✔ E.2 Earth History Flashcards

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1
Q

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

A

Absolute (radioactive)Dating

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2
Q

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

A

Index Fossil

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3
Q

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

A

Law of Superposition

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4
Q

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

A

Law of Crosscutting Relationships

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5
Q

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

A

Relative Age Dating

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6
Q

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

A

Sedimentary rock

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7
Q

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

A

uranium

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8
Q

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

A

Fault

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9
Q

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

A

Fossils

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10
Q

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

A

Geologic Time Scale

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11
Q

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

A

Ice Core

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12
Q

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

A

Igneous rocks

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13
Q

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

A

Metamorphic rock

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14
Q

the crust that makes up the continents

A

Continental Plate

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15
Q

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

A

Geographic Change

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16
Q

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

A

Geology

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17
Q

the part of Earth’s crust that underlies the oceans

A

Oceanic Plate

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18
Q

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)

A

Plate Tectonics

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19
Q

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

A

convergent plate boundary

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20
Q

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

A

deposition

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21
Q

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

A

divergent plate boundary

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22
Q

the process of wearing or grinding something down

A

erosion

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23
Q

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

A

extinction

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24
Q

when the land is forced together at a convergent plate boundary

A

folding

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25
Q

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

A

sea-floor spreading

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26
Q

material deposited by water, wind, or glaciers

A

sediment

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27
Q

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

A

lava

28
Q

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

A

transform fault

29
Q

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

A

trilobites

30
Q

Earth’s crust and rigid part of the upper mantle

A

lithosphere

31
Q

molten (liquid) rock beneath the Earth’s surface

A

magma

32
Q

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

A

mid-ocean ridge

33
Q

a hypothetical continent including all the landmass of the earth

A

Pangaea

34
Q

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

A

rock cycle

35
Q

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

A

volcano

36
Q

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

A

weathering

37
Q

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

A

mantle

38
Q

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

A

crater

39
Q

a large crater caused by the violent explosion of a volcano

A

caldera

40
Q

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

A

asteroid

41
Q

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

A

bed (in geology)

42
Q

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

A

Big Bang Theory

43
Q

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

A

canyon

44
Q

a shift in the world’s average weather and temperature

A

climate change

45
Q

one of the large landmasses of the earth

A

continent

46
Q

the gradual movement of very large land masses

A

continental drift

47
Q

the outer layer of the Earth

A

crust

48
Q

the organic phenomenon of rotting

A

decay

49
Q

vibration from underground movement along a fault plane

A

earthquake

50
Q

the longest unit of geological time

A

eon

51
Q

a unit of geological time that is divided into ages

A

epoch

52
Q

a major division of geological time

A

era

53
Q

the sudden occurrence of a violent discharge

A

eruption

54
Q

sequence of events involved in the development of a species

A

evolution

55
Q

the state of being no longer in existence

A

extinction

56
Q

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)

A

half-life

57
Q

a stony or metallic object from space that hits the earth

A

meteorite

58
Q

a fossil that must be studied microscopically

A

microfossil

59
Q

a series of hills or mountains

A

mountain chain

60
Q

the earth science that studies fossil organisms

A

paleontology

61
Q

a unit of geological time when a system of rocks formed

A

period

62
Q

the process of turning some plant material into stone

A

petrifaction

63
Q

a rigid layer of the Earth’s crust

A

plate

64
Q

belonging to or existing before recorded times

A

prehistoric

65
Q

a long narrow natural elevation or striation

A

ridge