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150 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Which of the following statements about a scientific theory is not true?
a. It is an explanation for some natural phenomena. b. It has a large body of supporting knowledge. c. It is testable. d. It is conjecture or guess. e. None of the above |
D
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The Big Bang took place approximately _______ years ago.
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15 billion
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The age of the universe is estimated by _______.
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the rate at which galaxies are moving away from one another
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The zone between the core and the crust is called what?
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mantle
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Earth's core is probably _______.
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composed mostly of iron and nickel
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The first person to suggest that all of the continents had originally been joined together as the supercontinent Pangaea was who?
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Alfred Wegener, 1912
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The principle reason Wegener's theory was rejected was due to his failure to do what?
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to explain how continental crust could move through oceanic crust
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Glacially deposited strata were important in the development of continental drift theory because ____.
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the glacial deposits indicated that all of the southern continents must have been closer to the South Pole and contiguous
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That the northern continents were once joined and located along the equator was shown by what?
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the coal-age plant fossils of North America and Europe
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Which of the following was not evidence for Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis?
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paleomagnetic striping of the oceanic crust
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If the continents were once joined together, rocks and mountain ranges on the margins of each should have _______.
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a. formed under the same conditions
b. formed the same sequences c. formed at the same time d. the same structural trends and forces Correct Response e. all of the above |
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What do studies of paleomagnetism document?
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how the Earth's magnetic poles have varied through time
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Ocean crust is youngest where?
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the crests of mid-ocean ridges
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The Principle of Uniformitarianism is based on the idea that modern processes have operated throughout geologic time.
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True
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The two types of crust are known as lithospheric and oceanic.
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False
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What are the three types of tectonic plate boundaries?
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divergent, convergent, and transform
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Earth has been continuously changed through its 4.6 billion year existence.
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True
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Magnetic reversals are not recorded in the sea floor.
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False
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What are the three types of rock in the rock cycle?
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Igneous rocks, Sedimentary rocks, and Metamorphic rocks
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How does the plate tectonic theory differ from continental drift?
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Continental drift is the theory that the continents were joined into a single landmass that broke apart with the continents moving with respect to one another, yet failed to explain the driving force. Plate Tectonic theory holds that large lithospheric plates move relative to one another caused by slab pull, ridge push, and mantle convection.
Correct answer: Continental drift does not have the driving of plates being created at spreading centers, and recycled at subduction zones. |
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What is a mineral?
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A mineral is a naturally-occurring, inorganic, crystalline solid with a definite chemical composition and characteristic physical properties.
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How do a rock and a mineral differ?
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A rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of minerals, while minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic crystalline solids. Rocks are made up of minerals, not vice versa.
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What are the eight chemical elements that make up over 99 percent of Earth's crust?
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Oxygen, Silicon, Aluminum, Iron, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, and Magnesium. (O, Si, Al, Fe, Mg, Ca, Na, K)
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Why do most minerals, as measured by rock volume, belong to the silicate group?
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because oxygen and silicon are the two most abundant elements in the crust
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Diamond and graphite are two minerals with the same chemical composition, but extremely different physical properties. Why is this?
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Diamond has the luxury of having very strong covalent bonds sharing all four of its outermost electrons with a neighbor to produce a stable noble gas configuration. Graphite has a very weak bond called a van der Waals or residual bond and they are weakly held together in sheets, which is why it was a great choice for writing.
Correct answer: They have different crystal structures |
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Carbon-12 (C12), carbon-13 (C13), and carbon-14 (C14) are all _______ of the element carbon.
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isotopes
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C12 has 6 protons. How many protons does C13 have?
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6
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How many neutrons does C13 have?
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7
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Nitrogen-14 (N14) has 6 protons and 8 neutrons
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False
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What is an atom?
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the smallest particle into which an element can be divided while still retaining the chemical characteristics of that element
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Which of the following are all examples of minerals?
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copper, ice, quartz, topaz, diamond, corundum
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How does lava differ from magma?
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Lava is magma at Earth's surface
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What is a pluton?
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a Pluton is an intrusive igneous body that forms when magma cools and crystallizes within the crust, such as a batholith or sill.
Correct answer: body of rock which formed by cooling of magma below Earth's surface |
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What does a glassy texture tell us about the history of an igneous rock?
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A glassy texture informs that the rock cooled very rapidly as the constituent atoms did not have time to become arranged and ordered in a crystalline pattern.
Correct answer: The magma cooled very rapidly |
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Intrusive igneous (plutonic) rocks ______.
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solidify below the surface of the ground and form by crystallization of magmas intruded into surrounding rocks
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A dark colored igneous rock with no visible crystals cooled _______.
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quickly on the Earth’s surface
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Aphanitic, phaneritic, and porphyritic are textural terms that _______.
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refer to fine-grained, course-grained, and mixed grained crystal sizes, respectively.
b. refer to formation by slow cooling, fast cooling, and mixed cooling rates, respectively. c. are indicative of volcanic, plutonic, and mixed plutonic-volcanic origins, respectively. |
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Igneous rocks with a texture that is so fine-grained that the crystals are too small to see is ______.
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aphanitic
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The process of assimilation includes the incorporation of felsic country rock.
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True
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Match the aphanitic extrusive rock type with its phaneritic intrusive compositional equivalent below.
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diorite — andesite Correct
granite — rhyolite Correct gabbro — basalt Correct |
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Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii is huge and has gentle slopes. Mt. Rainier in Washington is tall, with much steeper slopes. Paricutin in Mexico is smaller and has very steep slopes composed of loose pyroclastic material. What type of volcano does each one represent, and what kind of volcanic activity produced it?
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Mauna Loa is a shield volcano composed of fluid lava flows. Mt. Rainier is a composite volcano made of a combination of lava flows and explosive (pyroclastic) eruptions. Paricutin is a cinder cone made from short-lived pyroclastic activity.
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What type of eruption is mainly responsible for producing plateau or flood basalts
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Fissure Eruptions
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What are the three main types of volcanoes?
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cinder cones, composite cones, and shield volcanoes
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The volcanic explosivity index (VEI) is intended to do what?
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document the size of eruptions
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According to plate tectonic theory, why are there volcanoes in Hawaii?
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The volcanoes formed over a hot spot.
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Lavas of ________ composition are more likely to produce lava domes.
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felsic
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How do detrital sedimentary rocks differ from chemical sedimentary rocks?
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Detrital sedimentary rocks are made from the fragments of preexisting rocks. The cement may be new material but otherwise the material forming them predates the formation of the rock. Chemical sedimentary rocks precipitate from a solution; they are made of new material that forms for that rock
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Define weathering.
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Weathering is the physical disintegration and/or chemical decomposition of rocks at or near Earth's surface as they are exposed to the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and/or biosphere.
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How does climate affect soil development?
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Water and heat accelerate weathering. Soils in dry climates
form more slowly, and tend to be thinner, and may have a caliche layer. i.e. pedocals. Soils in temperate climates form faster, so tend to be thicker, with more developed A and B horizons, such as pedalfers. In very warm wet climates, more intense weathering results in a laterite soil, leached of the most soluble elements. |
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Which of the following contribute to weathering?
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organisms such as worms, bacteria, and trees b. oxygen and carbon dioxide in the air
c. rain water d. organic acids |
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Which of the following is a means of mechanical weathering?
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frost wedging
b. pressure release c. thermal expansion and contraction d. burrowing and root wedging |
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Chemical weathering is most effective in which of these conditions?
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warm and humid
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The important weathering product(s) of hydrolysis of feldspar is (are) ______.
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clay minerals
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What is caliche?
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a layer of precipitated calcium carbonate in horizon B
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Lithification, the conversion of sediment to sedimentary rock, is a result of what?
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compaction and cementation
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The average geothermal gradient near Earth’s surface is what?
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25oC/km
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The type of metamorphism that is common in fault zones in which rocks are subjected to high differential pressures is called ____________.
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dynamic metamorphism
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Metamorphism takes place _______.
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in the solid state with or without fluid activity
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The Agents of Metamorphism are:
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heat, pressure, and fluid activity
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What are index minerals used to determine?
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Index minerals form only within specific temperature and pressure ranges allow geologists to recognize low-, intermediate-, and high-grade metamorphism
Index minerals are used to determine the temperature and pressure regime a metamorphic rock has been exposed to. |
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Uniformitarionism
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present day processes have operated throughout geologic time.
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universe age
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15 bill
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earth age
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4.6bill
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doppler shift
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red shift/blue shift primary evidence for when
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core
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small solid larger liquid outer iron and nickel
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mantle
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solid; asthenosphere near crust elastic
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crust
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thick continental, thin oceanic
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lithosphere
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crust and upper mantle-brittle
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earths subsystems
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biosphere, atmosphere, lythosphere, hydrosphere, mantle & core
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laurasia
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north
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gondwana
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south
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glossopteris fern
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pangaea plant
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avg rate of plate motion
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determined by dividing the distance from an oceanic ridge axis to any magnetic anomaly in the crust of the seafloor by the age of that anomaly
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driving mechanism of plate tectonics
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slab pull and ridge push and mantle convection= gravity + heat
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boulder
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>256mm
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cobble
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64-256mm
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gravel/pebble/granule
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2-32mm
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sand
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62.5um-2mm
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silt
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3.9-62.5um
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clay
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1-3.9um
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colloid
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<1um
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geology
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the study of earth also study of planets and moons in our solar system
2types: physical and historical |
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doppler effect
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change in frequecy caused by movement of the wave's source relative to the observer
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minerals
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naturally occuring inorganic crystalline solids that have definite physical chemical properties
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igneous rock
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rock formed by cooling and crystallization of magma or lava or the consolidation of pyroclastic materials
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metamorphic rock
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rock that has been changed from its original condition by heat, pressure, and the chemical activity of fluids, as in marble and slate
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sedimentary rock
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rock composed of sediment such as limestone and sandstone
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organic evolution
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present day organisms are related and have descended with modifications from organisms that lived in the past
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rock cycle
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look at it
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evidence for continental drift
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continental fit, similarity of rock sequences and mountain ranges, glacial evidence, fossil evidense(glossopteris)
No why to be accepted |
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paleomagnetism
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remnant magnetism in ancient rocks recording direction and intensity of earths magnetic poles
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curie point
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temp at which iron bearing minerals gain their magnetism
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7 major plates
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eurasian, Indian-australian, antarctic, north american, south american, pacific, and african
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ophiolites
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sequences of rock on land consisting of deep sea sediment, oceanic crust, and upper mantle. - used to recognize ancient convergent plate boundaries
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wilson's supercontinent cycle
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500 million years together and seperate
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alfred wegener
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continental drift
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pacific spreads ________ and is _________ than the atlantic
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faster, younger
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plate near oregon
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juan de fuca plate
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trenches closer to...
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land
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ind. volcanos located...
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along trench lines
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volcanoes closer to
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edge of continent
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mineral
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inorganic naturally occuring crystalline solid with narrowly defined chemical composition and characteristic physical properties
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ionic bonding
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bond between + ions and - ions
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covalent bonds
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electron shells overlap and electrons shared
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metallic bonding
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extreme electron sharing
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van der waals
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week bonds
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isolated tetrahedra
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olivine
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continuous chains of tetrahedra
single chain |
pyroxene group (augite)
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continuous chains of tetrahedra
double chain |
amphibole group (hornblende)
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continuous sheets
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micas (muscovite)
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three dimensional networks
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quartz, potassium feldspars, plagioclase feldspars
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silica
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combonation of silicon and oxygen
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silica tetrahedral
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basic building block of all silicate minerals
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silicates
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contains silica
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2 subgroups of silicates
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ferromagnesian silicates and nonferromagnesian silicates
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ferromagesian silicates
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contain iron, magnesium, or both
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nonferromagnesian silicates
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lack iron and magnesium. commonly light colored and less dense. most common minerals on earths crust(feldspars)
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physical properties of minerals
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luster and color, crystal form, cleavage and fracture, hardness, specific gravity
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rock
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solid aggregate of one or more minerals or mineral like
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resource
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naturally occuring concentration that economically can be extracted
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reserve
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only part that can be economically recovered
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origin of minerals
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cooling magma, weathering, evaporation of seawater, metamorphism, and organisms using dissolved substances in seawater to build shells
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felsic
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> 65% silica
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mafic
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< 52% silica
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intermediate
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between 52 - 65 % silica
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viscosity
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resistance to flow
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bowens reaction series
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look at it and draw it
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assimilation
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process by which magma reacts with preexisting country rock
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igneous textures
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aphanitic, phaneritic, porphyritic
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aphanitic
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rapid cooling small grains
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phaneritic
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slow cool, large grains
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porphyritic
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different particles due to different cooling
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composition of igneous rocks
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look at the book pg 94
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concordant
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parallel to layering in country rock
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discordant
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boundaries cut accross country rock
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dike
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tabular sheetlike igneous bodie running discordant
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sill
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tabular or sheetlike igneous body running concordant
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laccolith
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mushroom like expansion of a sill
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volcanic pipe
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connects to underlying magma chamber
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volcanic neck
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remnant pipe more resistant to erosion
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batholith
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huge pluton 100km2
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stock
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small batholith
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stoping
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rising magma detaches and engulfs pieces of country rock
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laterite
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very wet climate, intense leaching
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pedocals
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dry climate little leaching caliche in b
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pedalfers
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moist climate moderate leaching
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sand on top
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regression
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lithostatic pressure
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same on all sides
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metamorphism types
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regional, dynamic, contact
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folliated layers
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parallel
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