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ELS > 3.3 Geosphere > Flashcards

3.3 Geosphere Flashcards

1
Q

Geosphere is also known as “____________”

A

Skeleton of our Planet

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2
Q
  • is the solid Earth that includes the continental and ocean crust as well as various layers of Earth’s interior
  • it is not static or unchanging
A

Geosphere

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3
Q
  • the rocky outermost layer
  • exposed to atmosphere
  • thinnest layer (70km)
  • made of solid rocks and minerals
  • varies in temperature
A

Crust

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4
Q

what are the abundant elements of the crust?

A

oxygen, silicon, aluminum

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5
Q
  • thicker but less dense
  • made mostly of granite
  • 1/3rd of Earth’s surface
A

continental crust

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6
Q

what are the abundant elements of the continental crust?

A

SiAl: silicate and aluminum

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7
Q
  • thinner but denser
  • made mostly of basalt
  • two third of Earth’s surface
A

Oceanic Crust

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8
Q

what are the abundant elements of the oceanic crust?

A

SiMa: silicate and magnesium

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9
Q
  • middle layer
  • lies between core and crust
  • 2,900km thick
  • 84% of Earth’s volume
A

mantle

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10
Q

what are the characteristics of the Upper Mantle?

A
  • lithosphere and asthenosphere
  • rigid/solid
  • some regions are malleable, contributing to tectonic activity
  • 650km thick
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11
Q

what are the characteristics of the Lower Mantle?

A
  • hotter and denser than upper
  • less ductile due to high pressure
  • 2,250km thick
  • volume of Earth at 54%
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12
Q
  • rocky part of the Earth in the Crust and Solid Upper Mantle
  • 100km thick
A

Lithosphere

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13
Q

Studied the motion of the lithosphere over a molten layer.

A

Joseph Barrell (1914)

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14
Q
  • 2,200km thick
  • mostly composed of liquid iron and nickel
  • temperature ranges 4,500-5,500 degrees celsius
  • very low viscosity; easily deformed and malleable materials
  • site of violent convection which creates and sustains Earth’s magnetic field (protects us from solar flairs)
A

Outer Core

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15
Q
  • hot dense ball of mostly iron
  • 1,230km thick
  • 5,200 degrees celsius
  • pressure nearly 3.6million atm
  • iron and nickel (solid state)
  • intense pressure and density result in its solid state
A

Inner Core

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16
Q

between the crust and upper mantle

A

Mohorovicic Discontinuity

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17
Q

between upper mantle and lower mantle

A

Repetti Discontinuity

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18
Q

between the lower mantle and outer core

A

Gutenberg Discontinuity

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19
Q

between outer and inner core

A

Lehmann Discontinuity

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20
Q

What are the chemical properties of Crust?

A

avg. composition:
- 47% oxygen
- 27% silicon
- 8% aluminum
- <11% Fe, Ca, Mg, K, Na

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21
Q

What are the chemical properties of Mantle?

A

silicate rocks rich in iron and magnesium

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22
Q

What are the chemical properties of the Core?

A

iron and nickel

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23
Q

What are the physical properties of Lithosphere?

A

brittle solid

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24
Q

What are the physical properties of Asthenosphere?

A

ductile solid

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25
Q

What are the physical properties of the Outer Core?

A

liquid

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26
Q

What are the physical properties of the Inner Core?

A

rigid solid

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27
Q

Rocks formed by years and years of sediment compacting together and becoming hard.

A

sedimentary

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28
Q

Rocks formed by great heat and pressure. often made from other types of rock combined

A

Metamorphic

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29
Q

Rocks formed by volcanoes. when a volcano erupts, it spews out hot molten rock called magma or lava

A

Igneous

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30
Q

cool slowly

A

intrusive or plutonic

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31
Q

cools quickly

A

extrusive or volcanic

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32
Q

Naturally occurring inorganic solid materials with definite chemical composition and ordered atomic arrangement.

A

minerals

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33
Q

Physical property of a rock that is most obvious, least diagnostic?

A

color

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34
Q

Physical property of a rock that is strength of the chemical bonds, using a Mohs scale?

A

hardness

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34
Q

Physical property of a rock that is the color of the mineral in its powdered form?

A

streak

35
Q

Physical property of a rock that consistently breaks along planes, break smoothly along specific internal planes?

A

cleavage

36
Q

Physical property of a rock that breaks along random irregular surfaces?

A

fracture

37
Q

Physical property of a rock that forms a definite structure that has a specific crystal form

A

crystalline structure

38
Q

Physical property of a rock that is the appearance when light is reflected from its surface?

A

luster

39
Q

Physical property of a rock that is the outward appearance of the specific crystal form, ideal shape?

A

crystal habit

40
Q

What kind of luster is sparkly?

A

adamantine

41
Q

What kind of luster is dull and clay-like?

A

earthy

42
Q

What kind of luster is pearl-like?

A

pearly

43
Q

What kind of luster is like resins, such as tree sap?

A

resinous

44
Q

What kind of luster is soft-looking with long fibers?

A

silky

45
Q

What kind of luster is glassy?

A

lustreous

46
Q

Physical processes that create and modify landforms on the surface of the Earth.

A

Geomorphic Processes

47
Q

What are the four types of exogenic processes?

A

weathering, mass movements, erosion, and deposition

48
Q

breaking up of large rocks into smaller fragments — without changing the rock’s mineral composition
Ex. frost wedging, insolation or thermal stress, unloading and expansion

A

Physical Weathering

49
Q

decomposes rocks through chemical change
Ex. carbonation and solution, hydrolosis, oxidation (rust)

A

Chemical Weathering

50
Q

Animal action - burrowing animals (rat, ant, snake dug out earth)
Plant action - plant roots break up rocks when they grow between joints of rock.
Human action - construction, mining work

A

Biological Weathering

51
Q

mass movement of rocks, soil, and regolith driven by gravity, water, over steepening of slopes, removal of anchoring vegetation and ground vibration

A

Mass Wasting

52
Q

examples of rapid mass movements

A

flow, topple, slump

53
Q

examples of slow mass movements

A

slide, creep, fall

54
Q

Process of transporting weathered sediments by agents of erosion to different places

A

erosion

55
Q

Aggradation or accumulation of weathered and/or eroded sediments to create different landforms.

Ex. in the rivers, sand dunes, talus apron

A

deposition

56
Q

internal geological processes

A

Endogenic

57
Q

heat energy and plate tectonics

A

driving force

58
Q

involves “constructive forces” for large scale landform building and transforming processes

A

Endogenic

59
Q

when rocks are subjected to stresses, they begin to deform (when convergence happens)

A

Endogenous processes

60
Q

is stress that decreases the volume of a material

A

compression

61
Q

stress that pulls material apart

A

tension

62
Q

stress that causes a material to twist

A

shear

63
Q
  • two forces push towards each other from opposite sides, the rock layers will bend into folds
  • anticline (upward arch), syncline (downward arch), limbs (sides)
A

folding

64
Q

anticline:
syncline:
limbs:

A

upward arch, downward arch, sides

65
Q

fracturing and displacement of more brittle rocks along a fault plane either caused by tension or rock compression

A

faulting

66
Q
  • a theory that explained how continents shift position on Earth’s surface
  • also explained why look-alike animal and plant fossils, and similar rock formations, are found on different continents
A

Continental Drift Theory

67
Q

continents were all originally part of a huge landmass “______”, that was surrounded by a single ocean, “____________”

A

Pangaea, Panthalassa

68
Q

occurs when plates slide apart from each other or move away

A

divergence

69
Q

when two plates slide toward each other, causes subduction of the heavier or denser plate (trenches, volcanic arcs, island arcs, mountain ranges, plateaus)

A

convergence

70
Q

plates slide horizontally past one another and move separately in opposite direction, generally defined by shallow earthquakes (e.g. San Andreas Fault)

A

transform

71
Q

study of the processes that deform Earth’s crust

A

tectonics

72
Q

plates that move around on top of the asthenosphere, cause large-scale movements of the earth’s lithosphere

A

tectonic plates

73
Q
  • uplifting or warping of large crust
  • this creates continents, plateaus and caused by vertical movements from the earth’s center
  • Ex. Submerged forests and valleys, uplifted landforms
A

Epeirogenic Processes (vertical)

74
Q

eruption of molten rock onto Earth’s surface (pacific ring of fire)

A

Volcanism

75
Q

caused by seismic waves, being the most destructive and dangerous. The severity depends on factors such as magnitude, distance from the epicenter, and physical properties of soil and rocks.

A

Ground shaking

76
Q

follow curved paths through the interior of the Earth

A

seismic waves

77
Q
  • the tearing of ground’s surface
  • can cause ground deformations and severe damage to infrastructures
A

Ground rupture

78
Q
  • when loosely packed, water-saturate soil loses strength and stiffiness
  • structures may sink and be surrounded by liquefied soil
A

liquefaction

79
Q

downward movement of soil, rocks, and debris due to ground shaking and gravity

A

earthquake-induced landslide

80
Q
  • mixtures of rocks and glass particles expelled from volcanic eruption
  • can cause danger in health (respiratory system)
  • Mt. Pinatubo eruption on June 15, 1991
A

Volcanic ash and Tephra

81
Q

hot, fast-moving clouds of fragmented volcanic particles, gases, and ashes that travel rapidly down a volcanic slope

A

Pyroclastic Density Current (PDC)

82
Q

dense, coarse, fragments that move along the ground, ground-hugging, basal flow

A

Pyroclastic flow

83
Q

less dense, more mobile cloud of ash that moves above the pyroclastic flow

A

Pyroclastic surge

84
Q

Indonesian term for volcanic mudflow composed of slurry water, rock fragments, and pyroclastic materials

A

Lahar

ELS (6 decks)

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