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129 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is geology?
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The science that pursues an understanding of the planet Earth.
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Name the 2 types of geology sciences:
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1. historical
2. physical |
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What is the term for the science that examines the materials composing Earth and seeks to understand the many processes that operate beneath and upon its surface?
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Physical geology
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What type of geology looks at external and internal processes?
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Physical geology
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What type of geology seeks to understand the origin of the Earth and its development through time?
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Historical geology
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List several issues and problems that arise from the important relationship between humans and the natural environment?
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1. Natural hazards
2. Natural resources 3. World population 4. Civilization's growth 5. Environmental issues |
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When did the study of geology begin?
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late 1700's
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Who was the first real geology textbook author?
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Hutton
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Who was the father of Geology and what did he write?
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Sir Charles Lyell who wrote
Principals of Geology, a 4 vol set |
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What is the term given to the study by people who are more concerned with natural disasters?
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Catastrophism
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What is the term given to the study by people who believe the present is the key to the past?
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Uniformitarism
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Yes or NO
Are geologists able to assign fairly accurate dates to event in EArth's history? |
Yes
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Name the 2 types of dating technology geologists use:
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1. Relative
2. Radiometric |
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What is the term for when dates are placed in their proper sequence or order without knowing their age in years?
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Relative dating
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Why is there an appreciation for geological time?
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It involves vast times, millions or billions of years, and
Many processes are very gradual |
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List the 3 parts to the nature of scientific inquiry?
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1. scientist assumes that the natural world is consistent and predictable,
2. the goal of science is to determine patterns in nature and use the knowledge to make predictions, and 3. scientists collect data through observation and measurements |
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What is the term for the technology that knows exactly how old something is?
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Radiometric dating
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What is the term for a tentative or untested explanation?
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Hypothesis
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What is the term for a well tested and widely accepted view that the scientific community agrees best explains certain observable facts?
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Theory
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What is the term for the non-fixed path that scientist follow that leads to what?
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scientific knowledge
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Is the Earth small, medium, or large and is it self-contained?
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EArth is small and it is self-contained
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List the Earth's 4 spheres:
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1. Hydrosphere
2. Atmosphere 3. Lithosphere 4. Biosphere |
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T or F
The Earth is considered a system because it has interacting parts or spheres. |
True
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Name the 2 reasons that EArth Science Systems try to do?
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1. Aims to study Earth as a system composed of numerous interacting parts of subsystems, and
2. Employs an interdiscplinary approach to solve global environmental problems |
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What is the term for any size group of interacting parts that form a complex whole, that can be open or closed?
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System
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What is the term for a type of feedback mechanism that maintains the status quo?
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Negative
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What is the term for a type of feedback mechanism that enhances or drives change?
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Positive
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What powers the EArth's system?
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The Sun, which drives the hydrosphere and atmosphere, and
The Internal Core |
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When do most researchers believe the Earth was formed?
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About the same time the other planets were formed.
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What is the term for the type of hypothesis that most researcher believe was fundamental to the formation of the Earth?
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Nebular Hypothesis
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Name the 4 steps that caused the formation of the Earth's layers?
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1. Metals sank to the center of the Earth
2. Molten rock rose to produce a primitive crust 3. Chemical segregation established the 3 basic divisions of the Earth's interior 4. Primitive atmosphere evolved from gases in the EArth's interior |
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List the 3 layers of the Earth, from the outer to the inner as defined by composition:
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1. Crust
2. Mantle 3. Core |
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What are the 4 layers of the Earth as defined by physical properties:
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1. Lithosphere
2. Asthenosphere, 3. Mesophere 4. Outer and Inner Core |
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What does the Earth's surface basically consist of?
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1. Oceans
2. Continents |
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What is the most prominent feature of a continent?
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Mountain belts
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What part of a continent is composed of shields and stable platforms?
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Stable interior
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What is another name for the stable interior?
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Craton
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What are the continental margins of the ocean basins?
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Continental shelf, slope, and rise
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Name the 3 types of deep ocean basins:
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1. abyssal plains
2. oceanic trenches 3. seamounts |
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What is the most prominent topographic feature of Earth, that is composed of igneous rock that has been fractured and uplifted?
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Oceanic Ridge System
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List the 3 basic rock types:
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1. Igneous
2. Sedimentary 3. Metamorphic |
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What type of rock forms from cooling and solidifaction of magma?
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Igneous
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What types of rock are granite and basalt?
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Igneous
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What type of rock accumulates in layers of the Earth's surface and are derived weathering of preexisting rock?
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Sedimentary
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What types of rock are sandstone and limestone?
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Sedimentary
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What type of rock forms by changing preexisting rocks, whose change is driven by heat and pressure?
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Metamorphic
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What type of rock is marble and gneiss?
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Metamorphic
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What is the term given to the EARth's subsystem that includes the processes by which various processes and paths as the Earth's materials change on EArth's surface and inside the Earth?
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The Rock Cycle
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Why study geology?
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Because geology is all around you. The impact of geology, specifically minerals, rocks, and EArth's resources, is not fully perceived by most people. The importance of geological resources to society and for personal use is profound and will be more fully understood and appreciated.
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What does the word, "geology" mean?
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The study of the Earth
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Regarding the nature of scientific inquiry, what is all of science based on?
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The assumption that the natural world in a consistant and predictable manner that is comprehensible through careful, systematic study
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Regarding the nature of scientific inquiry, what does the development of new scientific knowledge involve?
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Basic logical processes that are universally accepted
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List the 2 parts of science:
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1. a process or procedure, and
2. a product or content knowledge |
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What is the term for a systematic process that is extremely effective in gaining, organizing, and applying new knowledge?
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Scientific method
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Name the 4 steps to the scientific method:
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1. Recognize a problem or an unknown,
2. Develop an educated guess or hypothesis about the possible answer, 3. PErform experiements or investigate to test the predictions 4. Formulate the simplest general rule that organizes the 3 main ingredients: hypothesis, prediction, and experimental outcome |
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What makes Earth unique amongst the observable planets?
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Water,
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Why is the EArth called the Blue Planet?
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Because its surface is mostly covered in water
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What is the term for the dynamic mass of water that is continually on the move, evaporating from the oceans to the atmosphere, precipitating to the land, and running back to the ocean again?
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Hydrosphere
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What is the term for the most prominent feature of the hydrosphere?
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Global ocean
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What percentage of the EArth's surface is covered in water?
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71.%
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What percentage of Earth's water does the global ocean account for?
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97%
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Name other sources for the Earth's hydrosphere besides the oceans?
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1. Fresh ground water found underground,
2. streams 3. lakes 4. glaciers |
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What is vital for life?
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Water
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What is the term for the life-giving gaseous envelope that surrounds the Earth?
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Atmosphere
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1/2 of the atmosphere lies below at altitude of how many miles?
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3.5 miles
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What percentage of the atmosphere lies within 10 miles of the surface of the Earth?
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90%
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What is the term for the sphere that includes all life on Earth?
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Biosphere
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What is the term for the sphere that is concentrated in a zone that extends from the ocean floor upward for several kilometers into the atmosphere?
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Biosphere
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Regarding the Biosphere, what would some of the consequences be without life
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The makeup and nature of the solid Earth, hydrophsere, and atmosphere would be very different
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What is the term for the sphere that is the solid Earth and the main focus of physical geology?
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Lithosphere
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Where is the lithosphere located?
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Beneath the atmosphere and the oceans
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What kind of time is the geologic time scale measured in ?
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millions of years
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How is the geologic time scale broken up into specific time chunks?
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based on evidence of rocks and/or fossils by:
1. eons 2. era 3. periods 4. epoch |
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HOw was the geologic time scale developed and why does it keep changing?
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Geologist are cointinuing to refine it by conducting fieldwork on rocks throughout the world
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HOw and why does the law of superposition relate to the geologic time scale?
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Oldest is down first, just like the oldest is on the bottom of the time scale
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What direction is the correct way to read the scale?
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Oldest to youngest--bottom to top
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What types of events typically define the breaks in the geologic time scale?
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Mass extinctions
Developing events Natural disasters |
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What is MEE?
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Mass Extinction Event
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What is BY
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Billions of years
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What is MY
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Millions of years
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List the geologic time scale eons:
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1. Precambrian
2. Phanerozoic |
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List the geologic time scale eras:
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1. Paleozoic
2. Meszoic 3. Cenozoic |
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List the geologic time scale periods:
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1. Cambrian
2. Ordovician 3. Silurian 4. Devonian 5. Mississippian 6. Pennsylvanian 7. Permian 8. Triassic 9. Jurassic 10. Cretaceous 11. Tertiary 12. Quaternary |
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What eon makes up 88% of all time?
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Precambrian
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How old is the Earth?
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4.6 Billions years old
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What is geology?
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the study of the earth and its life, especially recorded in rocks
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What is the inner core primarily made of in perrcent of the Earth?
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16%
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What is the innner core primarily made of?
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1. iron
2. nickel |
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How hot is the inner core?
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10,000+ degrees F
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How deep inside the earth is the inner core?
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3,200-3,960 miles below the earths surface
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Is the inner core a liquid, gas, or solid?
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Solid
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What is the outer core primarily made of ?
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1. iron
2. nickel 3. sulphur 4. oxygen |
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How hot is the outer core?
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7,200-9,032 degree F
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How deep inside the Earth is the outer core?
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1,800-3,2000 miles
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Is the outer core a solid, liquid, or gas?
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liquid
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What is the Gutenberg Discontinuity and where is it located?
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It separates the core from the mantle.
It is located between the mantle and the core |
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The mantle makes up how much percent of the Earth?
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83%
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Where is the mantle located?
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Between the crust and the core
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How thick is the mantel?
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1,700 miles thick
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Is the top of the mantle hotter or cooler than the base of the mantle?
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Cooler-the cooler to the surface the cooler it is.
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What geologic feature floats on the mantle?
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crust
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What is the athenosphere?
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It is the flowing part of the mantle that behaves like jello where convection takes place
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What parts of the mantle make up the athenosphere?
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1. lower mantle
2. upper mantle |
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Where is the lithosphere located?
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Between the upper upper mantle and the crust
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What is the Moho Discontinuity and where is it located?
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It is the boundary between the crust and mantle and it is located between the two.
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How much percent of the earth does the crust take up?
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1%
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The oceanic crust is how much percent of the earth's crust?
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65%
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How thick is the oceanic crust?
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8 miles thick
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Is the oceanic crust more or less dense than the continental crust?
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more dense
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Is the oceanic crust younger or older than the continental crust?
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Younger
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The continental crust takes up how much percent of the Earth's crust?
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35%
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`Is the continental crust more or less dense than the oceanic crust?
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Less dense-it floats on the mantle
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How thick is the continental crust?
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100 miles
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define a rock?
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a consolidated aggregate of mineral grains, particles of other rocks, or organic material
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define a mineral?
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naturally occurring, inorganic solids that make up rocks
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What is an igneous rock made from?
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Fire
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Where do igneous rocks form?
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Inside or outside the earth
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What is an intrusive rock?
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Also known as a plutonic rock;
it is formed inside the earth and crystallizes from cooling magma |
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What is magma?
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molten rock beneath the earth's surface
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How is a metamorphic rock formed
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from heat and pressure.
It is either an altered or changed form of another rock, but does not melt. |
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Where do metamorphic rocks form?
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Inside the earth
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What distinguishing feature does a foliated metamorphic rock have?
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Layers
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What do non-foliated metamorphic rocks look like?
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They don't have layers and are just a block
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Where do sedimentary rocks form?
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On top of the earth, sometimes buried a litte
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What is lithification?
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hardening of rocks with the cementation after being buried
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What is a detrital sedimentary rock?
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It is composed of solid particles that were once part of other rocks
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What is a chemical sedimentary rock?
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It is derived from accumulation of biological or inorganic chemical precipitants
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Who is James Hutton?
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He discovered/invented the rock cycle
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What is the basic theme of the rock cycle?
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All rocks have been recycled throughout time and will continue to do so.
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