Chapters 1-3

Question 1

Scientific Method order

Answer 1

• Observations
• Question
• Developing a hypothesis
• What are consequences if hypothesis is correct Incorrect?
• Conduct experiments
• Conclusions

Question 2

Nebular Hypothesis

Answer 2

Solar system evolved from an enormous rotating cloud called the solar nebula and it was composed of mostly hydrogen and helium.

Question 3

Nebular hypothesis continued

Answer 3

• About 5 billion years ago the nebula began to contract
• Assumes a flat, disk shape with the protosun (pre-Sun) at the center
• Inner planets begin to form from metallic and rocky clumps
• Larger outer planets began forming from fragments with a high percentage of ices

Question 4

Hydrosphere

Answer 4

Ocean – the most prominent feature of the hydrosphere
- Nearly 71 percent of Earth’s surface
- About 97 percent of Earth’s water
Also includes fresh water found in streams, lakes, and glaciers, as well as that found underground

Question 5

Atmosphere

Answer 5

• A thin, tenuous blanket of air

- One half lies below 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles)

Question 6

Biosphere

Answer 6

• Includes all life
• Concentrated near the surface in a zone that extends from the ocean floor upward for several kilometers into the atmosphere

Question 7

Lithosphere

Answer 7

Rigid outer layer

Question 8

System

Answer 8

• Closed systems are self-contained (e.g., an automobile cooling system)
• Open systems – both energy and matter flow into and out of the system (e.g., a river system)

Question 9

Feedback Mechanisms

Answer 9

• Negative-feedback mechanisms resist change and stabilize the system
• Positive-feedback mechanisms enhance the change in the system. Push the system to an extreme.

Question 10

Mineral

Answer 10

• Natural
• Inorganic
• Solid
• Possess an orderly internal structure of atoms
• Have a definite chemical composition

Question 11

Rock

Answer 11

any naturally occurring solid mass of mineral or mineral-like matter

Question 12

Rock-Forming Minerals

Answer 12

• The eight elements that compose most rock-forming minerals are oxygen (O), silicon (Si), aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), potassium (K), and magnesium (Mg)
• Most abundant atoms in Earth’s crust are oxygen (46.6% by weight) and silicon (27.7% by weight)

Question 13

Rock-forming silicates

Answer 13

Most common mineral group

Contain the silicon-oxygen tetrahedron (molecule)

• Four oxygen atoms surrounding a much smaller silicon atom
• Combines with other atoms to form the various silicate structures

Question 14

Igneous Rock

Answer 14

Form as Magma cools and crystallizes.

Question 15

Plutonic/Intrusive

Answer 15

Rocks formed inside the Earth.

Question 16

Volcanic/Extrusive

Answer 16

Rocks formed on the surface.

Question 17

Crystallization

Answer 17

Ions are arranged into orderly patterns

Crystal size is determined by the rate of cooling

• Slow rate forms large crystals
• Fast rate forms microscopic crystals
• Very fast rate forms glass

Question 18

Bowen’s reaction series

Answer 18

the crystallization sequence of typical basaltic magma undergoing fractional crystallization.

Question 19

Sedimentary Rocks

Answer 19

Form from sediment (weathered products)

About 75 percent of all rock outcrops on the continents

Used to reconstruct much of Earth’s history

• Clues to past environments
• Provide information about sediment transport
• Rocks often contain fossils

Question 20

Detrital Rocks

Answer 20

Material is solid particles

Classified by particle size

Common rocks include

• Shale (most abundant)
• Sandstone
• Conglomerate

Question 21

Chemical Rocks

Answer 21

Derived from material that was once in solution and precipitates to form sediment

• Directly precipitated as the result of physical processes, or
• Through life processes (biochemical origin)

Common sedimentary rocks

• Limestone – the most abundant chemical rock
• Microcrystalline quartz (precipitated quartz) known as chert, flint, jasper, or agate
• Evaporites such as rock salt or gypsum
• Coal

Question 22

Lithification

Answer 22

How sedimentary rocks are produced

Processes

• Compaction
• Cementation by: Calcite, Silica, Iron Oxide.

Question 23

Bedding Plane

Answer 23

The surface that separates each successive layer of a stratified rock from its preceding layer.

Question 24

Metamorphic rocks

Answer 24

Changed form” rocks

Produced from preexisting

• Igneous rocks
• Sedimentary rocks
• Other metamorphic rocks

Question 25

Metamorphism

Answer 25

Takes place where preexisting rock is subjected to temperatures and pressures unlike those in which it formed Degrees of metamorphism - Exhibited by rock texture and mineralogy - Low-grade (e.g., shale becomes slate) - High-grade (obliteration of original features)

Question 26

Metamorphic Textures

Answer 26

Foliated texture - Minerals are in a parallel alignment - Minerals are perpendicular to the compressional force Nonfoliated texture - Contain equidimensional crystals - Resembles a coarse-grained igneous rock

Question 27

Most important ore deposits are generated from hydrothermal (hot-water) solutions

Answer 27

Hot Contain metal-rich fluids Associated with cooling magma bodies Types of deposits include - Vein deposits in fractures or bedding planes, and - Disseminated deposits which are distributed throughout the rock

Question 28

Rock Cycle

Answer 28

Magma cools and crystallizes into igneous rock. Igneous weathers and erodes into sediments. Those sediments lithify into sedimentary rocks Those sedimentary rocks undergo heat and pressure into metamorphic rocks.

Question 29

Rock Cycle Shortcuts

Answer 29

e. g., Sedimentary rock melts e. g., Igneous rock is metamorphosed e. g., Sedimentary rock is weathered e. g., Metamorphic rock weathers