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Science 116 > Earth and Space > Flashcards

Earth and Space Flashcards

1
Q

What is the coriolis effect?

A

It explains the movement of air masses and water on Earth and creates currents. It is created by the east to west rotation of Earth.

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2
Q

What is air moisture?

A

It is water vapor cooling that forms dew and rain

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3
Q

Explain the tilt of the Earth

A

The tilt causes seasons

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4
Q

Plate tectonics

A

Theory that explains the movement of plates below the Earth’s surface. It can cause earthquakes, mountains, volcanoes and trenches

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5
Q

Igneous rock

A

Formed from cooled magma below the surface, granite is an example

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6
Q

Role of air patterns

A

Air patterns are developed with Earth’s rotation and Sun’s heating which creates winds

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7
Q

Explain geysers

A

Natural springs of hot water that breaks the surface

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8
Q

Sedimentary rock

A

Rock of sediment cemented together by the pressure of layers of Earth over millions of years

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9
Q

Metamorphic rock

A

Formed by heat and pressure below the surface.

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10
Q

How do clouds form?

A

When water vapor cool in the atmosphere, condenses and clings to particles called aerosols, these come together and form clouds

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11
Q

What is a weather front?

A

Boundary of two masses of different air temperatures.

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12
Q

Warm fronts

A

They produce warm conditions

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13
Q

Cold fronts

A

Can produce thunderstorms

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14
Q

Cloud types

A

Cirrus: Feathery, can produce rain or snow. high in the atmosphere

Cumulonimbus; Vertical, Can produce thunderstorms

Cumulus: Puffy, calmer weather

Stratus: Low and gray. Light rain

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15
Q

Planets in order

A 
Mercury 
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus 
Neptune
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16
Q

What are asteroids?

A

Large rocks that orbit the Sun, made of rock and metal, there is an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

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17
Q

What are moons?

A

Natural satellite.

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18
Q

Earth Moon

A

It’s cycle is 27.3 days long, only one side is visible, it has 1/5 of the Earth’s gravity

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19
Q

How many days for the Earth to revolve around the Sun?

A

365 1/4 days

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20
Q

How long for Earth to rotate on its axis?

A

24h

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21
Q

How does the Sun produce energy?

A

Through nuclear fusion. Heat and pressure help hydrogen fuse and combine

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22
Q

Explain the lunar cycle

A 
New Moon: Completely dark
Waxing Crescent: Crescent of sunlight
First Quarter: Right half illuminated
Waxing Gibbous: More than half illuminated
Full Moon: Completely illuminated
Waning Gibbous: Small shadow
Last Quarter: Opposite of first quarter
Waning Crescent: Crescent on left side
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23
Q

What is a mineral?

A

Naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a definite chemical composition and a crystal structure

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24
Q

What is geology?

A

Study of planet Earth

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25
Q

What is intrusive?

A

Magma that solidifies at a depth, cools slowly and has coarse grain. Granite

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26
Q

What is extrusive?

A

Magma that solidifies at or near the surface and cools quickly. Basalt

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27
Q

Layers of the Earth

A

Crust: Cool, solid rock floating on a denser rock beneath
Mantle: Hot playdoh that moves slowly
Outer core: Super hot liquid rock
Inner core: Solid chunk of nickel and iron

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28
Q

What are contour lines?

A

Lines that help show elevations above the surface of the Earth and ocean floor

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29
Q

How is a mountain formed?

A

By folding, faulting, volcanic activity or erosion.

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30
Q

What is folding?

A

Layers of sedimentary rock are pressed together by plate movements. The Alps and Himalayas

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31
Q

What is faulting?

A

Created when tectonic plate movement produces tension that results in displacement.

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32
Q

Continental crust

A

Silicon, oxygen and aluminum

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33
Q

Oceanic crust

A

Silicon, oxygen and magnesium

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34
Q

Divergent boundary

A

Plates spreading apart and forming new crust

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35
Q

Convergent boundary

A

One plate gets under another

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36
Q

Transform plate boundary

A

Plates slide sideways past each other

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37
Q

Volcanic activity and divergent boundary

A

Plates spread apart and form a ridge

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38
Q

Volcanic activity and convergent boundary

A

Subduction process creates magma and when it rises to the surface, volcanoes can be formed

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39
Q

Types of volcanoes

A

Shield: Created by long term, gentle eruption
Cinder cone: Created by explosive eruptions
Composite: Combination of shield and cinder cone

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40
Q

Static deformation

A

Permanently displaces the ground

41
Q

Dynamic deformation

A

Dynamic motion that take the form of seismic waves

42
Q

Richter scale

A

Measures how much seismic energy was released by the earthquake

43
Q

How do earthquakes happen?

A

Plates rub against each other, elastic energy builds up around the point of friction, eventually the elastic energy overcomes the friction and plates break free, releasing all their energy as an earthquake

44
Q

What is erosion?

A

Wearing away of rock materials from the Earth’s surface.

Can be natural or due to human activity

45
Q

Mechanical weathering

A

Water and wind carry abrasive particles that weather rock. Solar energy and cooling can cause cracks.

46
Q

Chemical weathering

A

Rain water becomes acidic and this wears down rock

47
Q

Water cycle

A

Precipitation: Condensed water vapor fall to the Earth in the form of rain
Evaporation: Liquid water changes to gas
Condensation: Water vapor changes to liquid

48
Q

What is deposition?

A

Process in which previously eroded material is added to a land form

49
Q

Radioactive dating

A

Process that compares the amount of radioactive material in a rock to the amount that has decayed

50
Q

Extinction events of Earth

A 
Ordovician-Silurian
Permian-Triassic
Late Devonian
Triassic-Jurassic
Cretaceous-Tertiary
51
Q

Uniformitarianism

A

The present is key to the past and slow processes have shaped the Earth

52
Q

Catastrophism

A

Earth was shaped by sudden, short-term events

53
Q

Superposition

A

Underground layers closer to the Earth’s surface were deposited recently

54
Q

What is stratigraphy?

A

Study of rock layers and layering

55
Q

What are fossils?

A

Preservations of plants, animals or remains or their traces that date back 10,000 years ago.

56
Q

Atmospheric layers

A

Troposphere: Where weather occurs
Stratosphere: Ozone is found here, Jet streams
Mesosphere: Coldest temperature. Protection from meteroids
Thermosphere: Air very thin and high temperature
Exosphere: Outermost layer

57
Q

What is the hydrosphere?

A

Layer of water that covers the Earth

58
Q

Paleozoic era

A

Supercontinent Pannotia started to break up, by the end of the era, Pangaea had formed.

59
Q

How did the Earth form?

A

Its development began after a supernova exploded, this led to the formation of the Sun out of hydrogen gas and interstellar dust, the same elements swirled around and formed the planets.

60
Q

Cenozoic era

A

The present, Pangea continued to drift and the continents took their current position

61
Q

Mesozoic era

A

Era of the dinosaurs and their extinction

62
Q

What is a tsunami?

A

Series of waves with long wavelength and period

63
Q

What is the Beaufort Wind Scale?

A

Assigns a numerical value to wind conditions and the appearance at sea

64
Q

What causes tides?

A

The gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon

65
Q

What is a black smoker?

A

A type of hydrothermal vent formed when superheated water from below the Earth’s crust emerges from the ocean floor

66
Q

What is the carbon cycle?

A

It begins with photosynthesis, plants take CO2 and convert it into energy, other organisms then eat it and bacteria later releases it back into the atmosphere but the organism could also be buried and eventually become a fossil fuel or the carbon can become part of sedimentary rock that then is spewed out by a volcano

67
Q

What is El Niño?

A

It is a climate pattern that last 6-18 months and causes weather different to the expected seasonal patterns and variations. They cause events such as droughts, heavy rain and flooding.

68
Q

What is meteorology?

A

Study of the atmosphere, forecasting weather and its processes

69
Q

Measurements of atmospheric conditions

A

Temperature, precipitation, wind, humidity, pressure, wind speed and direction.

70
Q

What is latitude?

A

Distance from the equator

71
Q

High latitude ecosystems

A

Tundra and taiga

72
Q

Mid latitude ecosystem

A

Grassland, temperate forest, chaparral

73
Q

Tilt of the Earth

A

23.5º on its axis

74
Q

What are breezes?

A

Result of different capacities for absorbing heat of the ocean and the land

75
Q

What is wind?

A

Result of air moving by convection

76
Q

What are thunderstorms?

A

They form when there is moisture to form rain clouds, unstable air and lift. Thunder is a sonic shock wave caused by the rapid expansion of air around lightning

77
Q

What are cyclones?

A

Large air masses rotating in the same direction as Earth

78
Q

What is a cold front?

A

Mass of cold air that moves into a warm air front, producing clouds, rain, thunder and lightning

79
Q

What is a stationary front?

A

When a warm and cold front meet but neither is strong enough to move the other.

80
Q

What is an occluded front?

A

When a cold front pushes into a warm front, the warm air rises and the two masses of cool air join.

81
Q

Symbols for each front

A

Cold front: blue line with triangles pointing in the direction of movement
Warm front: Red line with semicircles pointing in the direction of movement
Stationary front: Blue line with red semicircles and triangles pointing in opposite directions
Occluded front: Purple line with alternating semicircles and triangles

82
Q

What is astronomy?

A

Study of celestial objects and their positions, movements and structures

83
Q

How was the universe created?

A

Big Bang, huge explosion that spread the matter into space, the universe is still expanding

84
Q

What is an AU?

A

Astronomical Unit. 1 AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun

85
Q

What is a light year?

A

1 light year is the distance that light travel in a vacuum in one year

86
Q

Star life cycle

A

There are two paths for a star

Stellar nebula - Red Giant - Planetary Nebula - White Dwarf

Stellar nebula - Red Supergiant - Supernova - Neutron Star

87
Q

What is a protostar?

A

Developing star not hot enough to do nuclear fusion. If it doesn’t get hot enough, it’ll become a brown giant

88
Q

What is a nebula?

A

Cloud of dust and gas composed primarily of hydrogen and helium

89
Q

Spectral classification

A

Hottest to coolest: Oh Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me

O: Blue
A: White
G: Yellow
M: Red

90
Q

Parts of the sun

A

Photosphere: Surface
Chromosphere: Red layer
Corona: Outer layer

91
Q

How is the Sun’s energy created?

A

Through nuclear fusion. Hydrogen is converted to helium and gamma rays

92
Q

What is the Kuiper Belt?

A

Belt of small, icy objects beyond Neptune’s orbit

93
Q

What is a comet?

A

Small icy body with a tail of gas

94
Q

What is a meteroid?

A

Small piece of rock.

95
Q

What is an asteroid?

A

Minor planet made of metal and rock

96
Q

What is a dwarf?

A

Object big enough to have a gravitational force but not big enough to clear the space around it

97
Q

What is an equinox?

A

The length of day and night is roughly equal

98
Q

What is a solstice?

A

Days with most or least amount of sunlight

Science 116 (4 decks)

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