Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
4th Edition
ISBN: 9780134089089
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Seth Shostak
Publisher: PEARSON
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Textbook Question
Chapter 4, Problem 47IF
Earth Without Plate Tectonics. Suppose plate tectonics had never begun on Earth. How would Earth be different? Write two or three paragraphs discussing likely differences. Explain your reasoning carefully.
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Chapter 4 Solutions
Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
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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- Which of the five Terrestrial worlds have plate tectonics? How do you know?arrow_forwardIf you represent Earth’s history by a line 1 m long, how long a segment would represent the 400 million years since life moved onto the land? How long a segment would represent the 4-million-year history of human life?arrow_forwardWhich is the most geologically active Terrestrial world? Why?arrow_forward
- Look at the hemispheres of Earth shown on the two pages of The Active Earth. Name a folded mountain range. Describe the locations of one subduction zone and one midocean rise.arrow_forwardIf you represent Earths history by a line that is 1 m long, how long a segment would represent the 400 million years since life first moved onto the land? How long a segment would represent the 4-millionyear history of humanoid life?arrow_forwardWhat 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_forward
- Which Terrestrial worlds have thin or no atmospheres?arrow_forwardExplain briefly how the following phenomena happen on Earth, relating your answers to the theory of plate tectonics A. earthquakes B. continental drift C. mountain building D. volcanic eruptions E. creation of the Hawaiian island chainarrow_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_forward
- Why was Earths early atmosphere able to support photosynthesis but would not have been able to support animal life?arrow_forwardWhat is a habitable zone?arrow_forwardWhat is the volume of new oceanic basalt added to Earth’s crust each year? Assume that the thickness of the new crust is 5 km, that there are 60,000 km of rifts, and that the average speed of plate motion is 4 cm/y. What fraction of Earth’s entire volume does this annual addition of new material represent?arrow_forward
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