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41 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Geology |
science of the Earth; study of materials, processes, products and history of the Earth |
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geoscientists |
study the whole earth system - all parts of planet and their interactions |
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geophysics |
prediction of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, petroleum exploration etc |
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hydogeology |
*exploring groundwater reserve and managing drinking water supplies |
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mineralogy |
investigating the composition of minerals in rocks |
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structural geology (4) |
plate tectonics, mapping, petroleum exploration, ore deposits, |
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geochemistry (4) |
assessment of soil contamination, pollution, mineral exploration, climate change |
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paleontology |
*history of life and ancient life; change through time |
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geoscientists need (5) |
1. strong background in physics, chem, math, bio, commsci 2. solid knowledge of geological language 3. logical thinking 4. understanding of spatial and temporal scales 5. communication |
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spatial scales (3) a) atom b) mineral c) rock d) mountain e) continent f) earth |
a) fraction of mm b) mm to cm c) cm to m d) >1000 m e) 100 - 1000 km f) radius = 6370 km |
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times scales a) age of earth b) atlantic to open c) rocky mountains d) humans e) glaciation f) Mt St. Helens g) earthquakes |
a) 4.6 billion b) 200 million c) 60 million d) 2 million e) 10 thousand f) 6 min g) seconds |
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stars and galaxies |
immense balls of incandescent gas, binded by gravity into galaxies (>100 billion), solar system arm of Milky Way |
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nature of our solar sytem (4 entities) |
- sun = 99.8% of solar mass - planets - moons - asteroids (belt between Mars and Jupiter) |
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planet |
large solid body orbiting a star, spherical, cleared neighbourhood of objects |
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moon |
solid body orbiting a planet. all planets but Mercury and Venus have moons |
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2 types of planets |
terrestrial and giants |
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terrestrial planets |
small, dense, rocky, closest to sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) |
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giant planets |
large, low density, outermost orbit , gas (jupiter, saturn) or ice (uranus, neptune) |
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Earth system |
- interaction of components - atmosphere (gaseous envelope), hydrosphere (blue liquid water), biosphere (life), lithosphere (solid earth) |
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internal and external processes fueled by ? |
internal - radioactive decay, external - sunlight |
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atmosphere components (3) |
nitrogen (78.08%) and oxygen (20.95%), other (0.7%)
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sea level atmospheric pressure |
14.7 psi |
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with increasing elevation |
pressure decreases, density decreases, oxygen content decreases |
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Earth's surface components (2) |
land (30%) and water (70%) |
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topography |
land, defines plains, mountains, valleys |
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bathymetry |
sea floor variations, defines mid-ocean ridges, abyssal plains, deep-ocean trenches |
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what is earth made of? (5) |
- iron (32.1%) - oxygen (30.1%) - silicon (15.1%) - magnesium (13.9%) - other (8.8%) |
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minerals |
naturally occuring crystalline solid |
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glasses |
non crystalline solids, form by rapid cooling too fast for crystal growth |
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rocks (+3 types) |
-aggregates of minerals - igneous - cooled from liquid - sedimentary - debris cemented from preexisting rock - metamorphic - altered by T and P |
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sediment |
accumulation of loose mineral grains, weathered and eroded from rocks, precipitated |
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metals |
solids composed on metal atoms, high density, conduct electricity |
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melts |
rocks that have been heated to a liquid, magma, lava |
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volatiles |
materials that turn into gas at the surface, released from volcanic eruptions |
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what is the key to understanding the Earth's interior and why |
density, average density of earth >> average density of surface rocks |
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crust |
- outermost skin (from 70 to 7 km) - base called the Moho where seismic celocity changes between crust and upper mantle - upper part of tectonic plate |
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crustal composition |
- oxygen most abundant - 98.5% is 8 elements |
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mantle (4) |
- 2885 km thick - 82% of earth's volume - convection mixes it and aids in plate motion - upper and lower |
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core (3) |
- iron rich - outer and inner - outer generates magnetic field |
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lithosphere (4) |
-outermost 100 to 150 km of earth - behaves rigidly - crust and upper mantle - makes tectonic plates |
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asthenosphere |
upper mantle below the lithosphere, flows as a soft solid |
