GMAT Exam  >  GMAT Notes  >  100 RCs for GMAT  >  Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61

Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61 | 100 RCs for GMAT PDF Download

Directions: Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions as follows:

Passage

Milankovitch proposed in the early twentieth century that the ice ages were caused by variations in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. For sometime this theory was considered untestable, largely because there was no sufficiently precise chronology of the ice ages with which the orbital variations could be matched.

To establish such a chronology it is necessary to determine the relative amounts of land ice that existed at various times in the Earth’s past. A recent discovery makes such a determination possible: relative land-ice volume for a given period can be deduced from the ratio of two oxygen isotopes, 16 and 18, found in ocean sediments. Almost all the oxygen in water is oxygen 16, but a few molecules out of every thousand incorporate the heavier isotope 18. When an ice age begins, the continental ice sheets grow, steadily reducing the amount of water evaporated from the ocean that will eventually return to it. Because heavier isotopes tend to be left behind when water evaporates from the ocean surfaces, the remaining ocean water becomes progressively enriched in oxygen 18. The degree of enrichment can be determined by analyzing ocean sediments of the period, because these sediments are composed of calcium carbonate shells of marine organisms, shells that were constructed with oxygen atoms drawn from the surrounding ocean. The higher the ratio of oxygen 18 to oxygen 16 in a sedimentary specimen, the more land ice there was when the sediment was laid down.

As an indicator of shifts in the Earth’s climate, the isotope record has two advantages. First, it is a global record: there is remarkably little variation in isotope ratios in sedimentary specimens taken from different continental locations. Second, it is a more continuous record than that taken from rocks on land. Because of these advantages, sedimentary evidence can be dated with sufficient accuracy by radiometric methods to establish a precise chronology of the ice ages. The dated isotope record shows that the fluctuations in global ice volume over the past several hundred thousand years have a pattern: an ice age occurs roughly once every 100,000 years. These data have established a strong connection between variations in the Earth’s orbit and the periodicity of the ice ages.

However, it is important to note that other factors, such as volcanic particulates or variations in the amount of sunlight received by the Earth, could potentially have affected the climate. The advantage of the Milankovitch theory is that it is testable: changes in the Earth’s orbit can be calculated and dated by applying Newton’s laws of gravity to progressively earlier configurations of the bodies in the solar system. Yet the lack of information about other possible factors affecting global climate does not make them unimportant.

Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61
Try yourself:The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about the Milankovitch theory?
View Solution

Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61
Try yourself:According to the passage, which of the following is true of the ratios of oxygen isotopes in ocean sediments?
View Solution

Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61
Try yourself:According to the passage, which of the following is (are) true of the ice ages?
I. The last ice age occurred about 25,000 years ago.
II. Ice ages have lasted about 10,000 years for at least the last several hundred thousand years.
III. Ice ages have occurred about every 100,000 years for at least the last several hundred thousand years.
View Solution

Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61
Try yourself:The purpose of the last paragraph of the passage is to
View Solution

Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61
Try yourself:In the passage, the author is primarily interested in
View Solution

Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61
Try yourself:It can be inferred from the passage that the isotope record taken from ocean sediments would be less useful to researchers if which of the following were true?
View Solution

Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61
Try yourself:It can be inferred from the passage that precipitation formed from evaporated ocean water has
View Solution

Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61
Try yourself:It can be inferred from the passage that calcium carbonate shells
View Solution

Question for Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61
Try yourself:According to the passage, one advantage of studying the isotope record of ocean sediments is that it
View Solution

The document Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61 | 100 RCs for GMAT is a part of the GMAT Course 100 RCs for GMAT.
All you need of GMAT at this link: GMAT
100 docs

Top Courses for GMAT

100 docs
Download as PDF
Explore Courses for GMAT exam

Top Courses for GMAT

Signup for Free!
Signup to see your scores go up within 7 days! Learn & Practice with 1000+ FREE Notes, Videos & Tests.
10M+ students study on EduRev
Related Searches

Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61 | 100 RCs for GMAT

,

shortcuts and tricks

,

Objective type Questions

,

video lectures

,

Free

,

mock tests for examination

,

Viva Questions

,

Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61 | 100 RCs for GMAT

,

past year papers

,

ppt

,

study material

,

Sample Paper

,

Extra Questions

,

practice quizzes

,

Exam

,

pdf

,

Summary

,

Important questions

,

Semester Notes

,

Previous Year Questions with Solutions

,

Practice Test: Reading Comprehension - 61 | 100 RCs for GMAT

,

MCQs

;