CHAPTER 12: EARTHS HISTORY AND INTERIOR Flashcards

1
Q

How old is earth?

A

4.6 billion years

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2
Q

How old is the universe?

A

13.8 billion years

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3
Q

What is the anthropocene?

A

age of human transformation of earths physical systems

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4
Q

When did the anthropocene start?

A

1800’s, industrial revolution

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5
Q

Why did CO2 levels in the atmosphere rise?

A

Burnt coal and petroleum for energy

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6
Q

Why are sea levels rising and becoming more acidic?

A

Increase in CO2

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7
Q

How much has the sea level risen in the last century?

A

20cms

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8
Q

How much of earths freshwater run off is used by people?

A

1/2

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9
Q

How much of mammal biomass is made up of people and domesticated animals?

A

90%, only 0.1% 10000 years ago

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10
Q

What is a light year?

A

How long it takes to move at a speed of 300km per second

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11
Q

Edmun Hummel proposed which theory?

A

Expanding Universe Theory

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12
Q

Galaxies, stars and planets are all formed from?

A

Dust and gas

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13
Q

Solar System formed how many years ago and from what?

A

4.5-5 billion years by a nebula

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14
Q

How many planets revolve around the sun?

A

8

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15
Q

What orbits to the planets move around the sun in?

A

Elliptical orbits

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16
Q

How many planets is earth away from the sun?

A

3

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17
Q

What was earths atmosphere formed from?

A

Gases emitted by volcanoes

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18
Q

How did oceans form?

A

Water vapour and volcanic emissions condensed out of atmosphere

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19
Q

Example of a photosynthetic organism

A

Cyanobacteria

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20
Q

What are stromatolites?

A

Colonies of cyanobacteria, earliest form of life in fossil records

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21
Q

What is the Great Oxidation Event?

A

oxygen concentration increased, 2.4 billion years, ozonosphere formed

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22
Q

What makes life possible on earth?

A

Ozonosphere blocking UV Rays

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23
Q

Dinosaurs existed how many years ago?

A

240 million years

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24
Q

modern humans existed how many years ago?

A

200, 000 years ago

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25
Q

What are Eons?

A

largest division of time scales

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26
Q

What eon are we currently living in?

A

Phamnezobnic eon

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27
Q

What era are we living in?

A

Cenozoic era

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28
Q

What period are we living in?

A

Quaternary period

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29
Q

Which Eon accounts for 85% of geologic time?

A

Precambrian Eeon

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30
Q

Oldest rocks found on earth are how old?

A

4 million years old

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31
Q

What Epoch are we currently living in?

A

Holocene or anthropocene

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32
Q

What is the idea of uniformitarianism

A

present is the key to the past, processes that have shaped landscapes of the past are the same and will shape the future

33
Q

Principle of Superposition

A

oldest rock layer at bottom

34
Q

Hutton’s Unconformities is located at

A

Siccar Point

35
Q

define unconformity

A

an ancient land surface representing a time gap in the normal geological sequence

36
Q

2 Ways scientists date materials

A
  1. Relative Age

2. Absolute Age

37
Q

What is relative age?

A

compare age of one object or event with another without specifying how old either is, the order of eevnts

38
Q

What is absolute age?

A

specifies age in years!

39
Q

2 techniques used to determine absolute age

A

Dendrochronology

Radiometric Dating

40
Q

What is dendrochronology

A

tree ring analysis

41
Q

What is radiometric dating?

A

assigning ages to material based on radioactive half-life of unstable elements in those materials

42
Q

Which energy is sustainable and renewable?

A

Geothermal energy

43
Q

What are xenoliths?

A

rocks elevated to earths surface via magma

44
Q

Most of what we know about earths interior comes from analysis of…

A

seismic waves

45
Q

What is a seismic wave?

A

energy released by earthquakes that travel through the earths interior

46
Q

What is an earthquake?

A

sudden shaking of the ground caused by movements of earths crust

47
Q

What are surface waves?

A

Travel along/near surface
Cauuses damage
R & L waves

48
Q

What are body waves?

A

Pass through earth

P and S waves

49
Q

2 types of earthquake waves

A

Surface and Body Waves

50
Q

Which earthquake wave can travel through the core?

A

P-Waves

51
Q

what is the geothermal gradient?

A

earths interior increasing with depth

52
Q

how hot is earths core?

A

6000C

53
Q

4 FACTORS THAT MAKE EARTH HOT INTERIOR

A

Friction
Asteroid bombardment
Tidal Forces
Radioactivity

54
Q

3 Principle lawyers of earths interior

A

CORE
MANTEL
LITHOSPHERE

55
Q

What is the radius of the earth?

A

6371km

56
Q

Earths inner core is solid or liquid?

A

SOLID

57
Q

Which elements are found in earths inner core

A

Iron and Nickel

58
Q

What keeps the inner core solid?

A

compressional forces

59
Q

Circulating liquid metal which generates earths magnetic field is located in the…

A

outer core

60
Q

What is a dynamo?

A

a device converting the energy of motion to that of an electric current

61
Q

What is the magnetosphere?

A

Protects earth from solar wind

62
Q

How many km does magnetic north move each year?

A

55km

63
Q

Temperature of earths mantle

A

4000-900C

64
Q

Which portion of the mantle is solid rock, but slowly deforms and flows in great circular convection loops

A

Lower Mantle

65
Q

Which portion of the mantle is in solid state, but nearer melting and weak and easily deformed?

A

Asthenosphere

66
Q

Which portion of the mantle is rigid and brittle

A

Lithospheric Manleys

67
Q

Layers of the mantle from bottom to top

A

Lower Mantle, asthenosphere, lithospheric mantle

68
Q

What 2 portions layers are apart of the upper mantle?

A

Lithosphere and Asthenosphere

69
Q

2 types of earth crusts

A

Continental crust

Oceanic crust

70
Q

Which crust is composed of mainly granite (forms from magma)

A

Continental crust

71
Q

Which crust forms from basalt (forms from lava)

A

Oceanic crust

72
Q

What is the Moho?

A

Boundary that separates the crust from the lithosphere mantle

73
Q

Moho is deepest under which crust?

A

Continental crust, 70km

74
Q

Moho is shallowest under which crust?

A

Oceanic crust, 7km

75
Q

The lithosphere is broken into how many major plates?

A

14

76
Q

What is diastrophism

A

plates buckle into mountains, bend and warp into hills and break causing earthquakes

77
Q

What moves the plates?

A

Convection

78
Q

Which plate is the largest?

A

Pacific Plate

79
Q

Which plate are we on?

A

North American Plate