Section 3

Question 1

The layer of gases surrounding Earth and other planets

Answer 1

Atmosphere

Question 2

The densest layer of Earth’s atmosphere that extends from Earth’s surface to the altitude of about 8 km (at the poles) to 16 km (at the equator)

Answer 2

Troposphere

Question 3

The layer of Earth’s atmosphere that extends to about 50 km (30 mi) above the ground

Answer 3

Stratosphere

Question 4

The layer of Earth’s atmosphere that protects it from harmful sun radiation; ozone is a gas that forms when oxygen is exposed to ultraviolet light or electrical discharge

Answer 4

Ozone layer

Question 5

The layer of Earth’s atmosphere that extends to about 85 km (55 mi) above the ground

Answer 5

Mesosphere

Question 6

The layer of Earth’s atmosphere that stretches from about 500-600 km (300 mi to 375 mi) to 1000 km (620 mi) above the Earth’s surface

Answer 6

Thermosphere

Question 7

The layer of Earth’s atmosphere where the atmosphere thins out and merges with outer space

Answer 7

Exosphere

Question 8

The study of Earth’s structure and composition, as well as the processes that change Earth

Answer 8

Earth Science

Question 9

The gravitational force of attraction between any two objects is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the distance between them

Answer 9

Universal Law of Gravitation

Question 10

A process that occurs when hydrogen and other small nuclei fuse to form larger nuclei, releasing large amounts of energy in the process

Answer 10

Nuclear fusion

Question 11

A celestial body that is held together by its own gravity and that release visible light and other forms of radiant energy generated by nuclear fusion

Answer 11

Star

Question 12

A collection of hundreds of billions of stars that are clustered together by gravity

Answer 12

Galaxy

Question 13

When gravity causes one celestial body to move around another in a nearly circular path

Answer 13

Orbit

Question 14

The collection of objects that orbit a star

Answer 14

Solar System

Question 15

A large spherical object that orbits a star

Answer 15

Planet

Question 16

A naturally formed object that orbits a planet

Answer 16

Moon

Question 17

Ver small rocky bodies that orbit the sun

Answer 17

Asteroids

Question 18

Relatively small icy dusty bodies that travel around the sun in very elliptical orbits

Answer 18

Comets

Question 19

The imaginary line from the North Pole to the South Pole on which a planet rotates

Answer 19

Axis of rotation

Question 20

The o9utermost rocky shell at the surface of Earth

Answer 20

Crust

Question 21

The racky layer beneath the crust, and the thickest layer of the Earth

Answer 21

Mantle

Question 22

The metallic outside layer of Earth’s core that is mainly composed of hot iron in liquid state

Answer 22

Outer Core

Question 23

The metallic inside layer of Earth’s core that is composed of a solid ball of nickel-iron alloy under extreme pressure

Answer 23

Inner Core

Question 24

The alteration or breakdown of rock or soil

Answer 24

Weathering

Question 25

Weathering that is the result of mechanical processes such as changes in temperature or pressure

Answer 25

Physical weathering

Question 26

Weathering that is the result of chemical process or reactions that cause a rock's composition to change

Answer 26

Checmical weathering

Question 27

The process by which soil, sediment or rocks are added to the landform

Answer 27

Deposition

Question 28

The mechanism resonsible for the transportation or removal of material

Answer 28

Eroision

Question 29

A slowly moving mass of ice formed by the accumulation and compaction of snow

Answer 29

Glacier

Question 30

An example of the aeolian process requiring the same three basic elements for formation - large quantity of loose and unvegetated sand, wind and an obstacle

Answer 30

Sand dunes

Question 31

Curves in a river that form as the outer bank of a river erodes while the inner edge is deposited with sediment

Answer 31

Meanders

Question 32

Valleys produced by erosion that form when a river cuts down into the underlying bedrock in a steep V shape

Answer 32

River valleys

Question 33

A naturally occurring solid inorganic element or compound that is formed by natural processes, has a limited range of possible chemical composition and has a definite arrangement of atoms

Answer 33

Mineral

Question 34

A heterogeneous mixture of one or more minerals (heterogeneous refers to system or substance that is composed of dissimilar components that are not uniform throughout, different parts are visibly distinct and have different properties)

Answer 34

Rock

Question 35

Rocks made up of weathered particles such as sand, silt clay gravel cobbles or even occasionally boulders that have been cemented together into hard rock

Answer 35

Sedimentary rocks

Question 36

Rocks formed by lava or magma molten rock or lava cools quickly into rock when it erupts onto earth's susrface

Answer 36

Igneous rocks

Question 37

Rocks that have been changed from their original form and typically occur when a rock is partially buried and exposed to elevated temperatures and pressures that are not extreme enough to melt the rock completely

Answer 37

Metamorphic rocks

Question 38

The various processes that change rocks from one form to another

Answer 38

Rock Cycle

Question 39

A close approximation or direct analogy of the long term behavior of materials and processes found in a geologic feature

Answer 39

Analog

Question 40

A principle stating that in any sequence of underformed sedimentary rocks each bed is younger than the one below it and older than the one above it

Answer 40

principle of superposition

Question 41

A principle used to determine the relative ages of different rocks if a rock fault or other feature cuts through a rock layer, that rock layer must have been preexisting in order to have been cut through

Answer 41

Principle of crosscutting relationship

Question 42

A buried erosional surface

Answer 42

Unconformity

Question 43

The remains of traces of animals plants or other organisms that have been preserved within sedimentary rocks

Answer 43

Fossil

Question 44

A sudden shaking of the ground that occurs when rocks in earth's crust break suddenly releasing energy

Answer 44

Earthquake

Question 45

An opening in earth's crust through which molten rock and gases erupt on earth's surface

Answer 45

Volcano

Question 46

A plate boundary defined by the plates pushing into one another

Answer 46

Convergent Boundary

Question 47

A plate boundary defined by the plates moving apart from one another

Answer 47

Divergent boundary

Question 48

A plate boundary defined by each plate grinding past one another

Answer 48

Transform boundary

Question 49

Wind pattern that moves air particles closer together thus increasing air pressure

Answer 49

Convergence

Question 50

Wind pattern that moves particles farther apart thus decreasing air pressure

Answer 50

Divergence

Question 51

The motion of matter that results from differences in desity

Answer 51

Convection

Question 52

A large volume of warm or cold air that has approximately uniform temperature humidity and pressure over hundreds of thousands of miles horizontally and up to about 16km vertically

Answer 52

air mass

Question 53

A boundary between two or more air masses

Answer 53

Front

Question 54

The leading edge of a moving mass of warm air that pushes into a mass of cold air

Answer 54

Warm front

Question 55

The leading edge of a moving mass of cold air that pushes into an area of warm air

Answer 55

Cold front

Question 56

The result of earths rotation on air masses and ocean currents air traveling toward the poles curves eastward while air traveling toward the equator curves westward

Answer 56

Coriolis effect

Question 57

A cloud that hovers close to the ground that is formed when warm moist air arrives in an area that had experienced cold weather

Answer 57

Fog

Question 58

A storm characterized by thunder and lightning which is usually accompanied by heavy rain or hail

Answer 58

Thunderstorm

Question 59

A rotating column of air that typically forms during a thunderstorm when convergent winds cause warm moist air to rise

Answer 59

Tornado

Question 60

A huge and powerful storm with rotating winds of speeds greater that 119 km/hr or 74 mi/hr

Answer 60

Hurricane

Question 61

A process driven by solar radiation and gravity and occurs when water continuously cycles within the hydrosphere

Answer 61

Water cycle (hydrologic cycle)

Question 62

A specialized type of evaporation in which plants take up groundwater and release it into the air as water vapor

Answer 62

Transpiration

Question 63

When water vapor rises and condenses into clouds and falls in the form of rain, snow, or hail

Answer 63

Percipitation

Question 64

The process when part of precipitation, soaks into the ground

Answer 64

Infiltration

Question 65

Precipation that falls onto land but does not soak into the ground

Answer 65

Runoff

Question 66

Greenhouse gas molecules absorb infrared radiation the greater the concentration of greenhouse gases the more infrared radiation the atmosphere absorbs and the warmer it becomes

Answer 66

Greenhouse effect

Question 67

The increase in carbon dioxide from human activities that has caused an increase in global temperature by about 1.1F from 1880 to 2015

Answer 67

Global warming

Question 68

A fuel or source of energy that is renewed continuously over a short time frame relative to its use

Answer 68

Renewable energy sources

Question 69

A quantitative measure of greenhouse gas emissions associated with a process

Answer 69

Carbon footprint

Question 70

The kinetic energy of moving air converted to electricity

Answer 70

Wind energy

Question 71

An aerodynamic device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electricity

Answer 71

Wind turbine

Question 72

A liquid of gas that is heated and then circulated into a device that converts thermal energy into electricity

Answer 72

Heat-Transfer fluid

Question 73

A semiconductor device that converts sunlight directly into electricity

Answer 73

Photovoltaic cell

Question 74

The conversion of electromagnetic kinetic energy from the sun to electricity

Answer 74

Solar energy

Question 75

Electricity generation using heat from concentrated solar energy

Answer 75

Solar thermal power

Question 76

The generation of electricity from naturally occurring subsurface thermal energy

Answer 76

Geothermal power