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217 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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4 main earth systems
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Geosphere
Hydrosphere Atmosphere Biosphere |
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Geosphere
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Everything from the center to the surface
note there are three other planets with geospheres |
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components of geosphere
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Core
Mantle (Mesosphere) Asthenosphere Lithosphere |
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Core
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Solid Iron inner core
liquid iron outer liquid iron core causes EM belt to deflect solar wind |
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Main components of Jovian planets
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hydrogen and helium
same as sun |
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Mantle
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liquid magma
convection causes tectonic movement |
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Mantle convection
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cool asthenosphere sinks
hot mantle rises |
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Asthenosphere
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plastic outer mantle
low-velocity zone - seizmic waves travel slowly |
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Lithosphere
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Crust
surface |
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Rock Cycle
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Each type of rock begets the next
sedimentary becomes metamorphic metamorphic melts to become magma, then lava, then igneous rock which erodes to become sediment |
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Plutonic rocks
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rocks formed from solidification of magma
below surface opposite of volcanic rocks |
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Volcanic rocks
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rocks formed on surface from solidification of lava
opposite of plutonic rocks |
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Where do we find water on earth?
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Oceans
glaciers rivers and lakes groundwater atmosphere |
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Hydrologic cycle
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evaporation - condensation - precipitation - infiltration or runoff
(also, sublimation) |
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Ocean percentages?
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Contain 97% of water on earth
cover 70% of earth’s surface |
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Composition of atmosphere
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78% Nitrogen
21% Oxygen note neither are greenhouse gases |
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Troposphere
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lower-most atmosphere
11km thick temperature decreases with altitude |
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Stratosphere
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lower-most outer atmosphere
temperature increases with altitude as ozone absorbs radiation lower stratosphere is temperature stable planes fly in lower stratosphere for least turbulence |
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Most abundant greenhouse gasses
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water vapor
carbon dioxide methane (more powerful / less abundant) nitrous oxide ozone CFCs |
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Negative feedback loops
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self-regulating
change creates a reaction which corrects the change |
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Positive feedback loop
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non-stable
change creates a reaction which further exacerbates the change |
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Carbon cycle
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carbon in rock and soil is used by biosphere which dies and replenishes
atmospheric CO2 is absorbed by ocean and used by animals which become rock |
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Stages of Solar System Formation
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Big Bang
Star formation local supernova condensation of solar nebula planetary rings form around sun accretion of particles form earth earth cools and heavier elements sink while lighter elements form crust oceans and atmosphere form |
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Big Bang
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14 byr ago
rapid expansion production of atomic particles |
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Star Formation (universal timeline)
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100-200 my from Big Bang
hydrogen and helium condense into solar nebulae |
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Supernovae
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explosions of massive stars
cause creation of heavier elements which condense into solar nebulae |
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Nebular theory of solar system formation
(timeline) |
Interstellar cloud
gravitational collapse protosun protoplanetary disk metals and rocks accrete to form terrestrial planets and asteroids gases and ice accrete to form jovian planets and coments |
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Formation of moon
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iron core impact with early earth
accretion of debris |
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Early Earth heated by
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ET bombardment
radioactive decay |
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Inner structure of Earth
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Solid Iron inner core
liquid Iron outer core Lower mantle upper mantle / asthenosphere lithosphere / crust |
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Tectonic cycle caused by
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mantle convection
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First proposal of coninental drift hypothesis
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Alfred Wegener
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Types of crust
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oceanic - dense but thin
continental - low density but thicker |
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types of plate boundaries
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divergent
convergent tranform |
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subcategories of plate boundaries
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O to O
C to C O to C |
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Hotspots
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mantle plume pushes through asthenosphere
pushes through lithosphere as it travels on top of asthenosphere |
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how is new crust developed?
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sea floor spreading
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why does magnetic north wander?
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lithosphere is moving in relation to asthenosphere
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Oldest ocean crust?
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200 million years old
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Oldest continental crust?
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3.9 billion years old
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describe isotopes
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thanks!
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what do we use isotopes for?
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dating
known decay rates of unstable isotopes allow us to compare relative amounts of unstable to stable isotopes to determine age |
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types of volcanoes
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shield
composite |
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composite volcanoes
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aka stratovolcanoes
cause familiar cinder cone shape violent eruptons due to low-viscosity lava and trapped gas cause ash and pyroclastic flow |
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shield volcanoes
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like Hawaii
caused from hotspots relatively gentle steady flow |
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what determines violence of volcanoes?
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viscosity of lava
gas content temperature |
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Special conditions that allow life on earth
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right distance from sun - liquid water
atmosphere |
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describe radiometric dating
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look at ratio of daughter isotopes to parent isotopes in a known sample to determine number of halflife cycles, thus age
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what is pyroclastic flow
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stream of ash, rock (tephra) and gas from volcanoes
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what are ophiolites?
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heavy rocks from ocean plates, found atop continental plates
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Describe a cinder cone volcano
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like a small stratovolcano
often from side channels of composite volcanoes |
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descrive fissure volcanoes
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not really volcanoes per se
lava fountains in cracks near larger volcanoes |
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describe volcanic dome
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highly explosive dome of rock
often forms within a composite volcano |
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types of volcanic eruptions
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lava flow - such as in hawaii
explosion of pyroclastic material and gasses |
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relationship of silica and volcano explosivity
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more silica = more explosion
note that silica is the main crustal mineral, so high-explosivity volcanoes have magma made from subducted crust |
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tephra
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small pieces of lava rock
main part of pyroclastic flow |
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predicting volcanic eruptions
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historical record
seismic activity steam morphology (bulge) crust temperature radon gas emission |
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Primary hazards of volcanoes
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lava, ash, pyroclastic material from actual eruption
poisonous gasses flood tsunami fire |
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Magnitude-frequency concept
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larger events happen less often
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name of concept which says larger seismic events happen less often than smaller ones
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magnitude-frequency concept
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change in ground displacement per magnitude step
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10 times
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energy change per moment magnitude step
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32
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causes of tsunamis
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underwater earthquake
underwater volcano underwater landslides meteorite strikes |
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describe liquification
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earthquake shakes small particles, which settle and displace their water
sudden muddiness and landslides |
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focus
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where the actual earthquake slippage occurs
directly below epicenter |
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epicenter
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surface spot directly above earthquake focus
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Types of seismic waves
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P S L
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determining distance of earthquake
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look at gap between arrival of P S and L waves
more separation means more distance |
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define earthquake
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vibration of earth caused by rapid energy release
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4 steps of earthquake
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friction builds, causes stress
stress leads to deformation (strain) rupture at focus elastic rebound (release of energy) as deformed rock springs back into shape |
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define seismic creep
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frequent small displacement causing movement but no large quakes
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folding rocks
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sometimes rock will fold but not rupture
sand will only fracture, not fold strong brittle substances break easily weak elastic material folds easily but stores a ton of energy, leading to much bigger quake if it ruptures |
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types of stress and strain in crust
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compressive stress - convergent boundary - shallow and deep quakes
tensional stress - divergent boundary - little seismic activity shear stress - transform boundary - frequent powerful quakes |
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types of faults
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normal - tension
reverse - compression strike-slip - horizontal shearing |
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cause of normal fault
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tensional stress
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cause of reverse fault
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compressive stress
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cause of strike-slip fault
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horizontal shearing stress
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depth of quakes
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0-15km deep
(why not deeper?) melted rock doesn’t quake (exception?) subducted dense ocean crust can go deeper before melting |
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describe P waves
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fast
linear compression wave like sound wave can travel through core |
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describe S waves
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transverse wave
slow cannot penetrate liquid |
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describe L waves
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surface waves
rolling and sideways movement most destructive |
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number of seismograph readings needed to pinpoint quake location
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3
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largest ever earthquake
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9.5
chile 1960 |
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not richter scale any more?
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moment magnitude scale
mod of richter to better measure larger quakes |
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what determines quake magnitude?
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area of rupture (size of fault plane)
amount of displacement rigidity of rocks near focus |
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what determines quake damage?
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magnitude
depth distance to epicenter ground material (don’t build on sand!) population density buildings/infrastructure |
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it’s a rock
it’s a mineral! it’s an element!!! |
rocks are made of minerals
minerals of elements |
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most abundant minerals
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O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, K
top 8 make up 98% of rock-forming minerals |
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percentage of minerals with O
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45.20%
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percentage of minerals with Si
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27.20%
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what determines what mineral we have?
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chemical composition - which elements
structure |
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most abundant mineral on earth
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quartz
made of O and Si |
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what causes colors in quartz?
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small impurities (often Fe and Ti, sometimes Mn)
larger impurities actually cause it to be a different mineral altogether |
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define mineral
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naturally occuring
inorganic solid crystalline specific in chemical composition (water ice fits the bill, but not water fossils but not bones) |
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composition of quartz
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SiO2
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how do minerals form?
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chemical bonding (describe?)
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types of chemical bonds
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ionic bonds
covalent bonds metallic bonds mixed bonds |
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ionic bonds
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ions of opposite charge attract
weak - breaks and dissolves easily NaCl |
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covalent bonds
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sharing of electrons between atoms
differences in structure diamond graphite (weak bonds between some strong bonds) |
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Metallic bonds
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electrons shared among entire structure
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how can diamond and graphite have the same composition?
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difference in crystal structure
diamond has strong, even bond graphite has weak bonds between strong bonds |
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properties of minerals (color, etc)
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color
luster streak hardness cleavage crystal face specific gravity |
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mineral color
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may help determine type of mineral
may be unreliable tiny impurities cause large differences in color |
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mineral luster
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metallic or nonmetallic
glossy or dull |
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mineral streak
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color of powdered material
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why is streak more reliable than color?
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powdered material doesn’t amplify diffraction like a crystal might
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mineral hardness
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Moh’s scale
talc and gypsum at bottom corundum and diamond at top |
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mineral cleavage
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the way a mineral flakes or breaks
look at planes and angles between planes may just be fracture (no discernable cleavage) |
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mineral crystal face
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size of crystal face may help determine mineral
type of crystal face determines hardness |
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specific gravity
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weight in air divided by weight of equivalent volume of water
measure of density |
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nonsilicates
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carbonates (add CO3)
oxides (add O) halides (add Cl) sulfides (add S) |
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describe rock cycle
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any type of rock can turn into any other type of rock
sedimentary becomes metamorphic metamorphic becomes sedimentary through erosion and lithification, etc |
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Types of igneous rocks
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volcanic - crystallize from lava
plutonic - crystallize under ground |
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compare volcanic and plutonic igneous rocks
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volcanic crystallizes from lava
fast cooling = small crystals plutonic rocks crystallize underground allows slow cooling and large crystals |
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properties of igneous rocks depend on
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rate of cooling
magma composition |
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magma composition and igneous rock type
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hotspots deliver very pure mantle material
subduction zone volcanic rock is likely not very pure |
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dense, glassy rock caused by
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instantaneous cooling of lava
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vesicular rock caused by
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explosions
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randomly oriented crystals and crystal structures caused by
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irregular cooling of impure lava
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clasts
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loose materal which forms sedimentary rock
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process of sedimentary rock formation
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rock is weathered (chemically or physically)
carried away (erosion, transport) deposited lithification (due to pressure on sediment) |
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types of sediment
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clastic (solid minerals and broken down rock fragments)
chemical/biotic (dissolved ions from chemical weathering, like salt and calcite) |
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Calcite becomes?
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limestone, which becomes marble
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process of lithification
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compaction
cementation or recrystallization |
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describe how chemical / biotic sedimentary rocks work
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water soluble chemicals precipitate
through evaporation or choral activity also hard parts of plants and animals preciptate lithification in same way as clastic |
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describe banded iron formation
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we see different forms of iron in sedimentary rock
first with little oxygen then with much oxygen showing us when oxygen levels rose |
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how does cementation work?
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dissolved ions precipitate into pore spaces, glueing the minerals together
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how is coal made
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swamp plants become peat
which lithifies to become coal under pressure from time when planet was warmer peat becomes lignite which becomes bituminous under pressure and metamorphoses into anthracite |
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where does rock metamorphose?
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wherever heat and pressure are sufficient (but not too hot, otherwise it melts and we have igneous rock)
found at mountain ranges, subduction zones, meteorite strikes, at melt layer before rock becomes igneous |
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what’s a stromatolite?
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primaeval organism like algae
photosynthetic excrete oxygen and rock many rock patterns were realized to be fossilized stromatolites |
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thickness of atmosphere
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varies and is not well defined
between 50 and 100km |
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how does atmosphere protect life?
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absorbing UV
warming surface regulating temperature (reducing extremes) |
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Atmospheric composition
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78% Nitrogen
21% Oxygen .93% Argon .038% CO2 variable amounts of water vapor particulates |
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Amount of N in atmosphere
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78%
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Amount of O in atmosphere
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21%
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Amount of CO2 in atmosphere
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0.038%
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why so little H and He in atmosphere?
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too light!
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how does the greenhouse effect work?
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uv is mostly reflected by ozone
but some shortwave radiation penetrates is absorbed by the earth which releases the energy as heat and longwave radiation which reflects off the greenhouse gasses and bounces around |
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what happened to venus’s atmosphere?
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heat caused water to boil
which trapped more heat causing more water to boil |
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layers of atmosphere
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troposphere
stratosphere mesosphere thermosphere |
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why is pressure lower at higher elevations
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less air on top of you!
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describe temperature variation in atmosphere
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decrease on way up through troposphere
increases again in stratosphere due to uv absorption by ozone decreases again mesosphere and increases in thermosphere |
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thickness of troposphere
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15 km at equator, 7 km at poles (centripital effect)
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boundary between stratosphere and tropsphere
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tropopause
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effects of ozone
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90% of atmospheric ozone is in stratosphere, blocking UV radiation
the rest is in troposphere, acting as greenhouse gas and irritating asthma |
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describe how atmospheric circulation works
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convection!
land warms faster than ocean causing air above it to rise causing low pressure on the coast cool air from water rushes in land air spreads and cools sinks to create high pressure over water |
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describe what causes the sahara...
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“outside” of hadley cell causes constant high pressure over areas at 30d N and S of equator
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describe shape of frontal systems
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dominant cold air shoves itself under warm air, causing low pressure and heavy short term rainfall
dominant warm air pushes over cold air causing lighter but longer rainfall |
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convection on coastlines
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convective cell rotates toward land by day
toward sea at night |
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describe monsoons
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like coastline convection but on a much larger scale
rainy in summer dry in winter |
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orographic effect
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mountains cause rain shadow
causing heavy rainfall on windward side no moisture left for leeward side otocama desert is second dryest place on earth (after antarctica) |
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what causes trade winds? westerlies?
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hadley cell plus coriolis force
at ITCZ, winds travel west water piles up in Indonesia and allows cold water to upwell on west coast of americas which is why it’s so cold in SF |
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describe seasonal effect on sunlight/radiation
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angle of incoming radiation causes it to spread out over much larger area in winter
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Intertropical Convergence Zone
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The meeting of Hadley cells
at equator on equinox 30d N and S variation the “eye” of the Hadley cell |
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describe coriolis force and its effects on cell and storm rotation
use bullet metaphor |
coriolis force comes from the surface toward equator moving faster than toward poles
a bullet fired from equator toward pole would over-rotate firing to NY would hit Greenland |
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what limits storm size?
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pressure
there’s never a continent-wide storm, as pressure differentials are never sufficient |
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rotation of storms - which direction?
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Northern Hemisphere - high pressure pushes air away and rotates clockwise (anticyclone)
L pressure draws air in and rotates cyclone (counterclockwise) lefty loosey, righty tighty |
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what is the windspeed scale?
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beaufort scale
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beaufort scale
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windspeed
based on initial observation 0 - 12, then hurricane classes |
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three components of all weather events
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heat
moisture air |
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what causes largest storm effect?
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“outside” of hadley cell causes constant high pressure over areas at 30d N and S of equator
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describe what’s happening in Tornado Alley
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wet air from gulf of mexico travels north
causes a “lid” between warm dry air from deserts and cool dry air from arctic when some breaks through, the top spins in one direction while bottom swirls in other direction |
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where do storms get their energy?
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thunderstorms: gather enough water molecules to create friction and cause static charges
dissipate quickly because they cannot replenish moisture quickly hurricanes are big thunderstorms but can constantly replenish heat and moisture while over water tornadoes are caused by heating and cooling of land and converging air masses |
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what time we expect thunderstorms? why?
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late afternoon - evening
they’ve picked up maximum heat / humidity by this point |
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what is the age of the earth?
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4.54 billion years
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what is the main chemical element of the earth’s core?
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iron
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what kind of rock has fossils in it?
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sedimentary
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what percent of earth is covered by ocean?
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70%
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why do we have seasons?
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earth’s tilt - summer when toward sun, winter when away
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what are the three most important greenhouse gasses?
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water vapor
carbon dioxide methane |
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what gas protects the earth from UV and where is it?
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ozone
in stratosphere |
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name the four earth systems
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geosphere
Hydrosphere Atmosphere Biosphere |
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what is a supernova?
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exploding massive star
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what fuels the sun?
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H fusion to He
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what shields the earth from solar winds?
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magnetic field generated from liquid iron core
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list two jovian planets
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jupiter
saturn uranus neptune |
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which is the hottest planet?
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venus
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coral turn into what metamorphic rock?
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marble
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name of seismic and volcanic zone around pacific?
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ring of fire
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what type of volcanoes are largest?
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shield
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oregon cascade volcanoes are at what type of boundary?
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Ocean to continent convergent boundary
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what type of volcanoes are the most violent?
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composite volcanoes
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list three factors that determine the explosiveness of a volcano
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magma’s gas content
temperature viscosity silica content |
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besides Hawaii and Cascades, where do we find active volcanism in US?
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Aleutian Islands
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what instrument records earthquake waves?
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seismograph
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mag 7 quake is how much stronger than mag 6?
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10x
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what is the location where quake originates?
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focus (below epicenter)
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what actually generates seismic waves during a quake?
stress, strain, rupture, ____ |
elastic rebound
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what types of waves can travel through the earth’s interior (through solids, liquids, gasses)
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P waves
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three scenarios which cause tsunamis
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underwater landslide
underwater earthquake (shift in sea floor) underwater volcanic eruptions |
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what is the name of the supercontinent?
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pangaea
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what is the mechanism behind plate tectonics?
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mantle convection
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on which plate is Syracuse located?
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North American Plate
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Where is the nearest plate boundary east of Syracuse?
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mid atlantic ridge
divergent between NA and Eurasian plates |
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one example of divergent boundary on a continent?
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african rift valley
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how can we determine the absolute age of rocks?
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radiometric dating using unstable isotopes
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how old is the oldest oceanic crust?
|
200 million years old
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how old is the oldest continental crust?
|
3.9 billion years old
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what are magnetic stripes?
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mirrored regions on either side of a mid-ocean ridge where cooling crystals are oriented in a specific direction
banding caused by shifts in magnetic field as crust is formed |
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what is the largest mountain, bottom to top?
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mauna loa
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type: lithification of sediment
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sedimentary
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type: intense heating (but no melting)
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metamorphic
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type: crystals precipitate from water
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sedimentary
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type: solidification of magma/lava
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igneous
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type: melting of rock
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igneous
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type: intense pressure
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metamorphic
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type: compaction of sediment
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sedimentary
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type: cementation of grains
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sedimentary
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type: folding of rock
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metamorphic
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type: pebbly, sandy, muddy
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sedimentary
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type: crystalline
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igneous
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type: clastic
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sedimentary
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type: foliated
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metamorphic
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type: vesicular
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igneous
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type: equigranular
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ignenous
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type: common fossils
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sedimentary
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type: scaly and metallic luster
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metamorphic
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