GSC 103 EXAM 3 WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS 100%
VERIFIED!!
The Quaternary Ice Age and our relationship to it—Are we currently living in an ice age?
(Ice ages lecture)
Quaternary Ice Age is characterized by cold glacials punctuated by shorter, warmer
(but still icy) interglacials
- Ice age is continuing and we simply are in an interglacial
- We are still in the Quaternary Ice Age
Know all the processes that affect the growth and shrinkage of ice sheets in the
northern hemisphere (Ellipticity of our orbit, Orbital Precession, Changes in axial tilt
over time) (Ice ages lecture)
- Glacier deposit a distinctive ridge of unsorted sediment + debris at their ends + edges
(moraines)
- Ice sheets growing + shrinking cyclically
- Cool summers in Northern Hemisphere would stop ice from completely melting over
the summer, allowing ice sheets to grow (warm winters also help by allowing more snow
fall)
Know the basic conditions for causing a glacial period (ice ages lecture)
Glacial Periods are dustier than today, then the biological pump could speed up in
southern ocean + amount of CO2 in the atmosphere would decrease
, Know how the Coriolis Effect works (Ocean lecture)
rotating earth causes the Northern hemisphere deflect right, and the Southern
hemisphere deflect left
Know about Ekman transport and how its direction changes from the northern to the
southern hemisphere (Ocean circulation lecture)
- When the wind blows along a shore, it can cause Ekman pumping, which brings cold,
nutrient-rich water to the surface
- Goes different ways depending on if it is the Northern or Southern Hemisphere
- Where Ekman transport causes gradients (slopes) in the sea surface, where water is
driven from one area to another → water trying to flow down this "hill" is deflected again
by the Coriolis effect
- Generally large ocean currents will move in the direction of the wind, have a surface is
tilted from one side of the stream to another
Know why the oceans are fresher in some areas and saltier in others (Ocean currents
lecture)
rains a lot, fresher, evaporation, saltier
Know how to compare eastern and western boundary currents in terms of their speed
and temperature (Ocean Circulation lecture)
Western boundary: currents: warm, fast currents which move towards the pole
Eastern boundary: currents: slow, cool currents which move towards the equator
VERIFIED!!
The Quaternary Ice Age and our relationship to it—Are we currently living in an ice age?
(Ice ages lecture)
Quaternary Ice Age is characterized by cold glacials punctuated by shorter, warmer
(but still icy) interglacials
- Ice age is continuing and we simply are in an interglacial
- We are still in the Quaternary Ice Age
Know all the processes that affect the growth and shrinkage of ice sheets in the
northern hemisphere (Ellipticity of our orbit, Orbital Precession, Changes in axial tilt
over time) (Ice ages lecture)
- Glacier deposit a distinctive ridge of unsorted sediment + debris at their ends + edges
(moraines)
- Ice sheets growing + shrinking cyclically
- Cool summers in Northern Hemisphere would stop ice from completely melting over
the summer, allowing ice sheets to grow (warm winters also help by allowing more snow
fall)
Know the basic conditions for causing a glacial period (ice ages lecture)
Glacial Periods are dustier than today, then the biological pump could speed up in
southern ocean + amount of CO2 in the atmosphere would decrease
, Know how the Coriolis Effect works (Ocean lecture)
rotating earth causes the Northern hemisphere deflect right, and the Southern
hemisphere deflect left
Know about Ekman transport and how its direction changes from the northern to the
southern hemisphere (Ocean circulation lecture)
- When the wind blows along a shore, it can cause Ekman pumping, which brings cold,
nutrient-rich water to the surface
- Goes different ways depending on if it is the Northern or Southern Hemisphere
- Where Ekman transport causes gradients (slopes) in the sea surface, where water is
driven from one area to another → water trying to flow down this "hill" is deflected again
by the Coriolis effect
- Generally large ocean currents will move in the direction of the wind, have a surface is
tilted from one side of the stream to another
Know why the oceans are fresher in some areas and saltier in others (Ocean currents
lecture)
rains a lot, fresher, evaporation, saltier
Know how to compare eastern and western boundary currents in terms of their speed
and temperature (Ocean Circulation lecture)
Western boundary: currents: warm, fast currents which move towards the pole
Eastern boundary: currents: slow, cool currents which move towards the equator
