Cp 13 Introductionn To Landform Study Flashcards
Structure of the Earth
Crust (thin), Mantle (most volume), Inner/Outer Cores (iron/nickel) + Magnetic Field
Composition of Earth’s Crust - Minerals:
Silicates, Oxides, Sulfides, Sulfates, Carbonates, Halides, etc. Perhaps fewer than 20 minerals (out of nearly 4,000 known) make up 95% of Earth’s crust
Igneous Rocks:
Plutonic (Intrusive) and Volcanic (Extrusive) make up the bulk of the Earth’s crust.
Examples: Granite or Gabbro or Quartz, and Basalt or Obsidian.
- How are larger crystals in minerals created?
More time for magma to cool below an insulated surface. Lava emerging at the ocean bottom or onto open surface forms smaller crystals in minerals.
Sedimentary Rocks
Most common type exposed at the Earth’s surface, but only 5% of crustal volume.
Examples: Shale (compressed mud), Sandstone (sand grains), Limestone (coral skeletons), Coal.
Metamorphic Rocks:
Pressure and heat are the causes of metamorphism.
Foliated means
parallel arrangement of certain mineral grains giving the rock a striped appearance.
Examples: Gneiss or Slate, Marble or Quartzite.
What isostasy?
The relationship between he earth’s crust and the mantle
The Study of Landforms
Structure, Process, Slope, Drainage.
Internal (————) and External (——-) geomorphic processes.
( folding, faulting, volcanoes)
(Denudation)
What is tectonic movement?
These huge pieces of Earth’s surface slowly move at about the speed that your fingernails grow.
What is Uniformitarianism?
The principle that states that geologic processes that occur today are similar to those that have occurred in the past.
What is the age of the Earth?
4.5 billion years
What is the geologic time scale?
It is a representation based on the rock record of earth.
Pattern and process in Geomorphology
There is no order or predictability