InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society > Student Materials > Module 4: Understanding Sea Level Change > Drivers of Sea Level Change on Geologic Time Scales > Learning Check Point 2
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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Initial Publication Date: December 7, 2016

Learning Check Point 2

Please take a few moments to think about what you just learned, then answer the following questions to test your knowledge. At this point, we have identified many of the mechanisms that are responsible for changing sea levels in both the short-term and over the long-term. You should be able to explain how sea levels can change (transgress or regress) due to intrinsic variables discussed on time scales of days to months to seasons, even to multiple years.

Question 1 - Multiple Choice

An ________ factor is any variable that would impact sea-level as a result of tectonics, sedimentation or other process inherent to the Earth System. In contrast, _______ factors are those that would be influenced by processes such as orbital variation, changes in solar output, etc.

Select the words that complete the sentence:

a. extrinsic, anthropogenic
b. intrinsic, extrinsic
c. extrinsic, intrinsic
d. anthropogenic, extrinsic

Question 2 - Multiple Choice

Given today's plate tectonic configuration with continental segments located relatively far apart, the tectonic configuration during the Permian was significantly different when most land masses were combined in a single land mass called Pangea. Under such circumstances, relative to today, sea floor basin volume in the Permian would have promoted relatively _________ sea-levels primarily because the rates of sea floor spreading would have been relatively _______.

Select the words that complete the sentence:

a. high, high
b. high, low
c. low, high
d. low, low

Question 3 - Multiple Choice

The Earth's water cycle is defined by the movement of water between different reservoirs and the rates at which the water moves between these reservoirs. Climate has a significant impact on the size of various reservoirs and the rate at which water moves between them and therefore sea-levels especially when water in non-marine reservoirs is kept from circulating. Given what you have learned, which of the following is not an important reservoir for water storage outside of the ocean today in terms of total volume of water and capacity to change sea-level?

Given what you have learned, which of the following is not an important reservoir for water storage outside of the ocean today in terms of total volume of water and capacity to change sea level?

a. atmosphere
b. cryosphere or glaciers
c. freshwater lakes and inland seas
d. continental aquifers

Question 4 - Multiple Choice

When sediments are deposited on the continental shelf near river deltas, or along barrier island shorelines, some of these sediments can pile up into a variety of bar forms and can even build above sea-level by a range of processes (overwash, eolian/wind transport to build dunes, etc.). When these sediments pile up to substantial thicknesses they can actually cause local apparent sea-level rise as a result of the process of ________________ which can take place slowly over a long period of time. If these same sediments are redistrubted and reworked back into the sea after a major storm they can also contribute to apparent sea-level ______ as the sediments displace sea water.

Select the words that complete the sentence:

a. upilift, rise
b. subsidence, fall
c. uplift, subsidence
d. subsidence, rise

Question 5 - Multiple Choice

Sea-level rise and fall can ultimately be influenced by changes in the size of the basin from tectonic processes, changes in the ratio of water in various hydrospheric reservoirs, changes in the location of the water within the ocean basins due to changes in oceanic circulation, as well as by changes in the volume of water within the ocean basin, even without removing or adding to the total volume. Given this statement, which of the following is not a mechanism that would contribute to sea-lvel rise?

Given the statement above, which of the following is not a mechanism that would contribute to sea level rise?

a. elevated water temperatures in the lower levels of the ocean.
b. increased rates of precipitation, runoff and coastal sedimentation.
c. increased rates of oceanic crustal cooling.
d. ablation and/or melting of ice sheets.

These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »