Earth Science Exam 1

Front 1

Earth science

Back 1

-Study of the integrated earth systems

-Study of the components of and interactions between spheres

-Study if what interacts and how

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System

Back 2

Combination of related parts interacting in an organized fashion

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Geosphere

Back 3

The solid earth

Minerals, rocks, soil, land masses, structures, etc..

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Hydrosphere

Back 4

The liquid earth

Water, ice, marine and freshwater systems, major oceans and seas, etc..

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Atmosphere

Back 5

The gaseous earth

Air, water vapor, weather systems, climate, etc..

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Biosphere

Back 6

The living earth

Life, organic matter, the human environment, etc..

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Exosphere

Back 7

Beyond earth

Materials and forces outside of earth

Sometimes included as a component of earth, sometimes not

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Science

Back 8

Potential definitions:

-Observation, identification, description, investigation, and explanation of natural phenomena

-Process of exploration and discovery that increases our knowledge of the natural world

Science is restricted to the natural world

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Observations

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-The lowest level in the hierarchy for science

-Raw data; the building blocks for explaining natural phenomena

-Should be independently measured and confirmed by others

-Results should be replicated under the same experimental conditions

-Not all are reliable

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Hypotheses

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-Second level in science hierarchy

-Potential explanations for relationships within observed data

-Good science relies on repeatedly trying to prove hypotheses wrong

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Theories

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-Top level in science hierarchy

-Explanations that have withstood extensive testing and are overwhelmingly supported by all available evidence

-The highest level of scientific understanding; not guess or hunches

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The big bang

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All matter and space was originally in a dense, hot point. This event caused a rapid expansion of space, distributing matter. After the initial expansion, temperatures decreased again and matter began to condense and "clump."

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Pillar 1: Red shift

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Pillar of the big bang

-Deals with the behavior of waves

-As waves approach us, wavelengths shorten

-As waves move away, wavelengths become longer

-Also happen with light: closer waves=blue, farther waves=red

---Other galaxies move away from us and are red

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Pillar 2: Background cosmic radiation

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Pillar of the big bang

-Big bang predicted a large amount of radiation in "empty" space

-Perfectly matched the properties of radiation predicted decades earlier

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Pillar 3: Relative abundance of light and heavy elements

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Pillar of the big bang

-Big bang predicts that the universe should be dominated by light elements rather than heavy ones

-This is observed and there is no other explanations for the pattern

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Pillar 4: Observations of galaxy structure and composition

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Pillar of the big bang

-We see distant galaxies the way they were billions of years ago

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Criteria to be a planet

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-Orbit the sun (heliocentric orbit)

-Roughly spherical in shape

-Large enough to clear debris out of their orbit (Pluto was not large enough to do this)

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Terrestrial planets

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-Relatively close to the sun

-Relatively warm

-Relatively small

-Solid and rocky with an internal core

-Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

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Jovian planets

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-Relatively far from the sun

-Relatively cold

-Relatively large (gas giants)

-Gas dominated; little differentiation between core and crust

-Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

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Earth's moon

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-Orbits the earth

-Formed via collision between earth and large asteroid

-Responsibe for tides on earth

-Riddles with impact craters

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Nuclear fusion

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-Under the intense heat and pressure in the interior of stars, simple elements fuse together into more complex elements

-Hydrogens fuse together

-Source of energy for the sun and other starts

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Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)

Back 22

-Small bodies drawn by gravitational attraction to the sun into a position close to earth

-Asteroids, comets, and meteoroids

-Representatives of the exosphere

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Asteroids

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NEOs

-Small, irregular, rocky or metallic bodies that orbit the sun

-Found primarily in the inner solar system

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Comets

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NEOs

-Small, primarily icy bodies drawn toward the sun by gravitational attraction

-Have a coma: a tail that shoots off the back

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Short period comets

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-Orbits are less than 200 years

-Originate in the Kuiper Belt (basically a ring around the solar system)

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Long period comets

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-Orbits are longer than 200 years

-Originate in the Oort Cloud which is very distant from the sun

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Meteoroids

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NEOs

-Very small rocky and/or icy bodies in orbit around the sun

-Likely pieces of asteroids or comets

-Meteors if they vaporize in the atmosphere (shooting star/flash of light)

-Meteorites if they land on Earth's surface

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Impact hazards at the site of impact

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-Complete vaporization

-Ground zero for an explosion orders of magnitude larger than a nuclear blast

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Impact hazards near the site of impact

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-High pressure shockwaves

-Major earthquakes

-Massive tsunamis if near water

-Blocks of solid material are transported rapidly along the ground

-Ballistic ejecta

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Ballistic ejecta

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-Happens near the site of impact of an impact hazard

-Chunks of solid rock blasted into lower atmosphere and rain down from above

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Impact hazards far from the site of impact

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-Global wildfires produced by shockwave and ejection of molten material

-Global acid rain

-Massive amounts of fine dust into the atmosphere

-Molten material ejected from impact site rains down from above

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Simple craters

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Bowl-shaped depressions at the site of impact

Produced by small impacts

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Complex craters

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Structures with central uplifts and ring fractures

Produced by large impacts

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Inner core

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-Solid

-Composed of iron and nickel

-Most dense portion of the planet

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Outer core

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-Liquid

-Also composed of iron and nickel

-Slighly less dense than the inner core

-Flow of fluid metal produces a field of charged particles, flowing between two poles, that surrounds the planet: magnetic field

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Mantle

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-Solid but with local melting

-Less dense than core

-Largest component of Earth's volume

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Crust

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-Solid

-Very thin

-Very low density material

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Oceanic crust

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-Found on the floors of major ocean basins

-Denser than continental crust

-Thinner than continental crust

-Chemically similar to composition of mantle

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Continental crust

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-Found under large land masses

-Less dense than oceanic crust

-Thicker than oceanic crust

-Very different from chemical composition of mantle

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Lithosphere

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-Crust uppermost mantle welded together

-Solid and very rigid

-Divided into a series of thin blocks (plates)

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Asthenosphere

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-Rest of the mantle, beneath lithosphere

-Capped by local melting zones, which permits some flow

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Evidence considered for continental drift

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-Fit of continental margins

-Bedrock geology between continents

-Distribution of fossils

-Distribution of mountain belts of equal age

-Disrtribution of evidence for glaciation

-Evidence for specific climatic conditions

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Trenches

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-Sites where old lithosphere, specifically oceanic crust, is brought down into the Earth's interior

-The edge of one lithospheric plate where destruction of old crust is occurring to compensate for generation of new material at mid-ocean ridges

-The process at trenches is subduction

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Subduction

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-One tectonic plate moves under an adjacent plate and sinks into the interior of the Earth

-Oceanic crust sinks and continental crust floats

-Volcanoes are found just inland of trenches

-Deep earthquakes

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Divergent boundaries

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-Two adjacent plates move away from each other

-Associated with rifting

-Between 2 oceanic plates causes mid-ocean ridges

-Between 2 continental plates causes rift basins

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Convergent boundaries

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-Two adjacent plates move toward each other

-Associated with collision

-Responsible for the destruction of crust

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Convergent boundaries between two oceanic plates

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-Relatively rare

-The older oceanic plate is subducted under the younger one

-Produced trenches

-Produces volcanic island arcs

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Convergent boundaries between two continental plates

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-No trenches, no subduction, no volcanoes

-Shallow earthquakes

-Huge mountain ranges are pushed up

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Transform boundaries

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-Two adjacent plates slide alongside each other

-No subduction or collision, no trenches, no volcanoes, etc..

-Lots of shallow earthquakes

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Passive margins

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-Two adjacent plates "lock" and move together in the same direction

-No subduction occurs here