EOSC 110 MIDTERM 2 QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What is the number of years of the cycle of eccentricity around the sun? - Answer -
100,000
What is the number of years of the cycle of angle of tilt for Earth? - Answer -40,000
What is albedo? - Answer -the proportion of the incident light or radiation that is
reflected by a surface, typically that of a planet or moon.
What surface has the highest albedo and lowest? - Answer -Ice and Water
- Earths average reflection is 30%
Explain the positive albedo feedback loop - Answer -Warming causes the ice to melt,
decreasing the ices albedo therefore more solar radiation is absorbed.
What is the most used energy source? - Answer -Fossil fuels (80.7%)
- Petroleum
-Coal
-Natural gas
Describe the process of petroleum and oil formation. - Answer -Marine animals die and
settle on the sea floors, silt and sand cover their bodies. Over millions of years, their
remains get pushed deeper into the ground. The enormous heat and pressure turn their
remains into oil and gas.
This occurs in the sedimentary porous layer
In which sedimentary layer does gas form? - Answer -Porous sedimentary rock
Types of coal - Answer -Peat (Not coal)- also known as turf, is an accumulation of
partially decayed vegetation
Lignite(brown coal) - compressed peat with sediment on top
Bituminous(soft coal) - It results from burial and compression, and anaerobic conditions
Anthracite(hard coal) - when bituminous coal undergoes very low grade
metamorphism, accompanied by structural deformation. Note if anthracite goes through
further metamorphoses into graphite
What is the oil window? - Answer -The narrow range of temperatures under which oil
can form in a source rock.
30 - 140 degrees
Underneath 2-4km
, What is the gas window? - Answer -Moreover, any oil previously accumulated in the
rock will be transformed into (thermogenic) natural gas.
0 - 120 Degrees
Underneath 4km
What is oil sand? - Answer -sedimentary material containing bitumen.
Or
Oil sand is a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay or other minerals, water and
bitumen, which is a heavy and extremely viscous oil.
natural gas fracking - Answer --water, sand and chemicals are pumped down a well to
open narrow fissures in gas bearing shale
Greenhouse gases: stretching vibrations vs bending - Answer -Stretching vibrations
occur at frequencies greater than infra-red rays.
Bending vibrations occur at frequencies at infra-red rays.
What greenhouse gas is emitted the most? - Answer -1.CO2 56%
2. CH4 32%
El Nino - Answer -The unusual warming of the surface waters of the eastern tropical
Pacific Ocean. It causes changes in wind patterns that have major effects on weather all
across the globe.
La Niña - Answer -During a La Niña period, the sea surface temperature across the
eastern equatorial part of the central Pacific Ocean will be lower than norma
Rate in which Artic sea ice is melting - Answer -Rate of change 13.1% per decade
Climate forcing - Answer -Climate forcing measures the imbalance in the Earth's
energy budget caused by a perturbation of the climate system, for example changes in
atmospheric composition driven by human activities.
Examples:
The three types of climate forcing are changes in solar irradiance, albedo, and
atmospheric gases.
Climate feedback - Answer -processes that can either amplify or reduce the effects of
climate forcing's. A feedback that increases an initial warming is called a "positive
feedback."
What is the number of years of the cycle of eccentricity around the sun? - Answer -
100,000
What is the number of years of the cycle of angle of tilt for Earth? - Answer -40,000
What is albedo? - Answer -the proportion of the incident light or radiation that is
reflected by a surface, typically that of a planet or moon.
What surface has the highest albedo and lowest? - Answer -Ice and Water
- Earths average reflection is 30%
Explain the positive albedo feedback loop - Answer -Warming causes the ice to melt,
decreasing the ices albedo therefore more solar radiation is absorbed.
What is the most used energy source? - Answer -Fossil fuels (80.7%)
- Petroleum
-Coal
-Natural gas
Describe the process of petroleum and oil formation. - Answer -Marine animals die and
settle on the sea floors, silt and sand cover their bodies. Over millions of years, their
remains get pushed deeper into the ground. The enormous heat and pressure turn their
remains into oil and gas.
This occurs in the sedimentary porous layer
In which sedimentary layer does gas form? - Answer -Porous sedimentary rock
Types of coal - Answer -Peat (Not coal)- also known as turf, is an accumulation of
partially decayed vegetation
Lignite(brown coal) - compressed peat with sediment on top
Bituminous(soft coal) - It results from burial and compression, and anaerobic conditions
Anthracite(hard coal) - when bituminous coal undergoes very low grade
metamorphism, accompanied by structural deformation. Note if anthracite goes through
further metamorphoses into graphite
What is the oil window? - Answer -The narrow range of temperatures under which oil
can form in a source rock.
30 - 140 degrees
Underneath 2-4km
, What is the gas window? - Answer -Moreover, any oil previously accumulated in the
rock will be transformed into (thermogenic) natural gas.
0 - 120 Degrees
Underneath 4km
What is oil sand? - Answer -sedimentary material containing bitumen.
Or
Oil sand is a naturally occurring mixture of sand, clay or other minerals, water and
bitumen, which is a heavy and extremely viscous oil.
natural gas fracking - Answer --water, sand and chemicals are pumped down a well to
open narrow fissures in gas bearing shale
Greenhouse gases: stretching vibrations vs bending - Answer -Stretching vibrations
occur at frequencies greater than infra-red rays.
Bending vibrations occur at frequencies at infra-red rays.
What greenhouse gas is emitted the most? - Answer -1.CO2 56%
2. CH4 32%
El Nino - Answer -The unusual warming of the surface waters of the eastern tropical
Pacific Ocean. It causes changes in wind patterns that have major effects on weather all
across the globe.
La Niña - Answer -During a La Niña period, the sea surface temperature across the
eastern equatorial part of the central Pacific Ocean will be lower than norma
Rate in which Artic sea ice is melting - Answer -Rate of change 13.1% per decade
Climate forcing - Answer -Climate forcing measures the imbalance in the Earth's
energy budget caused by a perturbation of the climate system, for example changes in
atmospheric composition driven by human activities.
Examples:
The three types of climate forcing are changes in solar irradiance, albedo, and
atmospheric gases.
Climate feedback - Answer -processes that can either amplify or reduce the effects of
climate forcing's. A feedback that increases an initial warming is called a "positive
feedback."
