Earth's History and Fossil Record Flashcards
A place where two tectonic plates meet is called
convergent boundary
A place where two tectonic plates slide past one another is called
transform plate boundary
A place where two tectonic plates move away from one another is called
divergent boundary
The point at Earth’s surface above an earthquake is called
the epicenter
Earthquake waves that travel through the Earth’s interior are called
body waves
The actual point where the slipping between tectonic plates occurs is called
the focus
Earthquake waves that travel along the top of the Earth’s crust are called
surface waves
Earthquake waves that are caused when bedrock contracts and expands are called
p waves
Earthquake waves that are result in the movement of materials in Earth’s upper layers are called
s waves
The distance from the earth’s equator is described as
lattitude
When heated rock becomes less dense and rises, cool more dense rock will sink down to take its place, creating a cycle within Earth’s crust. This phenomenon is best referred to as
conviction
Which layer of Earth creates the magnetic field?
inner core
Most of the mantle is part of the
asthenosphere
The boundary between the crust and the mantle is referred to as the
Moho
Evidence for continental drift includes fossils
fossils
shape of the continents
rock formations
The San Andreas fault is an example of a
transform boundary
The Andes Mountains are an example of a
convergent boundary
The Himalayan Mountains are an example of a
convergent boundary
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of a
divergent boundary
Japan is an example of a
convergent boundary
Hawaii is an example of a
hot spot
The Great Rift valley is an example of a
divergent boundary
A _____________ volcano is built up of many layers of lava and ash; Mount Shast and Mount Fuji and examples
composite
A broad, shallow cone from slow cooling lava is known as a ____________ volcano; Mauna Loa is an example.
sheild
Mount Saint Helens is an example of a _____________ volcano because it has a steep, convex cone.
dome
Iceland is an example of a _____________ volcano because it is on a divergent boundary.
fissure
Yellowstone and Mammoth Mountain are older volcanoes with very large craters, also known as ___________ volcanoes.
caldera
The Earth has seasons because
The Earth is tilted on its axis
During the _________________ months, the Earth is tilted toward the Sun, making the sun’s rays strike the Earth’s surface at a _________________ angle.
summer; perpendicular
Most of the energy that drives the plate tectonic process on Earth comes from
the heat released by the core
The slow movement of magma within Earth’s interior is a result of
convection cells
Volcanoes most commonly occur along
convergent and divergent boundaries
Volcanic eruptions can affect the Earth’s climate because
the give off a lot of heat
the emit SO2, which forms SO4 in the atmosphere and helps form clouds
The main factor that determines why the Earth’s surface temperatures is hotter at the equator than at the poles is
angle of incoming solar radiation
An example of a continental divergent plate boundary would be
the great rift valley in Africa
The fossil record shows _________________, but not _______________.
macroevolution; microevolution
Earth’s history is divided into
4 major eons
A mass extinction in the fossil record is generally followed by a
a massive radiation of life
A _______________ occurs because of the availability of open niches following a large extinction event.
massive radiation of life
The 4 eons of Earth’s history, from oldest to youngest, are
Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic
The eon that occurs from 4.6 to 3.8 BYA is the
Hadean
The eon that occurs from 540 MYA to the present is the
Phanerozoic
The eon that occurs from 2.5 BYA to about 540 MYA is the
protozoic
The eon that occurs from 3.8 to 2.5 BYA is the
Archean
The event that defines the border between the Hadean and the Archean eons in the
evolution of life
The event that defines the boundary between the Proterozoic and the Phanerozoic is the
evolution of complex multicellular organisms
The event that defines the boundary between the Archean and the Proterozoic is the
evolution of photosynthesis
. The first organisms present in the fossil record are the
prokaryotic cells
The first organisms that could do photosynthesis were the
prokaryotic cells
The 3 major eras of the eon, from oldest to youngest, are the
Paleozoic, Cenozoic, Mesozoic
The event that separates the Paleozoic from the Mesozoic is the
formation of Pangea
The event that separates the Mesozoic from the Cenozoic is the
meteor impact that caused a mass extinction
The Permian, Devonian, and Silurian are all part of the __________________ era.
Paleozoic
The Quaternary is part of the ____________________ era.
centizoci
The Triassic and Jurassic periods are part of the ___________________ era.
Mesozoic
Large scale environmental changes, like those resulting from the formation of Pangea, most immediately result in
mass extinctions
The first photosynthetic organisms evolved during the ________________ eon.
Archean
The first life on Earth evolved during the ____________________ eon
hadeon
The first complex multicellular life evolved during the _________________ era.
paleozoic
Humans evolved during the _____________________ era.
cenizoic
Precambrian refers to
The first 3 eons of earths history
