud
2. condensation of primordial dust forms disk shaped nebular cloud rotating
counter-clockwise.
3. proto sun and planets begin to form
4. accretion of planetesimals and differentiation of planets and moons (4-6 billion years ago).
5. existing solar system takes shape.
Question:
2. Evidence of nebular hypotheses
Answer:
1. Planets and moons revolve in a counter-clockwise direction (not random)
2. almost all planets and moons rotate on their axis in a counter-clockwise direction.
3. planetary orbits are aligned along the suns equatorial plane (not randomly organized)
4. observations from Hubble telescope and radio astronomy indicate that other planetary
systems are forming from condensed nebular dust.
Question:
3. Terrestrial Planets
Answer:
Close to the sun, dense, small/rocky, silicate minerals, metallic cores Twelve earths would fit
across the diameter of Jupiter.
Question:
4. Jovian Planets
Answer:
Far from the sun, low density, large, gaseous (hydrogen, methane)
Question:
5. Why does the earth and terrestrial planets have so little molecular hydrogen comprising
their respective atmosphere, yet the primordial dust cloud was mostly comprised of hydrogen
gas?
,Answer:
Hydrogen gas and helium gas escapes to space when put in our atmosphere. Jupiter, saturn,
and neptune maintain molecular hydrogen gas in the atmosphere because they have high
density.
Question:
6. Differentiated Earth
Answer:
1. Iron Nickel Core (outer core liquid) (inner core solid)
2. Fe-Mg silicate mantle
3. Fe-Mg-Al Silicate Crust (Ocean and Continental)
4. Oceans
5. atmosphere
Question:
7. How is the earth compositionally zoned?
Answer:
Along a density gradient
Question:
8. How did the earth become compositionally zoned?
Answer:
1. Accretion of planetesimals
2. initial heating due to kinetic energy of colliding planetesimals and compressional heating.
3. additional heating from radioactive decay.
4. iron catastrophe: melting temp of iron reached and dense iron nickel sink to core and
lighter materials are displaced outwards (including silicate rock of mantle and crust, ocean
waters and atmospheric gases)
5. earth becomes compositionally zoned based on density (densest iron nickel in core-least
dense materials comprise the atmosphere) 500 mil yrs after the initial accretion process.
6. convective overturn in asthenosphere, mantle and outer core still occur today.
Question:
9. Why did the earth heat up and then rapidly cool during the differentiation process?
Answer:
When earth was solid-heat gain was greater than the heat lost to space. This means that the
internal temperature rises until it exceeded the melting temp of oxygen and nitrogen until
exceeded iron nickel catastrophe. Earth is completely molten and then compositionally zoned.
When earth was liquidconvection-hot gas rises , after it became molten, the earth rapidly
cooled off and solidified.
,Question:
10. Why does earth possess little evidence of its early accretion history?
Answer:
Because of weathering, plate tectonics, moon has no atmosphere and biosphere.
Question:
11. Emissions from degassing of the earth during its differentiation.
Answer:
h2o, co2, h2, he, n2
Question:
12. Where did molecular H and He escape to?
Answer:
space
Question:
13. When did oxygenation of the atmosphere occur?
Answer:
later following evolution of marine algae and plants that use photosynthesis to convert co2 to
o2 as a part of their life processes.
Question:
14. What layers of the earth can be directly observed?
Answer:
crust and uppermost mantle.
Question:
15. Evidence of initial composition of the solid earth based on meteorite studies. There are
two major classes of meteorites that dominate collected samples. Carbon based meteorites
are much rarer, but indicate that the prescursor of life was present early on.
Answer:
1. Metallic meteorites (iron nickel density 9.0-10 gm/cm3)
2. chondritic meteorites: Fe-Mg silicate, rocky, density is 3.0-3.3)
3. carbonaceous chondrites (rare)
Question:
16. What is earths average density?
Answer:
5.5 g/cm3
, Question:
17. How can average density of earth be inferred?
Answer:
Based on gravitational properties and its effect on known masses such as orbiting satellites.
Question:
18. Density of earths crust?
Answer:
2.6-3 g/cm3
Question:
19. density of uppermost mantle?
Answer:
3.0-3.3 g/cm3
Question:
20. Based on the density information, what can you infer about the density of the lower
mantle and the earths core?
Answer:
Density must be higher than the average.
Question:
21. What does the presence of the Earth's magnetic field provide evidence for?
Answer:
Earth is likely to possess a metallic core and that a component of this core must be liquid and
convecting around the solid metallic portion of the core.
Question:
22. Seismic waves
Answer:
s and p waves
Question:
23. P waves
Answer:
Compression waves, velocity: 6-7 km/sec within lithosphere, propagate through all phases of
matter.
