Regents Review - Earth and Space Science, January 2025

Identify the nuclear process that produces energy in stars.

• Photosynthesis

• Nuclear fission

• Nuclear fusion

• Radioactive decay

Identify the geologic period when Glacial Lake Albany was first formed.

• Jurassic

• Cretaceous

• Pleistocene

• Devonian

Identify the agent of erosion that formed the sand dunes from the sediments left on the lake floor after Glacial Lake Albany drained.

• Water

• Wind

• Ice

• Gravity

What is the main force that causes tides on Earth?

• Wind

• Gravity

• Earth's rotation

• Ocean currents

How does the thickness of cloud cover at a particular location affect the relative amount of solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface?

• Thicker clouds reflect more solar radiation, allowing less to reach the surface.

• Thicker clouds absorb more solar radiation, allowing more to reach the surface.

• Thicker clouds have no effect on solar radiation reaching the surface.

• Thicker clouds increase the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface.

What season is beginning in the northern hemisphere when Earth is in this position (first day of a certain season)?

• Spring

• Summer

• Autumn

• Winter

How many daylight hours would an observer at the equator experience on the first day of this season?

• 12 hours

• 6 hours

• 24 hours

• 18 hours

If Earth’s rotational axis were tilted at 33.5° instead of 23.5°, how would New York State’s summer and winter temperatures change?

• Summers would be hotter and winters would be colder.

• Summers would be cooler and winters would be warmer.

• Both summers and winters would be milder.

• There would be no change in temperatures.

Identify the process that recrystallizes silica-rich rock and limestone into wollastonite using heat and pressure.

• Metamorphism

• Weathering

• Erosion

• Sedimentation

Which of the following minerals is commonly used in ceramics, other than wollastonite?

• Quartz

• Halite

• Galena

• Magnetite