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90 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back

How is Earth a system?

The Earth system is all of the matter, energy, and processed within Earth’s boundary.

Crust

The crust is the thin, rigid outermost layer of the earth

Mantle

The mantle is the hot layer of rock between Earth’s crust and core. The mantle is denser that the Earth’s Crust

Core

The core is Earth’s center. The core is about twice as dense as the mantle.

Hydrosphere

The portion of Earth that is water

Cryosphere

Those portions of Earth's surface where water occurs in a solid form

Atmosphere

A mixture of gases that surrounds a planet, moon or other celestial body

Biosphere

The part of Earth where life exists includes all of the living organisms on Earth

Matter

Anything that has mass and takes up space

Energy

Capacity to do work

How is matter moved through the spheres?

When the states of matter change (example: 3 states of water)

How is energy exchanged between the spheres?

Passed from the sun down to other organisms and so on (example: sun to plants to animals that eat plants to animals that eat animals OR sun to plants and then plants give off gases that go into the atmosphere)

What is the source of Earth's energy?

The sun

What can disturb Earth's energy budget?

An increase in greenhouse gases AND a decrease in polar ice caps

What is weathering?

The breakdown of rock material by physical and chemical processes

What are examples of physical weathering?

Temperature change, pressure change, animal action, wind, water and gravity, plant growth

What are examples of chemical weathering?

Reactions with oxygen, reactions with acid precipitation, reactions with acids in ground water, reactions with acids in living things

Erosion

The process by which sediment and other materials are moved from one place to another

Deposition

The process by which eroded material is dropped

Factors that control streams ability to erode material

Gradient, load, discharge

What are landforms created by streams and rivers?

canyons and valleys by erosion, floodplains by deposition, deltas and alluvial fans by deposition

What are landforms are made by groundwater erosion?

Caves, stalactites, stalagmites, sinkholes

What are forces that create a shoreline?

Waves and currents

What coastal landforms are made by erosion?

Sea cliff, sea caves, sea arches, sea stacks

What coastal landforms are made by deposition?

Beaches, sandbars, barrier islands

What are examples of land forms made by the wind?

Abraded rock, desert pavement, dunes, loess

Glacier

A big piece of ice that moves in the ocean

Glacial Drift

All the material carried and deposited by a glacier

Alpine glaciers

A glacier that forms in a mountainous area

What are examples of Alpine Glaciers?

Arete, Cirque, Horn, and U-Shaped Valley

Continental Glaciers

Thick sheets of ice that may spread over large areas

What are examples of continental glaciers?

Erratics, kettle lakes

Slow mass movement via gravity

Creep

Rapid mass movement

Rockfall, landslide, mudflow

Soil

A loose mixture of small rock fragments, organic matter, water and air that support the growth of vegetation

How is soil formed?

Weathering of parent rock and decomposition and mixing of living thing, or humus

What are factors that determine how long it takes to form soil?

Rock type, climate, topography, plants and animals

Soil Profile

A vertical section of soil that shows all the different layers

Soil Horizon

Each layer in the soil profile that has different physical properties

Soil Properties

Texture, color, chemistry, pore space, fertility

What are earth's chemical compositional layers?

crust, mantle, core

What is the cause of movement of the mantle?

Convection

What are Earth's physical layers?

Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Mesosphere, Outer Core, Inner Core

Lithosphere

The solid, outer layer of Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle

Asthenosphere

The soft later of the mantle which the tectonic plates move

Mesosphere

The strong, lower part of the mantle between the asthenosphere and the other core

Continental Drift Theory

Continents used to be all connected, it was known as Pangea and then the continents separated because of plate tectonics. First known by Alfred Wegner.

What is evidence of Pangea?

Fossils, mountain ranges, same rock types, evidence of similar glacier activity and similar ancient climates

Plate Tectonics

Describes large-scale movements of Earth's lithosphere

Tectonic Plates

Plates that moe around on top of the asthenosphere

Evidence for Tectonic Plate Theory

Mid-ocean ridges and sea floor spreading and ocean trenches

What is a result of mid-ocean ranges?

Sea floor spreading and new crust

Plate boundaries

Where tectonic plates meet

What are the three types of plate boundaries?

Convergent (come together), Divergent (come apart), Transform (slide by each other)

What are types of plate movements?

Mantle convection, ridge push, slab pull

What is stress?

The amount of force per unit area that is placed on an object

Deformation

The process by which they change shape when under stress

Folds

When rock layers bend udders stress

How to folds form?

Deformation

What are types of folds?

Syncline (when the folds are the top) and Anticlines (when the folds are at the bottom)

Faults

A crack that forms when large blocks of rock break and move past each other

Hanging wall

The block above the fault plane

Footwall

The block below the fault plane



Strike-Slip Faults

the fault blocks move past each other horizontally, it is caused by shear stress (parallel but opposite directions)

Normal faults

caused by tension, rock is pulled apart

Reverse faults

caused by compression, when two rocks go against each other and one moves up and one moves down

Three types of mountains

Folded, Volcanic and Fault-Block

Volcano

Any place where gas, ash, or melted rock come out of the ground

Magma

Melted rock below the crust

Lava

Magma that has reached the Earth's Surface

Vent

The opening of a volcano

Types of volcanos

Shield volcanos, Cinder Cones, and Composite Volcanos

Fissure

The giant crack lava flows out from

Lava Plateaus

Flattened are of cooled lava

Crater

An opening or depression at the top of a volcano

Calderas

Entire area of volcano sinks down

Where of volcanoes form?

At divergent boundaries. at convergent boundaries, at hot spots

Earthquake

Ground movement

Focus

The place within Earth along a fault at which the first piton of an earthquake occurs

Epicenter

Directly above the focus on Earth's surface is the epicenter

Seismic Waves

Waves created by an Earthquake and they start at the focus

What causes an earthquake?

Elastic deformation and elastic rebound

Elastic Deformation

Rock is put under a lot of pressure

Elastic Rebound

The return of rock to its original shape after elastic deformation

Where do earthquakes happen?

At divergent boundaries, at convergent boundaries and at transform boundaries

What are the effects of earthquakes?

Danger to people and structure, tsunamis

Classes of Rock

Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic

Igneous rock

rock that forms when magma cools and solidifies

Sedimentary rock

rock that forms from compressed or cemented laters of sediment

Metamorphic rock

rock that forms from other rocks as a result of intense heat, pressure or chemical reaction