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109 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
- 3rd side (hint)
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List some of the ways that geology is expressed in NorthAmerica.
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Tropical rain forests in Mexico, mountains in Canada, lakes, grassy plains, deserts, volcanos |
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Sketch or list some ways that geology controls where it issafe to live.
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Faultlines=earthquakes, volcanoes=eruptions, mountains=landslides, rivers=floods, whether the soil is good or bad to build on
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Explain how geology influences the distribution of naturalresources. |
West Coast has Copper Mines because of our mountains, EastCoast has Iron Mines because of lakes |
West Coast mines vs. East Coast Mines |
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Explainwhy different regions have different landscape features. |
Planet divided into continents and oceans, differ inthickness and the rocks they have. Continents vary in elevation; oceans differin depth. |
Oceans and Continents |
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Describe some things we can learn about Earth’s past byobserving its landscapes,rocks, and fossils. |
How animals lived, where glaciers used to be, what theenvironment used to be like by studying rocks found near dinosaur fossils |
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Major layers of Earth |
Continental Crust-->OceanicCrust-->Mantle(Upper then Lower)-->OuterCore-->InnerCore |
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Differences in thickness between continental crust and oceaniccrust, and contrast lithosphere and asthenosphere. |
Continental crust is thin, similar to granite but Oceaniccrust is thinner! Lithosphere is rigid and made of the upper mantle and crust. Asthenosphereis a soft weak zone, hotter than Lithosphere |
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How the principle of isostasy can explain differences inregionalelevation. |
The thicknesses of the crust ride on the mantle. Thickercrusts=higher elevation while thinner crusts=lower elevation |
Thicker vs. Thinner Crusts |
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Describe the different kinds of energy that impact Earthfrom the outside, and whateffects they have on our planet. |
Sun and moon have gravitational effects on Earth, Electromagnetic activity drives wind, temperatures and other processes on Earth |
Sun, Moon, Electromagnetic Activity do what? |
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Listthe different kinds of energy that arise within Earth’s interior and explaintheir origins. |
Heat energy from when Earth first formed, plus radioactivedecay |
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Explain how Earth’s surface and atmosphere interact with solar energy. |
Suns sends ultraviolet radiation, absorbed by Earthatmosphere, warms the planet. Heating of the atmosphere, land, and oceanscauses wind |
How is the planet warmed? What does the warming cause? |
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Four families of rocks and describe howeach type forms. |
Igneous: formed from cooled magma, Sedimentary: loosesediment from moving water, Metamorphic: pre-existing rocks changed by heat and pressure, Hydrothermal:precipitation from hot water |
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For each family ofrocks, describe two settings where such rocks form and theprocesses that take place in each setting. |
Sedimentary: mountains, rivers. Igneous: above or belowearth’s surface. Metamorphic: volcanoes, beneath Earth’s crust. Hydrothermal:hot springs, anywhere with hot water. |
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“the present is the key to the past” and howit is used tointerpret the origin of rocks and sediment. |
Uniformitarianism: what is happening today happened in thepast. Look at rocks today and able to tell how it was before. |
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Sketch a simple version of the rock cycle, labeling andexplaining in your own words thekey processes. |
Weathering: rock broken down-->Erosion and Transport: rockloosened and transported-->Deposition: deposited somewhere else-->Burial andLithification: buried and slowly turns into a rock from underground chemicals-->Deformation and Metamorphism: squeezed by underground pressures and turnedinto a metamorphic rock-->Melting: rock melts at great depths-->Solidification:cools and solidifies-->Uplift: back to the surface |
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Major ways that water moves on, under, and aboveEarth’s surface. |
Water flows onEarth by rainfall and erodes things. Water can sink below ground and chemically interact w/ rocks. Water evaporates above and into the sky and rains back down. |
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Explain how moving water, ice, and wind can shape theEarth’s surface. |
Moving water erodes. Glaciers made of ice can carve the landand deposit sediments where it melts. Winds causes waves, waves erode and makeshorelines. |
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Explain Earth’s four spheres, especially what characterizeseach sphere andhow they interact. |
Atmosphere: Earth’s air, clouds, etc. Biosphere: the land, Hydrosphere: oceans and other water, Lithosphere: upper part of the Earth and crust |
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Describe how life, the atmosphere, and landscapes are connected. |
Life can exist on the land and above in the sky. Can go from the biosphere into the atmosphere, or below into the hydrosphere. |
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View of the solar system, from the Sun outward to Jupiter. |
Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Earth, Mars, Jupiter |
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Summarize how the outer planets are different from the inner planets. |
Outer planets are gas giants. Lots of gas and very big. |
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Rapid City and explain how geology affects thislandscape. |
Rapid City is on a mountain front, some parts in the foothills and some in the plains. Some parts are near the creek. Mountain ridges divide the city in half. |
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Identify and explain ways that geology affects the people of Rapid City. |
Erosion of rocks, landslides, floods |
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Describe the events that led to the Rapid City flood and explain why there was so muchdamage. |
Wind pushed moist air up Black Hills. Caused severe thunderstorm which dropped a lot of rain. Rain breached dam, which then flowed down the creek. Homes built to close to the creek and in low areas got flooded. |
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Describe the geologic mystery for the Mediterranean and evidence that led to itsdiscovery. |
There were layers of salt at the bottom. Did a test and found out seawater from the Atlantic would spill into the Mediterranean and then evaporate, leaving layers of salt at the bottom. |
Salt |
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Describethe overall philosophy used to infer the environment in which a rock formed. |
Compare the rock to another rock in a modern environment to see which one it fits in. |
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Trading location for time |
Using different parts of a landscape to represent different stages of evolution of the landscape |
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four principles used to determine the relative ages of rocksandgeologic features. |
1. Youngest layer on top, Oldest on Bottom. 2. A geologic feature is younger than a rock it crosscuts. 3. A younger rock can include pieces of an older rock. 4. A younger magma can bake an older rock |
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four types of maps |
Shaded-relief: emphasizes the shape of the land. Topographic: shows elevation. Satellite Image: Computer processed image. Geologic Map: shows rocks and geologic features |
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Describe what contours on a topographic map represent and how contour spacingindicates the steepness of a slope. |
Each contour follows a specific elevation. Contour lines close together represent more steepness. Contour lines apart represent less steepness. |
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Briefly describe what a geologic map shows, using the area around SP Crater as anexample. |
Shows rocks and geologic features. Colors represent lava flow of the SP Crater, Fault lines, Scoria Cones, etc. |
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describe what we mean by elevation, depth, relief, and slope |
Elevation: height. Depth: deepness below sea level. Relief: difference of elevation between two geologic features. Slope: Cliffs that drop sharply are referred to as steep slopes. |
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describe the types of diagrams geologists use to represent subsurfacegeology and the sequence of rock units. |
Block Diagram: portrays land in three dimensions. Cross section: shows geology as two dimensional. Stratigraphic Section: shows rock units stacked on each other. Evolutionary: Block diagrams, cross sections, or maps that show the history of an area through steps |
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Explain how qualitative data differ from quantitative data. |
Qualitative: simple description. Quantitative: measurements |
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Describe several types of quantitative data that geologists use. |
Orientation, Surface features, Gas composition, Water flow and Chemistry. |
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Describe what density is, how it is calculated, and how it differs from weight. |
Density: mass present in a given volume. Density=mass/volume. Weight is downward force an object exerts under gravity. |
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Calculate a rate and give an example of how a rate is calculated. |
Distance divided by Time, Use millimeters per year or centimeters peryear |
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List the four main chapters of Earth history, from oldest to youngest, showing whichchapter is longest and which one is shortest. |
Precambrian(Oldest)-->Palezoic-->Mesozoic-->Cenozoic Currently living in the Quarternary period. |
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Discuss the geologic timescale and the kinds of data that were used to construct it. |
Age periods in which fossils were found. Named for the places where they were discovered |
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Explain what observations are and how they become valid. |
Analyzing our environments. Repeat measurements and compare values to test validity. |
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Describe how data differ from an interpretation, and provide one example of each. |
Data is just information, facts. Interpretation is explaining the data. |
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Summarize how data and interpretations lead to new explanations. |
If we analyze the data, it may lead to the confirmation of old ideas. Or might point out the need for new interpretations. |
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Describe how a series of observations led to an explanation for regional and localprocesses at Yellowstone. |
Geologists conducted a land survey. Compared land survey to one done in 1920. Concluded that changes in elevation was the cause for processes in Yellowstone. |
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Explain the logical steps taken to evaluate an explanation. |
Observation-->Question-->Explanation-->Results-->Conclusions |
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Describe how a hypothesis becomes an established theory. |
Has to be tested, investigated, and experimented many times. |
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Describe what causes changes in scientific understandings, and discuss why scientificexplanations are never proven to be “true.” |
New data is introduced and can prove past theories wrong. There are no final answers because new data can prove things wrong
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Describe observations Wegener used to support continental drift.
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Some continents appeared to fit together.
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Discuss why the hypothesis was not widely accepted.
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Most people hadn’t seen the data themselves. Wegener could not explain how the continents
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List some discoveries about the seafloor that brought a renewed interest in the idea ofcontinental drift.
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Discovered submarine mountain belts. Proposed the oceanic crust was spreading apart at the mountain belts, carrying the continents apart. Seafloor Spreading.
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Continents and Oceans of Earth |
North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica. Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Artic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean
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Describe how the distribution of volcanoes corresponds to that of earthquakes.
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They occur in belts on land and in the ocean.
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Describe plate tectonics and how it explains the distribution of tectonic activity.
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Earthquakes, volcanoes and other things that deform the crust are part of tectonic activity. Most tectonic activity are near plate boundaries.
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three types of plate boundaries
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Divergent=moving away, Convergent+moving together, Transform=sliding up against each other
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Compare the three types of plate boundaries with the distributions of earthquakes,volcanoes, mountain belts, mid-ocean ridges, and ocean trenches.
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Convergent=earthquakes and volcanoes, Divergent=oceans, Transform=volcanoes in land/ocean
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explain the features and processes associated with ocean-oceanand ocean-continent convergent boundaries. |
Ocean-ocean: One plate bends and slides beneath the other plate at an incline
Ocean-Continent: Oceanic plate subducts beneath the more buoyant continental plate. |
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Continent-Continent Convergent Boundary |
Two continents converge. A large plate that is half oceanic half continental collides with another continent. The oceanic half goes under.
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explain the driving forces of plate tectonics.
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Slab Pull: plate being subducted moves faster than one that is not being subducted. Ridge Push: gravity causes a plate to slide away from a ridge, Mantle Convection: hot magma rises, can convect and help or hinder plates
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Explain the relationship between rocks, minerals, and chemical elements.
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Rocks are made naturally, minerals are made up of two chemical elements.
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Explain each characteristic that a material must have to be a mineral, listing anexample that is a mineral and an example that is not.
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Natural, Inorganic, Solid, Ordered Internal Structure, Specific Chemical Composition ex: calcite is a mineral, obsidian is not
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Explain the difference between a mineral in a vitamin pill and a geologic mineral.
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Mineral refers to a chemical element in a vitamin pill. In a geologic mineral, there are multiple chemical elements
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Explain the difference between a clastic rock and a crystalline rock and thedifferences between the general environments in which clastic and crystalline rocksform.
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Crystalline rock has several types of minerals, forms in hot volcanic environments. Clastic rock includes other types of rocks, and is made in a sedimentary environment.
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Describe or sketch four general characteristics to observe in crystalline and clasticrocks.
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Types of Minerals, Sizes of Crystals or Clasts, Shapes of Crystals or Clasts, Layers or No Layers
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Explainthe properties of a mineral that can be observed without using a test.
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Hardness, Streak, Effervescence, Magnetism
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Describe how to test for hardness, streak, effervescence, and magnetism, density
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Hardness: touch it, Streak: rub against a plate, Effervescence: drop acid on it, Magnetism: put metal near it. Density: weigh it
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Mineral's specific gravity |
Ratio of a substance to the density of freshwater
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Moh's Hardness Scale |
10 common minerals ranked in order of hardness, from 1 to 10
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How to Determine Minerals from Another |
Crystal Form, Cleavage/No Cleavage, Color, Luster |
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three common ways in which atoms are arranged in a mineral.
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Cube, Tetrahedron, Octahedron
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Explain or sketch the relationship between cleavage and the arrangement andstrengths of bonds.
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Cleavage is based on the arrangement and strengths of bonds, because this is what allows crystals to break.
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Sketch and describe five types of cleavage.
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One direction, Two Perpendicular Directions, Two NonPerpendicular Directions, Three Perpendicular Directions, Three NonPerpendicular Direction
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Periodic Table |
Metals first, transition next, nonmetals third, noble gases fourth.
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List the major classes of minerals and discuss the main chemical characteristic ofeach class.
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Silicates: contain silicon and oxygen, each atom is only bonded to oxygen, Carbonates: carbon and oxygen bonded in triangular arrangement, Oxides: oxygen bonded with a metal, Halides: chlorine/fluorine(nonmetals) bonded with metals, Sulfates: sulfur-oxygen units are bonded to a metal, Sulfides: sulfur bonded with a nonmetal, Native Minerals: contain only a single element
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SCOHSSNM |
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Explain the differences between silicon, silica, and silicone.
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Silicon is an element of the periodic table. Silica is a compound. Silicone is a synthetic material.
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Describe the main light- and dark-colored silicate minerals, including their generalcharacteristics, such as cleavage and main elements.
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Light minerals: transparent, hard, does not cleave. Dark: Long crystals, cleavage,
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Discuss the characteristics of clay minerals and how they form.
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Sheet silicate structure, weak bonds, slippery. Form by weathering or rocks on the surface
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Discuss the key chemical constituents for each of the five nonsilicate mineral groups.
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Carbonates: carbon oxygen combo. Oxides: Bonded with iron. Sulfides: sulfide w/ iron. Salt: metallic element |
COSS |
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Identify the most common class of mineral in the crust, mantle, and inner core. |
Silicates |
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List the three most abundant elements in the crust and in Earth as a whole, andexplain why silicate minerals are so abundant in the crust and mantle.
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Silicate materials contain silicon and oxygen which is whythey are common.
Silicon, Magnesium, Oxygen |
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Describe the relationships between a mineral and the elements of which it iscomposed.
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Minerals are composed of elements, and retains the characteristic of those elements.
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Explain the different types of bonds and how electrons cause each type.
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Covalent: sharing an electron. Ionic: Loan an electron. Metallic: sharing electrons between many atoms. Intermolecular: molecule to molecule
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Explain how the Periodic Table helps predict which kind of bond will form, andprovide a mineral example of each kind of bond.
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Group similar attracting elements together. Covalent: Diamond, Ionic: Halite, Metallic: Gold, Intermolecular: Water ice
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Sketch a water molecule and illustrate why it has polarity.
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Oxygen as head, Hydrogen as ears. Oxygen attracts a lot of electrons= polarity.
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Mickey Mouse!
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Describe the properties of water that are attributable to polarity and those that areattributable to hydrogen bonding
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Can freeze, solid form less dense than liquid form. Able to dissolve things due to polarity. Viscosity, Surface tension is due to hydrogen bonding.
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Describe why ice is less dense than water and why this is important.
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The hydrogen bonds formed are weaker in ice and more far apart, which is why it is less dense.
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Sketch or describe the various textures displayed by igneous rocks.
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Crystals or no crystals, fine grained, coarse grained, medium grained
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Sketch and describe how igneous rocks are classified
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Chemical composition, Mineral content, dark minerals, light minerals
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List the main characteristics of obsidian, pumice, scoria, tuff, breccias, andpegmatite, and indicate where each of these rock types fits into an igneousclassification system based on composition.
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Obsidian: shiny. Tuff: volcanic ash. Pumice: holes, volcanic. Scoria: holes, volcanic. Breccia: mix, fragmental rock. Felsic: Granite, Pumice, Tuff, Breccia. Mafic: Gabbro.
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Describe alpha decay and how radioactivity heats Earth.
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Alpha decay an unstable atom releases particles that impact heat around it. Radioactive decay heats inside of Earth.
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Describe three ways that heat is transferred from a warmer mass to a cooler one andan example of conduction and convection by plate tectonics.
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Conduction: heat transfer by direct contact. Radiant Heat Transfer: Heating from far away. Convection: water on the bottom gets hot first, rises, cools and goes back down the sides
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Discuss factors that influence how far a magma rises toward the surface.
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Pressure, density of the magma, stress present in the tectonic plates
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Explain the factors that control the viscosity of a magma.
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Temperature, composition, crystal content
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Describe what factors might be combined to form very high-viscosity magma or verylow-viscosity magma.
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Low temp: high viscoty. High temp: low viscotiy
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Sketch or explain a mantle plume and its magmatic expression in both oceanic andcontinental plates.
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Rising plume of hot material, form hot spots in ocean and continents
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Sketch the different geometries of large magma chambers and summarize howthese are expressed in the landscape.
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Irregular Plutons: steep cylinder. Sheetlike: sheet underground. Batholiths: tall column
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Sketch the difference between a dike and a sill, and explain why each has theorientation that it does.
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Dike: sheetlike intrusion, magma pushes apart rocks horizontally. Sill: parallel intrusion, magma just stays flat
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Sketch or discuss the geometry of a laccolith.
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Forms a sill, but inflates in a lump called a laccolith.
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Sketch and describe the four main types of volcanoes that construct hills andmountains.
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Scoria Cone: large popcorn, bubbling, Shield Volcanoes: shield, broadlike, Composite: most dangerous, explosions, Volcanic Dome: found within craters, circular shaped
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describe the relative sizes of different types of volcanoes.
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Volcanic Dome and Scoria Cone are the smallest. Composite next biggest, Shield Largest
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Describe four ways that magma erupts.
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Lava flow, domes, lava fountain, tephra
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Describe the difference between an eruption column and pyroclastic flow, and therole that gas plays in eruptive style.
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Eruption column formed from magma that is blown apart by gases, falls down to Earth as rock. Pyroclastic flow is when ash comes down the side as a dense cloud of ash and gas.
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Basaltic Flows |
cover large distances, begin at hot spots as rising mantle plumes |
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Explain how risk is different than hazard, and provide an example of each.
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Hazard is an existence of a potentially dangerous situation. A risk is an assessment of whether the hazard will have an impact.
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Describe the difference between hazards associated with scoria cones and hazardsassociated with basaltic flows.
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Scoria cones have falling objects, basaltic flows make buildings and vegetation catch fire
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Composite Volcanos |
Large size, eruption column, pyroclastic flows, lava flows and domes. Forms a rock called andesite, mudflows, ash, lava. Located on subduction zones on ocean-ocean or ocean-continent convergent boundaries
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Volcanic Dome |
rubbly appearance, can form by magma coming into interior or coming down the side and cooling. destroyed by collapsing in itself or exploding. Has breccia and tuff rocks |
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Caldera |
Large basin shaped circular depression in land. Forms by material exploding and falling back in itself |
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Summarize ways to assess the potential danger of a volcano based on itscharacteristics.
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Shape, Rock Type, Age and History
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Describe ways to identify which areas around a volcano have the highest potentialhazard.
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Proximity, Valleys, Wind Direction, Particulars
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Briefly summarize how active the Cascade volcanoes have been during the last4,000 years.
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Mt. St. Helens is the most active but so is Glacier Peak, Medicine Lake, Mount Shasta
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