Chapter 1 Flashcards
Earth System
all of Earth’s varied materials and processes that affect them
Element
substance that cannot be broken down chemically into other substances
Atom
The smallest piece of an element that still has all the properties of that element
compounds
Atoms combine with one another chemically
molecule
the smallest possible piece of a compound
mass
amount of matter in an object
volume
the amount of space an object occupies
density
the mass packed into a given volume of matter
5 reservoirs of the Earth System
Atmosphere, Cryosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere, Geosphere
Atmosphere
Earth’s gaseous envelope
Cryosphere
Continental and mountain glaciers, polar sea ice
Hydrosphere
Oceans, rivers, lakes, underground water
Biosphere
All living things
Geosphere
the solid earth
divided into concentric layers
outer layer: crust (thin and mostly rock)
below crust is the mantle
center: core (dense and composed of iron and nickle)
Magma
melted crust and mantle that produced liquid material- known as lava when erupts on surface
bedrock
a solid aggregate of minerals and rocks attached to the crust
sediment
unattached mineral grains such as boulders, sand, and clay
soil
sediment and rock modified by interactions with the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and organisms so that it can support plant life
flux
the movements from one reservoir to another
geologic cycle
in some cases, a material moves among several reservoirs but eventually returns to the first
heat energy
measure of degree to which atoms or molecules move about (vibrate) in matter- including in solids
melting
cryosphere to hydrosphere
evaporation
hydrosphere to atmosphere
condensation
atmosphere to hydrosphere
freezing
hydrosphere to cryosphere
Gravity
force of attraction that every object exerts on other objects and how close the objects are to one another
metric system
measure length and distance in meters
ka
a thousand years ago
ma
a million years ago
ga
a billion years ago
Velocity
rate of change of the position of an object
distance / time
Temperature
how hot an object is relative to a standard
Weigt
force with which one onject is attracted to another
geographic poles
two points where the axis intersects the surface of the planet are the not and south
plane of the ecliptic
plain in which earth orbits the sun
scientific notation
based on the power of 10
geologic time
Earth is about 4.57 billion years old
principle of uniformitarianism
Hutton proposed theory that the most ancient geologic features formed by the same processes as modern ones
pressure
The pull of Earth’s gravity
hydrostatic pressure
weight of water
lithostatic pressure
pressure caused by the weight of overlaying rock
geobaric gradient
rate at which lithostatic pressure increases
kilobars
what we measure lithostatic pressure in
