Geology Final Exam!!!!

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Abyssal plain

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Very level area of the deep ocean floor. Lies at the foot of continental rise.

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Biosphere

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Includes all life on earth.

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Core

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Earth's innermost layer, right under the mantle. Made up of an iron-nickel alloy.

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Fossil succession principal

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Fossils succeed each other in a definite and determinable order and time periods can be recognized by their fossil content.

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Hydrosphere

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The water portion of our planet.

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Nebular hypothesis

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The theory that a rotating nebula of dust and gases contracted and produced the sun and planets.

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Relative dating

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Rocks are placed in their chronological order, not dated by exact age.

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Atomic number

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The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.

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Dark silicates

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Silicate minerals containing ions of iron and /or magnesium in their structure. Higher specific gravity and darker than nonferromagnesian silicates

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Mineral

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A naturally occurring, inorganic crystalline material with a unique chemical structure.

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Nonsilicates

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Minerals groups that are not silicates and less abundant in earth's crust.

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Nonferromagnesiumm silicates

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(Light silicates) Light in color with a lower specific gravity than dark (ferromagnesian) silicates.

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Specific gravity

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The ratio of a substance's weight to the weight of an equal volume of water.

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Andesitic composition

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Rocks with a composition between granitic and basaltic. Contain at least 25% dark silicate materials. Also known as intermediate.

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Basaltic composition

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Rocks with a great deal of dark silicate materials and plagioclase feldspar. (no quartz) Also known as mafic

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Felsic

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Also known as granitic. Composed mostly of light-colored silicates. (particularly quartz and feldspar)

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Geothermal gradient

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The gradual increase in temp with depth in the crust.

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Intrusive

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Igneous rock that formed below Earth's surface.

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Pegmatic texture

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Coarse-grained igneous rocks with interlocking crystals all larger than a centimeter in diameter.

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Intraplate volcanism

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Igneous activity that occurs within a tectonic plate away from plate boundaries.

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Laccolith

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A massive igneous body intruded between preexisting strata.

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Parasitic cone

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A volcanic cone that forms on the flank of a larger volcano.

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Pyroclastic flow

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A heated mixture, largely of ash and pumice fragments, that travels down the flanks of a volcano or along the surface of the ground.

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Chemical weathering

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Internal structure of a mineral is altered by the removal or addition of elements.

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Erosion

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The incorporation and transportation of material by a mobile agent, such as water, wind, or ice.

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Leaching

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The depletion of soluble materials from the upper soil by downward-percolating water.

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Soil taxonomy

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A soil classification system consisting of six hierarchical categories based on observable soil characteristics.

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Strata

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Parallel layers of sedimentary rock.

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Clastic rock

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Sedimentary rock texture consisting of broken fragments of preexisting rock.

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Cross-bedding

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Structure in which relatively thin layers are inclined at an angle by currents of wind or water.

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Eruption column

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Buoyant plumes of hot ash laden gases that can extend thousands of meters into the atmosphere.

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Lithification

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The process of converting sediments to solid rock.

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Nonclastic

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Texture of sedimentary rocks in which the minerals form a pattern of interlocking crystals.

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Salt flat

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A white crust on the ground produced when water evaporates and leaves its dissolved materials behind.

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Mud crack

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When wet mud dries shrinks and cracks in rocks.

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Detrital sedimentary rock

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Rocks that form from the accumulation of materials that originate and are transported as solid particles derived from both mechanical and chemical weathering.

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Burial metamorphism

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Low-grade metamorphism that occurs in the lowest layers of very thick accumulations of sedimentary strata.

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Confining pressure

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Greater with depth in which forces are applied equally in all directions.

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Foliation

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A term for linear arrangement of textural features.

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Gneissic texture

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Texture in which dark and light silicate minerals have separated. Banded appearance.

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Hydrothermal metamorphism

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Chemical alterations that occur as hot ion-rich water goes through fractures in rock.

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Rock cleavage

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Planes along which rocks split into thin, tabular slabs when hit.

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Schistosity

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When platy minerals are large enough to be seen by the unaided eye.

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Creep

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The slow downhill movement of soil and regolith.

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Debris flow

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A relatively rapid type of mass wasting that involves a flow of soil and regolith containing a large amount of water.

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Earthflow

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The downslope movement of water-saturated, clay-rich sediment. Mostly in humid regions.

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Mudflow

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Debris flows.

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Permafrost

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Permanently frozen subsoil.

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Slide

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A movement common to mass-wasting processes in which the material moving downslope remains coherent.

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Talus slope

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An accumulation of rock debris at the base of a cliff.

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Alluvial fan

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A fan-shaped deposit of sediment formed when a stream's slope is reduced.

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Braided stream

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A stream consisting of numerous intertwining channels.

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Cut bank

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Area of active erosion on the outside of a meander.

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Dentritic pattern

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A stream system resembling a branching tree.

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Dissolved load

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Portion of stream's load carried in solution.

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Incised meander

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Meandering channel in a steep narrow valley. Form when an area is uplifted or when base level drops.

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Meander

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A looplike bend in a stream

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Yazoo tributary

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A tributary that flows parallel to the main stream.

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Aquifer

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Rock or sediment through which groundwater moves easily.

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Artesian

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A well in which the water rises above the level where it was initially encountered.

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Geyser

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A fountain of hot water ejected from the ground.

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Hot spring

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Concentration of heat in the mantle.

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Karst topography

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Consisting of sinkholes.

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Stalactite

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Icicle that hangs from the ceiling of a cavern

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Stalagmite

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grows upward from the floor of a cavern.

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Water table

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The upper level of the saturated zone of groundwater.

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Alpine glacier

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Valley glacier

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Crevasse

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A deep crack in the surface of a glacier.

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Glacial Budget

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The balance (or lack of) between accumulation at the upper end of a glacier and loss at the other end.

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Ground moraine

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Layer of till deposited as the ice front retreats.

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Pluvial lake

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Formed during a period of increased rainfall.

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valley glacier

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Glacier confined to a mountain valley.

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Ice shelf

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large relatively flat masses of floating ice that extend seaward from the coast but remain attached to land along one or more sides.

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abrasion

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Grinding and scraping of a rock surface

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Barchan dune

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Solitary sand dune shaped like a downward pointing crescent.

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desert

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One of the two types of dry climate (the drier).

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Loess

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Deposits of windblown silt lacking visible layers. Capable of maintaining a nearly vertical cliff.

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Barrier Island

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Elongated ridge of sand that parallels the coast.

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Breakwater

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Structure to protect nearshore areas from breaking waves.

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Tidal flats

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Areas affected by alternating tidal currents.

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Wavelength

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The horizontal distance separating successive crests or troughs.

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Wave height

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The vertical distance between trough and crest of a wave.

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Wave period

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The time interval between the passage of successive crests at a stationary point.

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Aftershock

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Smaller earthquake after a large one.

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Foreshock

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Small earthquakes before a big one.

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Seismic sea wave

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Seismic sea wave. Generated by earthquake activity and dangerous.

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Richter scale

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A scale of Earthquake magnitude based on the motion of a seismograph.

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Intensity

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A measure of the degree of earthquake shaking at a given locale based on the amount of damage.

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Cenozoic

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about 65 million years ago it began. Follows Mesozoic era.

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Half-life

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Time required for one half of the atoms of a radioactive substance to decay.

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Paleozoic

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From 540-248 million years ago. Between Precambrian and Mesozoic.

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Precambiran

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All geologic time prior to the Paleozoic era.

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Mesozoic

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between Paleozoic and Cenozoic. From 248-65 million years ago.

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Transform fault

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A major strike-slip fault that cuts through the lithosphere and accommodates motion between two plates.

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Dip-slip fault

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A fault in which the movement is parallel to the dip of the fault.

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Reverse fault-

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A fault in which the material above the fault plane moves up in relation to the material below.

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Rift zone

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A region of Earth's crust along which divergence is taking place.

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Continental rise

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The gently sloping surface at the base of the continental slope.

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Continental shelf

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Gently sloping submerged portion of the continental margin. From shoreline to continental slope.

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Continental Slope

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Steep gradient that leads to the deep-ocean floor and marks the seaward edge of the continental shelf.