2 - GEOGRAPHY 2 > 3 - SOLID EARTH/LITHOSPHERE > Flashcards

3 - SOLID EARTH/LITHOSPHERE Flashcards

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1
Q

It includes all of space, and all the matter and energy that space contains.

A

Universe

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2
Q

the leading explanation about how the universe began.

A

Big Bang Theory

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3
Q

o The universe began about _____ years ago.

A

13.8 billion

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4
Q

a large group of stars, gas, and dust bound together by gravity.

A

Galaxy

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5
Q

the galaxy in which Earth resides.

A

Milky Way Galaxy

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6
Q

our Milky Way’s closest neighbor. The closest large galaxy to Earth, is 2.5 million light-years away.

A

Andromeda Galaxy

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7
Q

the distance light travels in one Earth year.

A

light-year

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8
Q
  • A star is formed as a cloud of dust and gas in space, called a ______, coalesces by mutual gravitational attraction and collapses.
A

nebula

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9
Q
  • As the mass of this _____ increases, its internal pressure and temperature rise through gravitational compression.
A

protostar

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10
Q

o Not all the dust and gas in a nebula coalesces into the growing star. It also coalesces into smaller bodies that are not massive enough to trigger _______, resulting in the formation of planets, asteroids, and other objects.

A

nuclear fusion

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11
Q

o Our solar system and everything in it, including Earth, is formed from the coalescence of dust and gas about ____ years ago.

A

4.6 billion

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12
Q

a giant cloud of dust and gas in space.

A

nebula

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13
Q

the second stage of a newborn star in a nebula.

A

protostar

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14
Q

made up of the sun and everything that orbits around it, including planets, moons, asteroids, comets and meteoroids.

A

solar system

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15
Q

the star around which Earth and the other components of the solar system revolve.

A
  • Sun
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16
Q
  • The Sun is ____ the mass of Earth. The mass of the Sun exerts a strong gravitational pull that keeps the planets locked in their respective orbits along a flat plane.
A

333,000 times

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17
Q

Science of the solid Earth.

A

GEOLOGY

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18
Q

organization of Earth history into major units of eons, eras, and periods.

A
  • Geologic Time Scale
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18
Q

organization of Earth history into major units of eons, eras, and periods.

A
  • Geologic Time Scale
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19
Q

The ______ marks the beginning of widespread life on Earth.

A

Cambrian period

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20
Q

ü Largest unit of geologic time.
ü Including hundreds of millions of years; subdivided into eras.

A

Eon

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21
Q

ü Major unit of geologic time.
ü Tens or hundreds of millions of years in length; subdivided into periods.

A

Era

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22
Q

ü Unit of geologic time.
ü About tens of millions of years in length; subdivided into epochs

A

Period

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23
Q

The name given for the first super eon of Earth’s history.

Lasted from the first formation of the planet (about 4.6 billion years ago)

A

Precambrian

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24
PRECAMBRIAN’S THREE EONS
Hadean Eon Archean Eon Proterozoic Eon
25
Earth’s initial formation
Hadean Eon
26
Formation of Earth’s crust
Archean Eon
27
Multicellular life
Proterozoic Eon
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The eon of visible life.
Phanerozoic
29
ERA
Paleozoic Mesozoic Cenozoic
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Old life Includes early land plants, insects, reptiles, and amphibians
Paleozoic
30
Old life Includes early land plants, insects, reptiles, and amphibians
Paleozoic
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Middle life Dominated by the dinosaurs.
Mesozoic
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Recent life Plants and animals look most like those on Earth today.
Cenozoic
33
Tertiary Period
Paleogene Period Neogene Period Quaternary Period
34
The beginning of the Cenozoic era - dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and giant marine reptiles were conspicuously absent from the face of the Earth.
Paleogene Period
35
______ means “new born” - Mountains rose, and sea levels fell. The climate cooled and dried.
Neogene Period
36
Characterized by the expansion and contraction of ice sheets in predictable cycles.
Quaternary Period
37
unit of geologic time up to tens of millions of years in length; a subdivision of the period time unit.
Epoch
38
EPOCH
Pleistocene Epoch Holocene Epoch Anthropocene Epoch
39
The Ice Age Epoch of the Cenozoic Era
Pleistocene Epoch
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Time since the end of the last major glacial epoch. The _____ has been a relatively warm period in between ice ages.
Holocene Epoch
41
An unofficial unit of geologic time, used to describe the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems.
Anthropocene Epoch
42
Three major compositional layers of the Earth:
Core Mantle Crust
43
Spherical central mass of the Earth. It composed largely of iron and consisting of an outer liquid zone and an interior solid zone.
1. Core
44
The inner part of the Earth’s core. consists of solid iron and nickel.
o Inner Core
45
The outer part of the Earth’s core. consists of molten iron and nickel.
o Outer Core
46
Rock layer or shell of the Earth beneath the crust and surrounding the core. It composed of ultramafic igneous rock of silicate mineral composition.
2. Mantle
47
Outermost solid shell or layer of the Earth. It composed largely of silicate minerals.
3. Crust
48
The Structure of the Earth
Lithosphere Continental Crust Oceanic Crust Mohorovicic discontinuity or Moho Asthenosphere Seismic Waves
49
The outer, solid part of Earth.
Lithosphere
50
Granitic part of the Earth’s crust that makes up the continents.
Continental Crust
51
Basaltic part of the Earth’s crust that makes up the ocean basins.
Oceanic Crust
52
The boundary that separates the crust from the lithospheric mantle; seismic waves change speed at this boundary.
Mohorovicic discontinuity or Moho
53
The layer of very soft rock that occurs in the upper part of the upper mantle.
Asthenosphere
54
Vibrations that travel through the Earth when stress is released in an earthquake.
Seismic Waves
55
FORCES OF GEOLOGIC CHANGE
Endogenic Processes Exogenic Processes
56
Internal Earth processes, such as tectonics and volcanism, that create landforms.
* Endogenic Processes
57
landform-making processes active at the Earth’s surface, such as erosion by water, waves and currents, glacial ice, and wind.
Exogenic Processes
58
the body of knowledge about lithospheric plates and their motions.
* Plate tectonics
59
a sudden shaking of the ground caused by movements of Earth’s crust.
* Earthquake
60
a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock.
Fault
61
the point on the Earth’s surface that lies directly over the focus of an earthquake.
* Epicenter
62
TYPES OF FAULTS
Normal Fault Reverse Fault Strike-slip Fault Overthrust Fold
63
A steeply inclined fault in which the hanging rock block moves relatively downward.
Normal Fault
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A steeply inclined fault in which the hanging rock block moves relatively upward.
Reverse Fault
65
A structural fault along which two lithospheric plates or rock blocks move horizontally in opposite directions and parallel to the fault line.
Strike-slip Fault
66
A structural feature where one part of the rock mass is shoved up and over the other.
Overthrust Fold
67
happen when lava and gas are discharged from a volcanic vent.
Volcanic eruptions
68
Hot molten rock that spills onto the surface of Earth’s crust.
* Lava
69
Melted rock that is below the surface of Earth’s crust.
* Magma
70
are long, narrow depressions on the seafloor.
* Ocean trenches
71
deepest of the world's deep-sea trenches.
* Mariana Trench (Marianas Trench)
72
a path along the Pacific Ocean characterized by active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
The Ring of Fire
73
o Also referred to as the Circum-Pacific Belt.
The Ring of Fire
74
A large ocean wave triggered by an earthquake or other natural disturbance.
* Tsunami
75
The amount of energy released by an earthquake.
* Magnitude
76
naturally occurring, inorganic substances, often with a crystalline structure; they are largely composed of oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium.
* Minerals
77
are naturally occurring assemblages of minerals.
* Rocks
78
Rocks' three major classes:
Igneous rocks Sedimentary rocks Metamorphic rocks
79
are largely composed of silicate minerals. ex: Basalt
o Igneous rocks
80
are formed in layers, or strata, composed of transported rock fragments called sediment. ex: coal
o Sedimentary rocks
81
are formed when igneous or sedimentary rocks are exposed to heat and pressure. ex: marble
o Metamorphic rocks
82
natural feature, such as a hill or valley, on the surface of Earth.
* Landform
83
large landforms that rise high above surrounding terrain and usually form sharp peaks.
* Mountains
84
large, flat pieces of land with no drastic changes in elevation.
* Plains
85
an elevated piece of land that, unlike a mountain, is flat.
* Plateau
86
elevated sections of land with notable summits that are lower and less steep than mountains.
* Hills
87
a theory proposed by Alfred Wegener stating that continents move slowly across Earth’s surface.
* Continental Drift
88
the hypothetical supercontinent, composed of all the present continents, that existed between 300 and 200 million years ago.
* Pangaea
2 - GEOGRAPHY 2
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