What is a Biosphere
The word biosphere was coined by the geologist Eduard Suess in 1885. What does Biosphere mean?
Bio = life
Sphere = Earth
Life on Earth
The biosphere is a very thin and fragile layer, which makes it subject to what?
Sudden and violent changes, which can result in mass extinction events.
Who is the geologist responsible for developing the theory that an asteroid killed the dinosaurs?
Walter Alvarez
Where do humans live in relation to the Earth’s biosphere?
In it.
The area of the biosphere where humans can live?
Comfort zone
How do the Earth’s orbit, axis, speed, and size impact the planet’s surface temperature?
The Earth’s orbit, axis, speed, and size all contribute to keeping the Earth’s temperature variations within a range conducive to life.
When geologists explored the clay between the Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks, what clue did the clay provide?
They found high levels of iridium, an element that is present on Earth but only in very small amounts.
What fossil fuels do we burn (three possible answers worth 100 each)
Coal, oil, and natural gas
How is an ecosystem different from the biosphere? Three possible answers worth 300 each.
1. An ecosystem is a smaller habitat or environment within the biosphere.
2. Ecosystems vary in climate and geology.
3. Ecosystems support different kinds of living things.
How can the configuration of the continents impact the biosphere?
Allow or impede the movement of warmer and colder currents, which can impact the temperature in the biosphere.
What did Alvarez think about the energy of the asteroid impact and the effect it might have had on the biosphere?
Debris was blown all over the Earth and into the atmosphere blocking the Sun’s rays, lowering the Earth’s temperature, and interfering with the ability of plants to photosynthesize.
How many different species of organisms are there on Earth?
No idea
How did Suess believe fossils ended up on mountains.
Earth flooding.
When the arrangement of the continents produce greater than normal rainfall, this takes carbon out of the atmosphere, which leads to a lowering of the Earth’s temperature. This causes what?
Snowball Earth
The asteroid killing dinosaur theory was met with skeptisim by some because of gradualism. What is gradualism?
Changes to the Earth happen slowly over long periods of time.
What are smaller regions of the Earth characterized by particular geologic or climatic features that accommodate certain forms of life?
Ecosystems
Why did Suess invent the word Biosphere?
Suess believed that it was important to look at life as a whole rather than focus on individual organisms.
What is the impact on the biosphere of the burying of carbon in the shells of dead sea animals?
When animals with shells die, their remains build up in layers. Time and pressure lead these to become sedimentary rocks such as chalks and limestones.
Where is the largest impact crater formed in the last billion years located?
Off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.
What was the Cambrian Explosion?
A rapid increase in the diversity of life
It is called the Cambrian Explosion because it occurred during the Cambrian period.