Must Be True Questions - - Question 3

Water vapor evaporated from the ocean contains a greater proportion of oxygen 16 and a smaller proportion of the heav...

LSATChris October 21, 2019

B supported by the argument?

How is B supported by the argument? What points to the fact that oxygen 18 will increase?

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BenMingov October 21, 2019

Hi LSATChris, thanks for the question!

The points in support of oxygen 18 increasing is that vapor contains more 16 than 18. So typically, this doesn't affect the composition of the ocean because whatever is evaporated just comes back as precipitation and all is restored. However, in an ice age scenario, a larger amount of this precipitation is getting trapped as ice and not returning to the ocean.

This means that if 16 is leaving in greater proportion than 18, and it is not coming back as precipitation, the proportion of 18 eventually increases.

Hope this helps!