chapter 3

Question 1

geosphere

Answer 1

any of the almost spherical concentric regions of matter that make up the earth and its atmosphere, as the lithosphere and hydrosphere

Question 2

hydrosphere

Answer 2

all the waters on the earth’s surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including water over the earth’s surface, such as clouds

Question 3

crust

Answer 3

the crust is the outermost solid shell of a rocky planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite

Question 4

mantle

Answer 4

The mantle is the mostly-solid bulk of Earth’s interior. The mantle lies between Earth’s dense, super-heated core and its thin outer layer, the crust. The mantle is about 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) thick, and makes up a whopping 84% of Earth’s total volume

Question 5

core

Answer 5

Earth’s core is the very hot, very dense center of our planet. The ball-shaped core lies beneath the cool, brittle crust and the mostly-solid mantle. The core is found about 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) below Earth’s surface, and has a radius of about 3,485 kilometers (2,165 miles)

Question 6

lithosphere

Answer 6

the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle

Question 7

asthenosphere

Answer 7

the upper layer of the earth’s mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur

Question 8

tectonic plate

Answer 8

massive slab of solid rock made up of Earth’s lithosphere (crust and upper mantle). Also called lithospheric plate

Question 9

chemical weathering

Answer 9

the erosion or disintegration of rocks, building materials, etc., caused by chemical reactions (chiefly with water and substances dissolved in it) rather than by mechanical processes

Question 10

erosion

Answer 10

the gradual destruction or diminution of something

Question 11

atmosphere

Answer 11

the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet.

Question 12

troposphere

Answer 12

the lowest region of the atmosphere, extending from the earth’s surface to a height of about 3.7–6.2 miles (6–10 km), which is the lower boundary of the stratosphere

Question 13

stratosphere

Answer 13

the layer of the earth’s atmosphere above the troposphere, extending to about 32 miles (50 km) above the earth’s surface (the lower boundary of the mesosphere)

Question 14

ozone

Answer 14

a colorless unstable toxic gas with a pungent odor and powerful oxidizing properties, formed from oxygen by electrical discharges or ultraviolet light. It differs from normal oxygen (O2) in having three atoms in its molecule (O3).

Question 15

radiation

Answer 15

the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles which cause ionization

Question 16

conduction

Answer 16

the process by which heat or electricity is directly transmitted through a substance when there is a difference of temperature or of electrical potential between adjoining regions, without movement of the material.

Question 17

convection

Answer 17

the movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat

Question 18

greenhouse effect

Answer 18

the trapping of the sun’s warmth in a planet’s lower atmosphere, due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet’s surface.

Question 19

water cycle

Answer 19

the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration.

Question 20

evaporation

Answer 20

the process of turning from liquid into vapor.

Question 21

condensation

Answer 21

water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it

Question 22

precipitation

Answer 22

the action or process of precipitating a substance from a solution

Question 23

salinity

Answer 23

the quality or degree of being saline.

Question 24

fresh water

Answer 24

of or found in fresh water; not of the sea.

Question 25

biosphere

Answer 25

the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth (or analogous parts of other planets) occupied by living organisms