ESS 101 EXAM 1 REVISED QUESTIONS
WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS [100%
GUARANTEED A+ GRADE]
nebular hypothesis - Correct Answers -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.
Evidence of nebular hypotheses - Correct Answers -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.
Terrestrial Planets - Correct Answers -Close to the sun, dense, small/rocky, silicate minerals,
metallic cores
Twelve earths would fit across the diameter of Jupiter.
Jovian Planets - Correct Answers -Far from the sun, low density, large, gaseous (hydrogen,
methane)
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? -
Correct Answers -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.
Differentiated Earth - Correct Answers -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
How is the earth compositionally zoned? - Correct Answers -Along a density gradient
How did the earth become compositionally zoned? - Correct Answers -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.
Why did the earth heat up and then rapidly cool during the differentiation process? - Correct
Answers -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 liquid- convection-hot gas rises , after it became molten, the earth rapidly
cooled off and solidified.
Why does earth possess little evidence of its early accretion history? - Correct Answers -Because
of weathering, plate tectonics, moon has no atmosphere and biosphere.
Emissions from degassing of the earth during its differentiation. - Correct Answers -h2o, co2, h2,
he, n2
Where did molecular H and He escape to? - Correct Answers -space
When did oxygenation of the atmosphere occur? - Correct Answers -later following evolution of
marine algae and plants that use photosynthesis to convert co2 to o2 as a part of their life
processes.
What layers of the earth can be directly observed? - Correct Answers -crust and uppermost
mantle.
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. - Correct Answers -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)
What is earths average density? - Correct Answers -5.5 g/cm3
How can average density of earth be inferred? - Correct Answers -Based on gravitational
properties and its effect on known masses such as orbiting satellites.
, Density of earths crust? - Correct Answers -2.6-3 g/cm3
density of uppermost mantle? - Correct Answers -3.0-3.3 g/cm3
BasedBonBtheBdensityBinformation,BwhatBcanByouBinferBaboutBtheBdensityBofBtheBlowerBmantleBand
BtheBearthsBcore?B-BCorrectBAnswersB-DensityBmustBbeBhigherBthanBtheBaverage.
WhatBdoesBtheBpresenceBofBtheBEarth'sBmagneticBfieldBprovideBevidenceBfor?B-BCorrectBAnswersB-
EarthBisBlikelyBtoBpossessBaBmetallicBcoreBandBthatBaBcomponentBofBthisBcoreBmustBbeBliquidBandBco
nvectingBaroundBtheBsolidBmetallicBportionBofBtheBcore.
SeismicBwavesB-BCorrectBAnswersB-sBandBpBwaves
PBwavesB-BCorrectBAnswersB-CompressionBwaves,Bvelocity:B6-
7Bkm/secBwithinBlithosphere,BpropagateBthroughBallBphasesBofBmatter.
SBwavesB-BCorrectBAnswersB-ShearBwaves,B3-
4Bkm/sec,BonlyBpropagateBthroughBsolidBphasesBofBmatter,BnotBliquidsBorBgases,BrequireBrigidBsubst
anceB(solid)BtoBpropagate.
SeismicBwavesBrefractBbecauseB-BCorrectBAnswersB-
becauseBofBvelocityBchangesBrelatedBtoBdensityBchangesBwithinBtheBearth.BseismicBwaveBaccelerat
eBwithBincreasingBdensity.
PBwaveBshadowBzoneB-BCorrectBAnswersB-bagelBshaped,BexistBbetweenB105-
140BdegreesBfromBtheBepicenterBdueBtoBrefractionBatBouterBcoreBmantleBboundary.B
noBpBorBsBwaves.
WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS [100%
GUARANTEED A+ GRADE]
nebular hypothesis - Correct Answers -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.
Evidence of nebular hypotheses - Correct Answers -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.
Terrestrial Planets - Correct Answers -Close to the sun, dense, small/rocky, silicate minerals,
metallic cores
Twelve earths would fit across the diameter of Jupiter.
Jovian Planets - Correct Answers -Far from the sun, low density, large, gaseous (hydrogen,
methane)
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? -
Correct Answers -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.
Differentiated Earth - Correct Answers -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
How is the earth compositionally zoned? - Correct Answers -Along a density gradient
How did the earth become compositionally zoned? - Correct Answers -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.
Why did the earth heat up and then rapidly cool during the differentiation process? - Correct
Answers -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 liquid- convection-hot gas rises , after it became molten, the earth rapidly
cooled off and solidified.
Why does earth possess little evidence of its early accretion history? - Correct Answers -Because
of weathering, plate tectonics, moon has no atmosphere and biosphere.
Emissions from degassing of the earth during its differentiation. - Correct Answers -h2o, co2, h2,
he, n2
Where did molecular H and He escape to? - Correct Answers -space
When did oxygenation of the atmosphere occur? - Correct Answers -later following evolution of
marine algae and plants that use photosynthesis to convert co2 to o2 as a part of their life
processes.
What layers of the earth can be directly observed? - Correct Answers -crust and uppermost
mantle.
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. - Correct Answers -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)
What is earths average density? - Correct Answers -5.5 g/cm3
How can average density of earth be inferred? - Correct Answers -Based on gravitational
properties and its effect on known masses such as orbiting satellites.
, Density of earths crust? - Correct Answers -2.6-3 g/cm3
density of uppermost mantle? - Correct Answers -3.0-3.3 g/cm3
BasedBonBtheBdensityBinformation,BwhatBcanByouBinferBaboutBtheBdensityBofBtheBlowerBmantleBand
BtheBearthsBcore?B-BCorrectBAnswersB-DensityBmustBbeBhigherBthanBtheBaverage.
WhatBdoesBtheBpresenceBofBtheBEarth'sBmagneticBfieldBprovideBevidenceBfor?B-BCorrectBAnswersB-
EarthBisBlikelyBtoBpossessBaBmetallicBcoreBandBthatBaBcomponentBofBthisBcoreBmustBbeBliquidBandBco
nvectingBaroundBtheBsolidBmetallicBportionBofBtheBcore.
SeismicBwavesB-BCorrectBAnswersB-sBandBpBwaves
PBwavesB-BCorrectBAnswersB-CompressionBwaves,Bvelocity:B6-
7Bkm/secBwithinBlithosphere,BpropagateBthroughBallBphasesBofBmatter.
SBwavesB-BCorrectBAnswersB-ShearBwaves,B3-
4Bkm/sec,BonlyBpropagateBthroughBsolidBphasesBofBmatter,BnotBliquidsBorBgases,BrequireBrigidBsubst
anceB(solid)BtoBpropagate.
SeismicBwavesBrefractBbecauseB-BCorrectBAnswersB-
becauseBofBvelocityBchangesBrelatedBtoBdensityBchangesBwithinBtheBearth.BseismicBwaveBaccelerat
eBwithBincreasingBdensity.
PBwaveBshadowBzoneB-BCorrectBAnswersB-bagelBshaped,BexistBbetweenB105-
140BdegreesBfromBtheBepicenterBdueBtoBrefractionBatBouterBcoreBmantleBboundary.B
noBpBorBsBwaves.
