Part:1

1. Is the amount of precipitation and evapotranspiration over the continents the same? Explain.

2. Why is it difficult to designate distinct boundaries between the oceans of the world?

3. How and why does the salinity of seawater vary around the world?

4. Describe the positions of the Sun, Moon, and Earth that produce the highest tides and the lowest low tides.

5. Explain what causes the movement of water in the global conveyor belt.

6. Where is most of the ice in the cryosphere found?

7. Describe some of the consequences of thawing permafrost around the Arctic.

8. How and why had the Aral Sea changed over the last few decades?

9. Define aquifer.

10. How does a cone of depression form and how does it affect an aquifer?

11. How has groundwater mining affected the Ogallala Aquifer since the 1930s?

Part:2

1. What is the focus of the science of biogeography?

2. Why is photosynthesis so critical to the existence of the biosphere?

3. Over long periods of time, how can a molecule of carbon dioxide move from the atmosphere to the biosphere?

4. How is nitrogen made available to living organisms through the nitrogen cycle?

5. Why does the amount of biomass change at each trophic level of a food pyramid?

6. What factors account for the distribution of acacias and cattle egrets?

7. Explain the long-term process of plant succession in an in-filling lake.

8. Explain how the climate-related limiting factors of light and wind can influence plant distribution.

9. How can a wildfire be beneficial to a forest?

10. How is it possible for relatively infertile tropical soils to support the huge biomass of a tropical rainforest?