Ch. 3 Key Terms

Question 1

Geosphere

Answer 1

The solid part of earth that consists of all rock, as well as the soils and loose rocks on earth surface.

Question 2

Hydrosphere

Answer 2

Makes up all of the water on or near Earth’s surface.

Question 3

Crust

Answer 3

Earth’s thin is composed almost entirely of light elements

Question 4

Mantle

Answer 4

The layer beneath the crust, makes up 68 percent of the mass of Earth

Question 5

Core

Answer 5

Earth’s innermost layer

Question 6

Lithosphere

Answer 6

Earth’s outer layer

Question 7

Asthenosphere

Answer 7

The layer beneath the lithosphere

Question 8

Tectonic Plates

Answer 8

Lithosphere is divided into pieces that glide across the underlying asthenosphere in much the same way a chunk of ice drifts across a pond.

Question 9

Chemical Weathering

Answer 9

Wears down rocks, making them smoother

Question 10

Erosion

Answer 10

Transports the materials elsewhere

Question 11

Atmosphere

Answer 11

Earth’s is surrounded by a mixture of gases

Question 12

Troposphere

Answer 12

Atmosphere layer nearest Earth’s surface that it extends to about 18 km above earth’s surface

Question 13

Stratosphere

Answer 13

Separated from the troposphere by the tropopause

Question 14

Radiation

Answer 14

The transfer of energy as electromagnetic waves

Question 15

Conduction

Answer 15

The transfer of energy in the form of heat from a warmer object to a colder object.

Question 16

Convection

Answer 16

The transfer of energy that takes place when variations in temperature move the matter making up air.

Question 17

Greenhouse Effect

Answer 17

The process in which greenhouse gases absorb and reradiate infrared radiation near the earth.

Question 18

Water Cycle

Answer 18

The continuous movement of water into air, onto land, and then back to water sources

Question 19

Evaporation

Answer 19

The process by which liquid water is heated by the sun and then rises into the atmosphere as water vapor

Question 20

Condensation

Answer 20

Water vapor forms water droplets on dust particles

Question 21

Precipitation

Answer 21

The larger droplets fall from clouds as rain in a process

Question 22

Salinity

Answer 22

Ocean water is the concentration of all the dissolved salts it contains

Question 23

Fresh Water

Answer 23

More than 3 percent of all the water on earth

Question 24

Biosphere

Answer 24

The narrow layer around earth’s surface in which life can exist

Question 25

Ozone

Answer 25

It’s a molecule made up of three oxygen atoms