Life in the Universe
4th Edition
ISBN: 9780134080345
Author: Bennett
Publisher: PEARSON
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Textbook Question
Chapter 4, Problem 18RQ
What are ice ages, and what may cause them? What do we mean by snowball Earth periods, and how might Earth recover from them?
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Chapter 4 Solutions
Life in the Universe
Ch. 4 - Briefly describe three aspects of geology that are...Ch. 4 - What do we mean by the geological record? Why is...Ch. 4 - Describe the three basic types of rock and the...Ch. 4 - How are sedimentary strata made, and how do they...Ch. 4 - Describe the technique of radiometric dating, and...Ch. 4 - How do fossils form? Do most living organisms...Ch. 4 - Summarize the geological time scale. What are...Ch. 4 - Prob. 8RQCh. 4 - Briefly describe how outgassing led to the origin...Ch. 4 - What was the heavy bombardment, and what effect...
Ch. 4 - Briefly describe Earths core-mantle-crust...Ch. 4 - Briefly describe the conveyorlike action of plate...Ch. 4 - Describe how plate tectonics shapes important...Ch. 4 - What evidence do we have for the operation of...Ch. 4 - What are the three requirements for a planetary...Ch. 4 - Briefly describe the mechanism by which the...Ch. 4 - What has happened to most of the carbon dioxide...Ch. 4 - What are ice ages, and what may cause them? What...Ch. 4 - Briefly summarize the key ways in which geology is...Ch. 4 - How do we think the Moon formed, and what evidence...Ch. 4 - We can expect that if there are paleontologists a...Ch. 4 - Nearly all the rocks I found in the lava fields of...Ch. 4 - Prob. 23TYUCh. 4 - Although Earth contains its densest material in...Ch. 4 - If you had a time machine that dropped you off on...Ch. 4 - If there were no plate tectonics on Earth, our...Ch. 4 - Without the greenhouse effect, there probably...Ch. 4 - If nitrogen were a greenhouse gas, our planet...Ch. 4 - We can learn a lot about Earths early history by...Ch. 4 - Prob. 30TYUCh. 4 - A rocks type (igneous, metamorphic, or...Ch. 4 - To learn a rocks age, we must (a) determine its...Ch. 4 - Radiometric dating now allows us to determine...Ch. 4 - Earths oceans formed (a) during the late stages of...Ch. 4 - We learn about the heavy bombardment by studying...Ch. 4 - Earth has retained a lot of internal heat...Ch. 4 - Plate tectonics is best described as a process...Ch. 4 - Earth has far less atmospheric carbon dioxide than...Ch. 4 - If Earth had more greenhouse gases in its...Ch. 4 - Snowball Earth refers to (a) one of a series of...Ch. 4 - The Age of Earth. Some people still question...Ch. 4 - Dating Planetary Surfaces. We have discussed two...Ch. 4 - Earth Without Differentiation. Suppose Earth had...Ch. 4 - Earth Without Plate Tectonics. Suppose plate...Ch. 4 - Feedback Processes in the Atmosphere. As the Sun...Ch. 4 - Geological Time. Geological time scales are often...Ch. 4 - Dating Lunar Rocks. You are analyzing Moon rocks...Ch. 4 - Carbon-14 Dating. The half-life of carbon-14 is...Ch. 4 - Martian Meteorite. Some unusual meteorites thought...Ch. 4 - Internal vs. External Heating. In daylight, Earths...Ch. 4 - Plate Tectonics. Typical motions of one plate...Ch. 4 - More Plate Tectonics. Consider a seafloor...Ch. 4 - Plate Tectonics and Us. Based on what you learned...
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- What are Earth’s core and mantle made of? Explain how we know.arrow_forwardDetail some of the anthropogenic changes to Earth’s climate and their potential impact on life.arrow_forwardSuppose that Earth grew to its present size in 1 million years through the accretion of particles averaging 100 grams each. On the average, how many particles did Earth capture per second? (Note: Earth’s mass is 6.01027 grams.)arrow_forward
- In the photo shown here, astronaut Alan Bean works at the Apollo 12 lander. Describe the horizon and the surface you see. What kind of terrain did they land on for this, the second human Moon landing, and why?arrow_forwardWhy do small planets cool faster than large planets? Choose any two of the five Terrestrial worlds and calculate for each one the ratio of its surface area to its volume. Why is this ratio important? (Hint: Does this ratio have anything to do with the ability of a planet to lose internal heat?) (Note: The surface area of a sphere is 4r2, and the volume of a sphere is 43r3.)arrow_forwardWhy are we concerned about the increases in CO2 and other gases that cause the greenhouse effect in Earth’s atmosphere? What steps can we take in the future to reduce the levels of CO2 in our atmosphere? What factors stand in the way of taking the steps you suggest? (You may include technological, economic, and political factors in your answer.)arrow_forward
- What does a planet need in order to retain an atmosphere? How does an atmosphere affect the surface of a planet and the ability of life to exist?arrow_forwardLook at Figure 19-9. Rising from Earths surface to the cloud layer shown, does the temperature increase, decrease, or stay the same? How about from the clouds to the ozone layer? At about what altitude does the temperature change most abruptly, almost 400F in 30 km?arrow_forwardIf, in the remote future, we establish a base on Mercury, keeping track of time will be a challenge. Discuss how to define a year on Mercury, and the two ways to define a day. Can you come up with ways that humans raised on Earth might deal with time cycles on Mercury?arrow_forward
- Suppose a major impact that produces a mass extinction takes place on Earth once every 5 million years. Suppose further that if such an event occurred today, you and most other humans would be killed (this would be true even if the human species as a whole survived). Such impact events are random, and one could take place at any time. Calculate the probability that such an impact will occur within the next 50 years (within your lifetime).arrow_forwardExplain what it means when we say that Earth’s oceans are in hydrostatic equilibrium. Now suppose you are a scuba diver. Would you expect the pressure to increase or decrease as you dive below the surface to a depth of 200 feet? Why?arrow_forwardHow is a habitable zone likely to change over time? a. get narrower b. move further from the star c. they aren't likely to changearrow_forward
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