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52 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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Definition of geology |
The study of Earth, its behavior, composition, and history. |
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Four phases "spheres" |
Hydrosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere |
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How old is the universe? |
About 14 billion years old |
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Why are the 3 basic rock types? |
Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic |
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Why is the difference between magma and lava? |
Magma occurs under the Earth's surface and lava is a material on at the Earth's surface. |
Molten rock |
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Define viscosity. |
The resistance to flow. It affects the speed with which magmas or lavas move. |
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If a magma is highly viscous, what is it's main component? |
Silicon |
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What 3 processes are responsible for the formation of magmas? |
1. Decrease in pressure, which may cause the liquid state of a mineral to be favored over solid crystals. 2. The addition of volatiles such as water and carbon dioxide may cause melting. 3. Melting of a system of rock and crystals due to heat transfer. |
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Why are the two primary ways of classifying igneous rocks? |
Texture and mineral composition |
Physical |
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Define a rock. |
A solid,naturally occurring material containing more than 1 mineral or a mass of volcanic glass. |
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Is ice a mineral or not? Why? |
No, it isn't a mineral since it is formed by man's actions. |
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How do pressure and temperature changes determine the type of igneous rock formed? |
Lava mainly forms fine grained or glassy texture since it is under little pressure and cools rapidly. Cooling magma becomes a solid underground and the grain size will be large since it may be under a lot of pressure. |
Lava & magma |
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Why do inner planets consist mostly of rock and metal but the giant outer planets consist mostly of gas? |
Solar wind blew the gaseous elements such as hydrogen and helium out of the inner portion of the solar system. By the time the wind hit the outer planets it became weaker. |
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Why is the Earth round? |
As the cluster of rocks, metal, ices, and gases heated up and melted , the force of gravity forced the Earth to to be nearly spherical. |
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Describe the difference between continental and oceanic crust. |
Oceanic crust is 7-10 km beneath the ocean. Continental crust is 25-70 km thick,made up of silica rocks,and is less dense. |
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What was wegener's continental drift hypothesis? What was his evidence? |
The continents were once stuck together to form a supercontinent called Pangaea and later sifted apart from each other. Evidence is that the continents fit together like a jigsaw puzzle if they were cut out from a map. |
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How do apparent wander paths show that the continents rather than the poles have moved? |
Apparent polar wander paths for continents that were not physically connected do not agree with each other. |
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Hotspots are caused by: |
Hot lower mantle rises to the crust and partially melts, producing an active volcano. The plates that overlie them are moving. |
Volcano |
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At a transform boundary... |
Lithosphere is neither created nor consumed. |
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At a subduction zone, the overriding plate.... |
Is always composed of continental lithosphere. |
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Define a mineral. |
A naturally occurring solid that has a crystalline structure and a definable chemical composition. |
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Define a crystal. |
A continuous piece of crystalline solid, bounded by flat surfaces called crystal faces. |
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What are the 3 ways mineral crystals can form? |
1. The freezing of liquid 2. Atoms, molecules or ions dissolved in water bond together and separate out of the water. 3. Atoms or ions through a solid arrange into a new crystal. |
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What are the physical properties of minerals? |
Color, hardness, cleavage, taste, magnetization, specific gravity, putting acid on it |
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Which group of minerals make up most of the continental crust? |
95% silicate minerals |
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What is the prime characteristic geologist use to classify minerals? |
Chemical composition |
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Why is volcanic glass not a mineral? |
It is automatically disordered having no fixed crystalline arrangement. |
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Minerals that do not possess cleavages are said to possess.... |
Fracture |
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All minerals are chemical compounds (composed of more than one element). True or false |
False |
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Which two elements are the most common in the universe? |
Hydrogen (98%) & helium (2%) |
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The lithosphere is composed of... |
The crust plus the uppermost cooler part of the mantle. |
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The thickness of the Earth's crust varies from... |
7-10 km beneath the ocean to 25-70 km beneath the continent. |
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Earth's atmosphere is presently dominated by which two gases? |
Nitrogen (78%) & oxygen(21%) |
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What is the proportion of land and sea on the earth's surface? |
30% land and 70% sea |
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Tectonics move at rates that are approximately.. |
1-15 cm per year |
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What principle did James Hutton discover? |
Uniformitarinism. We can look at ancient rocks and learn the environment they were formed in the past. |
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How fast are you moving while you are sitting still? |
1,850,000 miles per hour. |
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Define solar system. |
Rotating cloud of gas, dust and planets. |
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Define ions. |
Atoms that have lost or gained electrons. |
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Define a compound |
A chemical combination of two or more elements in specific proportions, and it has a distinct set of physical properties. |
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What are silicates? |
Compounds of silicon and oxygen, usually with other elements as well. |
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Define plutonic. |
Magmas that cool slowly at depth and are typically coarse gained. |
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Define volcanic. |
At or very close to the earth's surface; rapid cooling. |
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How are sedimentary rocks formed? |
From sediments at low temperatures. |
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Define clastic. |
Fragments of preexisting rocks |
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Define chemical. |
Direct precipitation of minerals from solution. |
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Define Lithification. |
Formation of sedimentary rocks. |
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Define stress. |
A force per unit area applied to an object. |
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Define strain. |
A deformation resulting from the applied stress. |
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Define lithosphere. |
Crust and the uppermost mantle |
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Define Asthenosphere. |
Plastic under lithosphere |
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Define plate. |
Discrete pieces of shell separated by large cracks. |
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