Earth & Marine Sciences. Lectures, control works for students

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace independently conceived of the idea of evolution by natural selection. Why is Darwin’s name more associated with the theory of natural selection than Alfred Russel Wallace’s is?

Describe the nature of global warming. Include a discussion of the cause, likely results and possible solutions.

What are the main processes that drive the assembly of island ecosystems and communities?

Why was Lamarck’s view of inheritance seemingly intuitive? What observations would be needed to support his theory?

Why are fossils rare?

How do biomarkers add to our understanding of the history of life?

What evidence refutes Kelvin’s claim that the Earth is only 20 million years old?

Describe the nature of the solar system. How did it begin? What objects are included?

Describe the lifestyles of plankton, nekton and benthos, and give examples of each.

What are the main requirements of plants? And how do these interact to set limits to primary productivity?

What is biogeography? And what types of questions do biogeographers ask?

How did the work of Thomas Malthus influence Darwin and Wallace in creating their theories of natural selection?

How can scientists understand the behavior of extinct animals?

What are the main characteristics of island biota? How do they differ from continental biota?

Why are islands on one hand centres of endemism and diversity and on the other centres of extinction?

What is the taxonomic hierarchy? How are different taxa placed in it?

What is the ‘balance of nature’ concept? What does ‘equilibrium’ mean?

What is meant by ecosystem services and ecosystem functions? How do these ideas relate to the ways in which we can ‘value’ ecosystems?

What do we mean when we say ecosystems are hierarchically organised? How does this relate to the idea that ecosystems have composition, structure and function?

What are two major components of the theory of evolution by natural selection that have been added since Darwin’s time?

What are stromatolites, and why are they evidence of very early life?

Why do scientists believe that plants and fungi may have been integral to each other’s colonization of dry land?

What are tetrapods? What is the oldest evidence we have of tetrapods?

Explain what atolls and barrier islands are. Include a discussion of what they are made of and how and where they form.

What kinds of evidence do evolutionary biologists use to test hypotheses about how different species are related to each other

What are some characters that distinguish whales from sharks and tuna?

How do mutations become more or less common in a population over the course of generations?

What role does viral re-assortment play in flu pandemics?

Carolus Linnaeus made many contributions to biology. Which one was the most valuable to scientists today? What concepts of Linnaeus’s have been shown to be incorrect?

How did the researcher Georges Cuvier combine the geologic discoveries and theories of James Hutton and William Smith and his own observations to decide that geologic formations from very different geographic locations were from the same time period?

How is a clade depicted in a phylogenetic tree?

Why is the order of terminal nodes meaningless? Why does changing the order of terminal nodes affect the way someone might interpret the phylogeny?

How can including fossils in phylogenies of extant (living) taxa affect the conclusions scientists can draw?

Do you consider Tiktaalik to be a missing link in the evolution of tetrapods? Why or why not?

Do you agree with how time is portrayed in the phylogeny illustrated below? Why or why not?

What are three roles that ribonucleic acid plays in the eukaryotic cell?

What is the difference between trans- and cis-acting elements? How can stress affect a cis- acting element?

What are two ways meiosis can cause offspring to be genetically different from their parents?

Why don’t all phenotypic traits occur as discrete, alternative states like Mendel’s peas?

Will the separation of the small population have an effect on the diversity of the parent population? Explain. Compare the genetic diversity of the small and large populations.

What factor(s) can increase genetic diversity within a population? Does it/do they act on both the small and large populations?

What factor(s) can decrease genetic diversity within a population? Does it/do they act on both the small and large populations?

What factor(s) might act to increase genetic divergence between the two populations?

Are the benthics and limnetics separate species, subspecies of a single species, or different morphotypes of a single species? (Hint: what is the definition of a species?

Imagine that a population of well-armored modern Indo-Pacific snail species was magically transported to Triassic seas, where suitable food and substrate were available. Would natural selection favor increase, decrease, or maintenance of the snail’s armor in its new environment?

How would you expect flowers to vary with method of pollination? Think of possible features (size, odor, color) of a flower that is pollinated by wind, flies, honeybees, or hummingbirds

What may have caused the Permian extinctions?

Suppose that Pangaea were reunited today. What macroevolutionary changes would you expect?

Why did most dinosaurs perish in the mass extinction that ended the Cretaceous period, while many groups of mammals and one group of small dinosaurs (birds) survived?

What led to the adaptive radiation of these animals?

What do you conclude from the data given above?

Clarify the dfference between ecology and environmentalism. Discuss who Rachel Carson was and her contribution to the modern environmental movement. What is the precautionary Principle?

What are the positive and negative aspects of viewing ecosystem services based on their value/worth to humans?

What specifically can be addressed and changed to change the negative aspects?

What would happen if ecosystem services were degraded? Pick 2-3 particular examples and provide specific description of the long-term and short-term ecosystem impacts.

What is TRAFFIC and why was it established by the IUCN?

What are described as the major threats to elephants? Explain why elephants, especially males, are being poached to near extinction.

Why are rhinos poached? Describe how rhinos are often poached from this article.

Describe three specific practices that many commercial/industrial beekeepers utilize that are diminishing the evolutionary capacity of bees in nature. What are some holistic alternatives to these practices that would better mimic a bee's natural life cycle?

Where did systemic pesticides come from? Who first manufactured them and why?

What technology during WWII laid the preliminary research for systemic pesticides?

What is fungimap? What is ebird?

Most of the world's deserts occur in what zone?

Which climate is influenced by the ITCZ most of the year?

If you were at a location that just experienced a thunderstorm with heavy downpours, what could you predict about a location 25 miles to the southwest?

Rain shadows in mountainous areas are a result of

Which of the following typically does NOT cause summer thunderstorms?

The maximum amount of water vapor the air can hold is

Continental polar air masses tend to be

The conversion of water from vapor to liquid is the process of

In which zone would temperature vary more in a single day than between months?

At what date will 50°N receive the largest amount of daylight?

From September to March, the Southern Hemisphere receives

In the Northern Hemisphere, the sun is lowest in the sky with less radiation in the

During the vernal equinox, which location receives the greatest amount of insolation?

Which area receives the most seasonal variation in incoming radiation?

At which angle (of incidence) will the intensity of energy striking Earth be greatest?

The amount of solar energy intercepted at a particular area on the Earth's surface is

Temperatures in cities are higher as a result of

What best explains the movement of heat from tropical areas toward the poles?

The energy with wavelengths between 0.4 to 0.7 microns is known as

Movement of a fluid when part of it is heated is

Latent heat is

At the Tropic of Cancer the sun is directly overhead at noon on the

The axis of rotation of the Earth is inclined how many degrees away from being perpendicular to the sun's rays?

On a daily basis, the sun is most intense at

Which of the following factors plays a relatively small role in the amount of solar energy received at a particular place on the Earth?

The fuel driving the weather is

What colour is the front page of your exam book

Which of the following is not a mineral?

The cryosphere includes:

Which theory helps explain why there is a higher frequency of earth quakes around the ring of fire?

Earth’s magnetic field

The isotopes of all the elements known to science:

. Magmatic rocks are:

The age of all ocean sediments is less than 200 million years because:

At a plate transform fault boundary:

What is the Solar Nebula Theory?

The model of nucleosynthesis states that heavier elements are formed:

What takes up most of the volume in our solar system?

Which of the following ages is closest to the age of the solar system?

What do Jovian and Terrestrial planets have in common?

Oil is not found in Precambrian rocks because:

Biostratigraphy is relative dating of rock strata by correlating using index fossils. What type of fossil makes a good index fossil:

Which of the following is not evidence for a large meteor impact

Graphite and Diamond are polymorophs and both are:

Which of the following minerals is covalently bonded:

A seasonal river that forms in a desert environment is known as:

An evaporate deposit was deposited in what type of environment?

A type of rock that forms on the abysmal plain of the ocean is:

Siliciclastic rocks that contain mud-sized grains are called

A lava that quenches (cools almost instantaneously will likely exhibit this texture:

Two minerals that have identical chemical compositions but different crystal structures are examples of the phenomenon:

The correct mineral name for the gemstone sapphire is:

The age of the Earth has been estimated to be:

Examples of commodities group Fusionable Metals and Fuels are:

What kind of secondary water treatment does Orange County employ?

What is the term used to describe Orange County in how it recycles water?

Which of the following is NOT a type of evidence left behind by glaciers?

What causes high and low tides?

Which of the following would cause sea level to rise?

Which of the following most likely indicates that sea level has fallen relative to the land?

Which of the following parts of a shoreline is more likely to experience intense erosion?

Which of the following is true about how waves form and break upon the shore?

Factors that affect the appearance of a shoreline include:

Which of the following is NOT a possible source of water contamination?

Approximately how fast does groundwater move beneath the surface of the Earth?

Most groundwater pumped in the United States is used for:

Which of the following energy sources drives the hydrologic cycle?

Which source of drinking water is most likely to be pure and safe to drink?

Which of the following is true about how contamination moves in groundwater?

What rock type is the most common setting for caves formed by dissolution of a rock?

Which of the following is a common setting for a spring?

Which of the following would NOT be a preferred characteristic of a good aquifer?

Which of the following is true about the water table?

Which of the following materials has high porosity and high permeability?

Which of the following materials probably has the lowest porosity?

What is the main way groundwater accumulates?

Which of the following is a correctly described part of the hydrologic cycle?

Which of the following settings contains the least amount of water?

What are some effects of building a dam?

Which of the following features is NOT formed by stream deposition?

If a stream-cut canyon is deep and narrow, which of the following is most likely to be true?

Which of the following sediment sizes is likely to be transported mostly on the bottom of the stream bed?

What is the most important data for studying the potential for flooding along a river?

Which of the following is properly called a flood?

Which of the following features are generally NOT associated with mountain streams and rivers?

Where would be the relatively safest place to build a bridge across the river in the accompanying figure?

Which of the following can influence a river’s profile?

The size of clasts that a river can carry is primarily controlled by:

Which of the following is true about how a stream erodes material?

What is the pattern of discharge shown by this hydrograph?

What are some ways that geology controls ecology?

Which of the following is NOT true about the interaction of sunlight with Earth?

Most equatorial regions are warmer than the rest of Earth because of:

Which of the following is a way that plate tectonics can affect climate?

Which of the following landscape features is NOT common in deserts?

Which of the following is NOT a reason why rain forests are disappearing?

El Nino is a condition that brings increased precipitation to the eastern Pacific Ocean basin when:

The ocean current known as the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean is a:

Which of the following settings is most likely to have high precipitation?

Wind moves sediment by:

In a low-pressure system, the Coriolis effect causes wind to rotate: