History of Earth's Atmosphere I: The Origin of the Modern Atmosphere

Air is a mixture of many different gases.

• a.true
• b.false

While studying the abundance of elements on Earth, Francis Aston discovered that

• a.Earth contains more heavy elements than light elements.
• b.Earth contains fewer noble gases than expected.
• c.Earth contains more neon than other planets.
• d.Earth contains 56 different elements.

What factor did NOT contribute to the loss of Earth’s primordial atmosphere?

• a.Earth’s atmosphere contained light elements like neon that easily escaped.
• b.Earth is a relatively small planet with a weak gravitational pull.
• c.Collisions between planetesimals helped drive off gases.
• d.Larger planets like Jupiter pulled Earth’s early atmosphere away.

Which of the following has not been identified as a factor in changing the chemical composition of Earth’s atmosphere?

• a.Volcano eruptions
• b.Subduction
• c.Mass spectrometry
• d.Oceans

Using your understanding of the processes that shaped Earth’s atmosphere, infer the main component of the atmosphere of an imaginary planet, which had volcanoes but no oceans.

• a.Carbon Dioxide
• b.Nitrogen
• c.Argon
• d.Oxygen

Compare Jupiter and Saturn, which have both retained most of their primordial atmospheres but differ significantly in size. Both of their atmospheres contain a significant amount of helium, the lightest noble gas. Which one of the following statements is true?

• a.Jupiter has more helium than Saturn.
• b.Saturn has more helium that Jupiter.
• c.Jupiter and Saturn have the same amount of helium.
• d.Jupiter and Saturn have the same amount of helium as Earth.

Look at Fig. 7 in the text and evaluate the following statement: There is relatively more neon on Earth compared to other planetary bodies than krypton (T/F)?

• a.true
• b.false

Payne’s research revealed that the brightness of an emission line depended on

• a.the distance of the observer from the object emitting light.
• b.the concentration of the element alone.
• c.whether the atmosphere contained oxygen.
• d.the concentration of the element and its excitation state.