Exam 10: Planetary Atmospheres: Earth and the Other Terrestrial Worlds

A) Earth has just as much carbon dioxide as Venus,but most of it is locked up in carbonate rocks rather than being free in the atmosphere.
B) Earth's volcanoes outgassed far less carbon dioxide than those on Venus.
C) Earth once had a lot of carbon dioxide,but it was lost to space during the heavy bombardment early in our solar system's history.
D) Chemical reactions turned Earth's carbon dioxide into nitrogen.

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A) Greenhouse gases absorb X-rays and ultraviolet light from the Sun,and this absorbed radiation then heats the atmosphere and the surface.
B) A planet's surface absorbs visible sunlight and returns this absorbed energy to space as infrared light.Greenhouse gases slow the escape of this infrared radiation,which thereby heats the lower atmosphere.
C) Greenhouse gases absorb infrared light coming from the Sun,and this absorbed sunlight heats the lower atmosphere and the surface.
D) The greenhouse effect is caused primarily by ozone,which absorbs ultraviolet light and thereby makes the atmosphere much hotter than it would be otherwise.

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The same climate models that match the h...

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A) outgassing from volcanoes
B) evaporation and vaporization
C) bombardment
D) thermal escape
E) chemical reactions with surface material

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A) Water going down a drain swirls in opposite directions in the northern and southern hemispheres.
B) Earth's global circulation cells are split into three separate cells in each hemisphere.
C) Hurricanes swirl in opposite directions in the northern and southern hemispheres.
D) Air or objects moving northward in the northern hemisphere are deflected to the east.

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A) It does not have an ozone layer.
B) It is too close to the Sun.
C) Its rotation axis is not tilted.
D) It does not rotate fast enough.
E) all of the above

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A) that it once had a much stronger magnetic field than it does today
B) that the greenhouse effect on Venus must have been much weaker in the distant past
C) that it has lost a tremendous amount of water as a result of molecules being split by ultraviolet light and the hydrogen escaping to space
D) that volcanoes on Venus did not outgas as much water as volcanoes on Earth

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A) a gas that absorbs infrared light
B) a gas that makes a planet much hotter than it would be otherwise,even in small amounts
C) a gas that keeps warms air from rising,and therefore warms the surface
D) a gas that reflects a lot of sunlight

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A) Mercury
B) Venus
C) Earth
D) the Moon
E) Mars

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A) a decreasing albedo
B) a decrease in the amount of greenhouse gases
C) a decrease in the brightness of the Sun
D) a major volcanic eruption that increases the albedo of the planet by making clouds
E) none of the above

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A) Greenhouse gases transmit visible light,allowing it to heat the surface,but then absorb infrared light from Earth,trapping the heat near the surface.
B) The higher pressure of the thick atmosphere at lower altitudes traps heat in more effectively.
C) Ozone transmits visible light,allowing it to heat the surface,but then absorbs most of the infrared heat,trapping the heat near the surface.
D) Greenhouse gases absorb X-rays and ultraviolet light from the Sun,which then heat the atmosphere and the surface.
E) Greenhouse gases absorb infrared light from the Sun,which then heats the atmosphere and the surface.

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