E.2 Earth History

Question 1

measurement of the known rates of decay of radioactive materials that an object contains in order to determine the age of the object

Answer 1

Absolute (radioactive)Dating

Question 2

fossil known to have lived in a particular geologic age that can be used to determine the date of the rock layer in which it was found

Answer 2

Index Fossil

Question 3

states that in undisturbed rock layers that newer layer will be deposited over older layers

Answer 3

Law of Superposition

Question 4

states rock layers that cut across other rock layers are younger than those they cut

Answer 4

Law of Crosscutting Relationships

Question 5

determining the age or order of things from the past or past events without knowing or calculating the actual age

Answer 5

Relative Age Dating

Question 6

rock formed by deposition of sand, clay and other pieces of rock that are compacted together under pressure

Answer 6

Sedimentary rock

Question 7

radioactive heavy metal that is an abundant source of nuclear energy (14 known isotopes, used in radioactive dating)

Answer 7

uranium

Question 8

fracture along which blocks of the Earth’s crust that can be caused by the shifting or dislodging of the Earth’s crust. Types include normal, strike slip, or reverse

Answer 8

Fault

Question 9

remains or traces of animals, plants and other organisms from the past; usually at least 10000 years old

Answer 9

Fossils

Question 10

system of chronological measurement that relate to the history of events in Earth’s past, consisting of fossils and major events

Answer 10

Geologic Time Scale

Question 11

a core sample of ice removed from a sheet of ice. Properties of the ice and the crystallized components in the ice are used to reconstruct climatic record

Answer 11

Ice Core

Question 12

type of rock formed under or above ground when magma or lava cools

Answer 12

Igneous rocks

Question 13

rock created from the transformation of other types of rock through heat and pressure

Answer 13

Metamorphic rock

Question 14

the crust that makes up the continents

Answer 14

Continental Plate

Question 15

the change in a geographic area caused by earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains forming, and other natural phenomena.

Answer 15

Geographic Change

Question 16

the study of the rocks, processes, and history of Earth

Answer 16

Geology

Question 17

the part of Earth’s crust that underlies the oceans

Answer 17

Oceanic Plate

Question 18

the movement or study of the movement of Earth’s crust (the movement of the tectonic plates is responsible for geologic and subsequent biologic change over time)

Answer 18

Plate Tectonics

Question 19

more dense tectonic plate dives under another, forms trench, causes volcanos, and earthquakes (Andes Mountains)

Answer 19

convergent plate boundary

Question 20

process in which sediment is laid down in new locations (via glaciers, water, wind, gravity)

Answer 20

deposition

Question 21

two plates moving away from each other, separating, spreading apart

Answer 21

divergent plate boundary

Question 22

the process of wearing or grinding something down

Answer 22

erosion

Question 23

the end of the last type of a specific individual or a group of species (the capability to reproduce and survive is lost)

Answer 23

extinction

Question 24

when the land is forced together at a convergent plate boundary

Answer 24

folding

Question 25

when two oceanic plates pull apart, magma rises and new crust is formed

Answer 25

sea-floor spreading

Question 26

material deposited by water, wind, or glaciers

Answer 26

sediment

Question 27

molten (liquid) rock that reaches the Earth's surface

Answer 27

lava

Question 28

a strike-slip fault that occurs typically between segments of a mid-ocean ridge or other tectonic-plate boundary and that is characterized by shallow high-magnitude earthquakes

Answer 28

transform fault

Question 29

serve as excellent index fossils, enabling geologists to date the age of the rocks in which they are found, and possibly the second-most famous fossil group after the dinosaurs

Answer 29

trilobites

Question 30

Earth's crust and rigid part of the upper mantle

Answer 30

lithosphere

Question 31

molten (liquid) rock beneath the Earth's surface

Answer 31

magma

Question 32

a divergent boundary in the ocean where new sea floor is being made

Answer 32

mid-ocean ridge

Question 33

a hypothetical continent including all the landmass of the earth

Answer 33

Pangaea

Question 34

a process that explains the basic relationships among igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks

Answer 34

rock cycle

Question 35

a fissure in the earth's crust through which gases erupt

Answer 35

volcano

Question 36

disintegration or alteration of rock in its natural or original position at or near the Earth’s surface through physical, chemical, and biological processes induced or modified by wind, water, and climate

Answer 36

weathering

Question 37

the layer of the Earth below the crust and above the core

Answer 37

mantle

Question 38

a bowl-shaped geological formation at the top of a volcano

Answer 38

crater

Question 39

a large crater caused by the violent explosion of a volcano

Answer 39

caldera

Question 40

a rocky object that orbits the sun and has an average size between a meteoroid and a planet

Answer 40

asteroid

Question 41

a stratum (layer) of rock (especially sedimentary rock)

Answer 41

bed (in geology)

Question 42

the theory that the universe originated sometime between 10 billion and 20 billion years ago from the cataclysmic explosion of a small volume of matter at extremely high density and temperature

Answer 42

Big Bang Theory

Question 43

a ravine formed by a river in an area with little rainfall

Answer 43

canyon

Question 44

a shift in the world's average weather and temperature

Answer 44

climate change

Question 45

one of the large landmasses of the earth

Answer 45

continent

Question 46

the gradual movement of very large land masses

Answer 46

continental drift

Question 47

the outer layer of the Earth

Answer 47

crust

Question 48

the organic phenomenon of rotting

Answer 48

decay

Question 49

vibration from underground movement along a fault plane

Answer 49

earthquake

Question 50

the longest unit of geological time

Answer 50

eon

Question 51

a unit of geological time that is divided into ages

Answer 51

epoch

Question 52

a major division of geological time

Answer 52

era

Question 53

the sudden occurrence of a violent discharge

Answer 53

eruption

Question 54

sequence of events involved in the development of a species

Answer 54

evolution

Question 55

the state of being no longer in existence

Answer 55

extinction

Question 56

the time required for something to fall to half its initial value (in particular, the time for half the atoms in a radioactive substance to disintegrate)

Answer 56

half-life

Question 57

a stony or metallic object from space that hits the earth

Answer 57

meteorite

Question 58

a fossil that must be studied microscopically

Answer 58

microfossil

Question 59

a series of hills or mountains

Answer 59

mountain chain

Question 60

the earth science that studies fossil organisms

Answer 60

paleontology

Question 61

a unit of geological time when a system of rocks formed

Answer 61

period

Question 62

the process of turning some plant material into stone

Answer 62

petrifaction

Question 63

a rigid layer of the Earth's crust

Answer 63

plate

Question 64

belonging to or existing before recorded times

Answer 64

prehistoric

Question 65

a long narrow natural elevation or striation

Answer 65

ridge