The Biosphere Puts It Together Practice Questions

Review the following concepts at: The Biosphere Puts It Together Study Guide

Practice Questions

1. The order of the physical reservoirs, from the one that mixes fastest to the one that mixes slowest, is

a. atmosphere, soil, ocean.

b. ocean, soil, atmosphere.

c. soil, ocean, atmosphere.

d. atmosphere, ocean, soil.

2. The thermohaline circulation is part of the biosphere's physical reservoir that circulates in about

a. 1 year.

b. 100 years.

c. 1,000 years.

d. 10,000 years.

3. Organic detritus sinks in the ocean and is consumed by bacteria, which give off wastes. This process is a connection between which two reservoirs?

a. life-atmosphere

b. life-soil

c. atmosphere-ocean

d. life-ocean

4. The respiration from the roots of plants drives up the amount of carbon dioxide in the soil. This increase will affect the gas exchange between

a. ocean and life.

b. soil and atmosphere.

c. soil and ocean.

d. ocean and atmosphere.

5. The cycle of a nutrient such as nitrogen, around and around through the four reservoirs of the biosphere, is called

a. chemobiogeological cycle.

b. biogeochemical cycle.

c. geobiochemical cycle.

d. chemobiogeological cycle.

6. In considering the reservoirs of the biogeochemical carbon cycle, which has the most carbon in it?

a. ocean

b. soil

c. plants

d. atmosphere

7. Which two reservoirs in the carbon cycle contain about the same amount of carbon? a. ocean and soil b. atmosphere and soil c. life and ocean d. life and atmosphere

8. In terms of the flux of carbon, gas exchange is closely balanced between which two reservoirs?

a. soil and atmosphere

b. life and ocean

c. atmosphere and ocean

d. soil life and atmosphere

9. The total flux of carbon into all organisms during photosynthesis in both ocean and on land (from air) comes to how many tons per year? Refer to the text or to Figure 17.1 to obtain the answer.

a. 55 billion

b. 100 billion

c. 60 billion

d. 40 billion

10. If no new carbon were entering the biosphere from the geological processes from below, in how many years would the biosphere lose all its car bon? Consider that the loss from the biosphere is 0.5 billion tons of carbon per year, as burial in the ocean sediments. Add up the total amount of carbon in the biosphere by summing the amounts given in the text for life, atmosphere, soil, and ocean. Then figure out how much time it would take to deplete the total biosphere of carbon at a loss of 0.5 billion tons per year.

a. 70,000 years

b. 77,000 years

c. 1,400 years

d. 2,800 years

Answers