Earth Science Flashcards
Supercontinent that takes its name from the Greek ‘all earth’ It’s the combination of all the continents that were all connected in the early days of the earth, surrounded by the superocean Panthalassa.
Pangaea
Second most abundant mineral in earths crust composed of silicon and oxygen. This is the natural form of silicon dioxide.
Quartz
Technique that uses sound to detect underwater objects and navigate
Sonar
Feature that forms from the collapse of cinder cone, a type of volcano
Caldera
Pronounced absence of precipitation over a stretch of time
Drought
This entity “floats” on top of a lower layer when subject to isostasy [[EYE-soss-tuh
see]]. This layer’s most abundant elements by weight are oxygen and silicon. The boundary
between this layer of the Earth and the mantle is known as the Moho discontinuity. For the
point, name this outermost layer of the Earth.
Crust
This layer lies beneath the crust of the earth
Mantle
The border between the crust and the mantle of the earth surface
Moho
Marine invertebrates that consist of tiny polyps which make up the reefs that serve as an ecosystem for many marine animals
Corals
Also known as the Last Ice Age, peaked approximately 22,000 years ago and ended about 11,700 years ago.
Last Glacial Period
Molten rock that is expelled during a volcano eruption.
Lava
Process of extracting natural gas and oil from shale rock
Fracking
The warming effect of this natural phenomenon has increased the biodiversity of
areas like Nantucket. The Antilles Current connects with this phenomenon at the intersection
of the Florida Strait. For the point, name this warm ocean current that originates in the Florida coast in the
southern US and makes its way along the eastern coastline through the North Atlantic and moderates Europe’s climate, largely responsible for the relatively warm temperatures of Western Europe considering its otherwise high latitude.
Gulf Stream
The geological process by which water and/or wind transports and removes soil
Erosion
The inner core is the innermost layer of the Earth. Unlike the outer core, it is a solid ball made primarily of what?
Iron
Marine invertebrates that consist of tiny polyps. The largest reef system in the world is the Great Barrier Reef, which stretches for 1,429 miles over an area of 133,000 square miles.
Corals
Cycles of regular directional winds that cause dry and rainy seasons in the Earth’s tropics.
Monsoons
A biome characterized by evergreen trees and high amounts of rainfall. A notable example is the Amazon, which covers 40% of South America.
Rainforest
Human activities have contributed to the formation of acid rain. A common cause of acid rain is this.
The burning of fossil fuels.
Subdivisions of periods are referred to as this. Holocene is the name of the current one.
epochs
These type of rocks are formed after a rock undergoes a change after being exposed to intense heat or pressure. Slate, soapstone, and marble are all examples of this type of rock.
Metamorphic
Thick masses of ice and snow that covers a vast area of land.
Ice caps
The periodic cooling phase of waters across the east-central equatorial Pacific. During La Niña events, stronger
trade winds push warm water toward Asia.
La Niña
The layers of the Earth’s atmosphere from lowest to highest
troposphere , stratosphere , mesosphere , thermosphere , exosphere , magnetosphere .
In these structures, dripping water deposits calcium salts, which either form into mounds called stalagmites or stalactites.
Caves
Seismologists measure the magnitude of an earthquake by using this
Richter scale
This occurs when winds push surface water away from the shore, resulting in deep water being brought
to the surface of the ocean.
Upwelling
An area of cold, low pressure air that encircles both the Earth’s polar regions
Polar vortex
The last period of the Cenozoic Era that spans from 2.58 million years ago to the present
Quaternary
This forms when cold air passes over a lake’s warmer waters, resulting in the rising of warm air and the formation of clouds and snow
Lake-effect snow
A type of pollution, is a form of precipitation with very low pH levels. It can kill trees. Common causes of this pollution include the burning of
fossils, typically produced by vehicles and factories.
Acid rain
Hot springs which eject streams of water above ground
Geysers
Molten rock stored underground until it erupts from volcanoes and becomes known as lava.
Magma
Stalagmites and stalactites are rock formations that are found in caves and are typically made of what?
Limestone
The upwelling of magma during which event forms a new oceanic crust. This phenomenon was corroborated by the Vines-Matthew-Morley hypothesis,
where a series of magnetic stripes were observed. Convection (+) currents in the
asthenosphere cause this phenomenon, which was first proposed by Harry Hess.
Basaltic crust is created at (*) mid-ocean ridges as a result of this process. For the points, name this process where new oceanic crust is formed as a result of older crust moving apart.
seafloor spreading
A type of large, destructive wave that can be caused by seismic events.
Tsunami
The primary component of the Earth’s mantle, a region whose upper ductile portion is known as
the asthenosphere.
Silicate rock
These come in different varieties, including the thin and wispy cirrus and the tall and towering cumulonimbus.
Clouds
The layers of this area in nature include the emergent, canopy, and understory. Temperate and tropical are two
different varieties of this area in nature.
Rainforest
A type of aquatic habitat home to numerous organisms. The largest of these systems is the Great
Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.
Coral Reef
Structures of the Earth, whose movement can cause continental drift.
Tectonic plates
An iron sulfide mineral that is also known as fool’s gold due to its lustrous colors.
Iron pyrite
Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma sit in an “alley” named for what weather phenomenon?
Tornado
Cumulus, cumulonimbus, and stratus are all types of what?
Clouds
Fjords are created by what large accumulations of ice that cover landmasses like
Greenland?
Glaciers
Zooxanthellae live symbiotically with what cnidarians that form reefs?
Coral
Giraffes lives in the wild exclusively on what continent?
Africa
What group of large reptiles are believed to have gone extinct due to an asteroid impact in
the Yucatán peninsula?
Dinosaurs
What large ruptures in earth’s crust spew lava and ash?
Volcanoes
Roughly 90 percent of the world’s earthquakes occur in the basin of what body of water?
Pacific Ocean
Weather occurs in which layer of the atmosphere?
Troposphere (also known as the lower atmosphere)
Which of the following terms best describes the Ohio River in relation to the Mississippi
River?
Tributary
Rocks are classified as either metamorphic, sedimentary, or which other type?
Igneous
North American, Eurasian, Nazca, and Arabian are examples of which thing?
Tectonic plates
Which of the following scientists is best known for their contributions to primatology after
having studied chimpanzees for decades?
Jane Goodall
Which type of clouds are also known as thunderheads, and are where thunderstorms are
found?
Cumulonimbus
Retreating glaciers can leave behind deposits of rock and sediment known as what?
Moraines
Which layer of the atmosphere lies farthest from the surface of the earth?
Exosphere
What type of dinosaur was Sue at the Field Museum in Chicago?
Tyrannosaurus rex
This desert is the alleged home of a “Death Worm,” which may be the Tartar sand boa.
This desert was formed by the rain shadow of the Tibetan Plateau, and it is the native habitat
of the Bactrian camel. China constructed a “Green Wall” to contain, for the point, what large
Asian desert that covers southern Mongolia?
Gobi Desert
Mary Anning collected these objects in Lyme Regis. Types of these objects include
coprolites, and an arrangement of these objects comprise “Sue” at Chicago’s Field Museum.
Iguanodon and Diplodocus were identified after discovering, for the point, what objects dug
up by paleontologists?
Fossils
A volcano plot depicts how these substances bind according to the Sabatier principle.
The number of active sites in the heterogenous type of these substances are lowered by
“Poisoning,” and these substances provide an alternate reaction pathway by stabilizing the
transition state and lowering the activation energy. For the point, name these substances that
speed up chemical reactions.
Catalyst
The deadliest instance of this phenomenon affected the cities of Daulatpua and Saturia in Bangladesh. These phenomena that can form from supercells are measured by their
intensity on the Fujita scale. Waterspouts are aquatic versions of, for the point, what
devastating natural disasters of revolving air columns?
Tornado
Pedology is the scientific field concerned with the formation of this material that is
grouped into layers called horizons. Along with water and gases, this material is primarily composed of sand, silt, and clay. For the point, identify this nutrient-rich mixture of organic material used to plant flowers and crops.
Soil
Algeria has constructed a dam named for this color to halt overgrazing, and engineers in several African countries are constructing a Great Wall of this color to contain the Sahara Desert. Along with red, this color names a type of colorblindness that is more prevalent in males. For the point, name this color that identifies a type of beryl known as emerald.
Green
These biomes are the predominant environment in which the European chamois goat-antelope is found. The pika is a close relative of the rabbit that can be
found in these biomes that also contain South American camelids such as guanacos and vicuñas. Plant-life typically stops above the snow line in, for the point, what high-altitude biomes that include the Himalayas?
Mountains
Plumes of this region are believed to cause volcanic hot spots. The highly ductile
upper portion of this region is known as the asthenosphere, and conductions in the semi liquid portions of this region cause the movement of tectonic plates. For the point, name this region of the Earth located between the inner core and the crust.
Mantle
Because it lacks a differentiated core, this phenomenon on the moon is concentrated in the crust. Rocks that naturally exhibit this phenomenon are called lodestones. The geodynamo theory proposes that this phenomenon in the Earth is created by the liquid outer core, causing compasses to point north. For the point, name this phenomenon which
attracts metals like nickel and iron.
Magnetism
This structure is above the Moho discontinuity, which separates it from the layer below. The outer part of the lithosphere is made up of this layer, which comes in oceanic and continental forms. This structure is generated at mid-ocean ridges and destroyed at subduction zones and is primarily composed of silica and oxygen. Resting atop the mantle, for the point, name this outermost layer of the Earth’s surface.
Crust
When these objects form on top of each other, they are known as “pileus.” The term “nimbus” refers to examples of these objects associated with storms. At high altitudes, these objects are composed of ice crystals and are called “cirrus.” Lower level varieties of these objects include stratus and cumulus. For the point, name these large masses of water vapor from which rain is released.
Cloud
Extremely viscous types of this substance can form coulées. Common forms of this
substance include ʻaʻā [[AH-AH]] and pahoehoe [[pah-HOE-ay-HOE-ay]]. When released underwater, this substance can form its “pillow” variety. Extrusive igneous rocks such as pumice are formed by the cooling of this substance. Prior to being ejected, this substance is known as magma. For the point, name this molten rock which is ejected by volcanoes.
Lava
One collection of these features gives its name to the Jurassic period. The process of folding in the crust can create these features. Varieties of these landforms include fold, block, and volcanic. Orogeny
refers to the creation of a new range of these geographical landmasses due to uplift of tectonic plates. For the point, name this type of landmass, examples of which include Kilimanjaro and Everest.
Mountain
These objects can be placed into three principal categories based on work by Luke Howard, who developed the common Latin nomenclature used to describe them. Types of these objects include lenticular, nacreous, and contrails. Common classifications include cirrus, stratus, or cumulus. For the point, name these puffs of air and water vapor which form in the sky
Clouds
After obtaining the product of this task, concentrating is done to remove gangue
[gang]. This task has open pit, strip, and underground varieties. An effective method of cracking rock for this task was re-setting, which was Alfred Nobels reason for inventing dynamite. For the point, name this task of extracting valuable material from the Earth, such as coal, diamonds, and various ores
Mining
Erta Ale in Ethiopia is home to a lake filled with this substance. Domes named for this
substance occur when it piles up near the vent due to slow movement through the conduit. This substance comes in pahoehoe [pahho-ay ho ay] and aa [ah
ah] varieties. This substance cools to form extrusive rocks like pumice and is emitted along with tephra. If this substance cools fast enough, it forms the glassy rock
obsidian. For the point, name this hot fluid ejected from a volcano.
Lava
The largest fossil of this dinosaur was excavated at the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota and is nicknamed after its discoverer Sue Hendrickson. That fossil of this dinosaur is
in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. This bipedal carnivore had a large head and short forelimbs. For the point, name this large Cretaceous period dinosaur whose name translates to Tyrant
Lizard King.
Tyrannosaurus Rex (or T-rex)
This type of rock can be felsic or ma c depending on their chemical composition, and peridotite is one of them found mainly in the mantle. Examples of them include granite and basalt and
they can be extrusive or intrusive depending on whether they are formed from lava or magma. For the
point, name this class of rocks that is contrasted with sedimentary and metamorphic
igneous rocks
This biome is the primary home of the rock ptarmigan [tarmegan] whose Svalbard variety
is a terrestrial bird unique to the archipelago. The treeline is the point at which this biome and the Taiga
meet. This biomes vegetation includes lichen and moss, but not trees due to high elevation, permafrost subsoil, and low temperatures. For the point, name this cold biome that makes up most of the Arctic circle.
Tundra
These features form cryptodomes and leave behind calderas when they collapse. Varieties of a substance produced by these features include pahoehoe
[pa ho-ay ho ay], aa, and pillow. These features come in shield, cone, and composite varieties. More than 75% of the worlds active ones are in the Ring of Fire. Vesuvius and Mount St. Helens are examples of, for the point, what openings in the earths crust
that expel lava?
Volcano
These events can be described by elastic-rebound theory, and they are common at strike-slip faults. These disasters originate at a point known as their epicenter, and when that point is under the sea,
these events can cause tsunamis. The Richter scale measures, for the point, what natural disasters that cause the ground to shake?
Earthquakes
German shelters called schneekragens guard against these phenomena by offering safe corridors. Terrain, weather, and packing of a certain material are
part of a three-part model of this phenomenon that can occur in slab and powder types. Loud noises and other disturbances can trigger, for the point, what destructive natural phenomenon also called a snow slide?
Avalanches
The boundary between part of this region and its upper neighbor is sometimes named for Keith Bullen or Inge Lehmann. Analysis of seismic waves and the magnetic field have determined the outer portion of this layer is likely a solid ball composed of a nickel-iron alloy.
For the point, identify this innermost geologic layer of Earth.
Earth’s Core
Temperature increases with elevation in this layer of the atmosphere until its upper
boundary, where the ozone layer can be found. In this layer of the atmosphere, certain cirrus clouds can occur above the tropopause. For the point, name this atmospheric layer where U2 spy planes have operated for decades and from which the extreme sport athlete Felix
Baumgartner jumped and survived.
Stratosphere
The cirque and valley-head are types of these formations. Ridges protruding from
these formations are called nunataks, and the thermal state of these formations makes them either temperate or polar. These formations move via basal sliding, and their leftover deposits are called eskers. For the point, identify these slow-moving formations of ice.
Glacier
This phenomenon is usually accompanied by eastern movement of atmospheric
convection. This weather pattern is the warm phase of a southern oscillation named for it, and it is responsible for the seasonal rise of ocean temperatures. For the point, identify this warm weather pattern, which is contrasted with La Niña and named for the Spanish for “the boy.”
El Niño
The deadliest one of these events was prompted by the 1970 Ancash
earthquake, and it (+) became the second-deadliest landslide-related event in
twentieth century South America. Slab types of these events occur by the collapse of a weak layer beneath a layer of tightly packed (*) graupel. For the points, name this rapid flow of snow down a steep slope, such as a mountain.
Avalanche
When constructed, the Yakutsk TV Tower was the tallest structure built on
this surface, which can be found in patterns such as palsas and pingos. This material extended south to New (+) Jersey during the last Ice Age. This surface, whose erosion in Siberia led scientists to worry about vast carbon dioxide releases into the air, is common in the (*) tundra. For the points, name this type of ground that remains below the freezing point for two or more years.
Permafrost
A form of this event that glows red in the dark is called nuée ardente. A
variation of this event occurred on Mount Unzen in Japan, killing Harry Glicken
alongside Katia and Maurice (+) Krafft. That type of variation occurs when this event is composed of more rock than gas. This natural disaster is often caused by fountain collapses, which prompted this type of event’s destruction of (*) Herculaneum. For the points, name this fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter, collectively known as
tephra, that destroyed the ancient city of Pompeii.
Pyroclastic flow
This region is the namesake of a hypothesis that predicts domal topographic uplift events. Post-perovskite (+) most likely exists in the bottom-most part of this region. The asthenosphere lies below the Moho discontinuity in this layer of Earth. The D-double prime layer marks the boundary between this layer and the (*) outer core. For the points, name this largest layer of Earth below the crust.
Mantle
This region of Earth’s atmosphere contains the Kennelly-Heavyside layer. The
plasmasphere lies above this atmospheric region. The D (+) layer, E and sporadic E
layers, and the F layer subregions all make up this region. The thermosphere is
encompassed within this region, which also contains parts of the mesosphere and (*) exosphere. For the points, name this electron-charged region of the atmosphere.
Ionosphere
These land features’ location qualifies them as ecotones between river and
maritime environments. One (+) of these bodies of water drains into the Atlantic
Ocean, and it was formed at the Punta Gorda by the confluence of the Uruguay and (*) Parana Rivers. For the points, name this body of water with a direct connection to the ocean and with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it.
Estuary
Leopold von Buch divided this period into three categories called the Black,
Brown, and White. Remnants (+) of limestone from this geological era were first identified in the French-Swiss mountain range after which this period was named. Constituting the middle of the (*) Mesozoic Era, this is, for the points, what geological period preceded by the Triassic and succeeded by the Cretaceous?
Jurassic Period
Pebbles of this rock are nicknamed Apache tears. Gray spherulites at crystallization sites in this rock define its “snowflake” variety. This rock, which is often formed by (+) cooling polymerized felsic lava, contains few crystals due to its viscosity. This extrusive igneous rock has a conchoidal [[kon-KOY-dul]] fracture that makes it a common material for (*) scalpel blades. For the points, name this glossy black
volcanic glass.
Obsidian
These structures were found to have eighty shapes according to a
classification system devised by Ching Woo Lee and Choji Magono. Another
classification of these structures is outlined in the (+) Nakaya diagram, which
suggests that its various formations are dependent on supersaturation and
temperature. Formed through the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen (*) process, these are, for the points, what single ice crystals that come in columns, dendrites, and needles varieties, in which a common adage says that “no two are alike”?
Snowflake
These events occur when the sun and moon are separated by ninety degrees
as viewed from Earth. These events are predicted by measuring the rise of (+) sea
levels, and a small range of heights indicates these events whereas a large range indicates the spring type. Sometimes referred to as a quadrature (*) tide, for the points, what is this tide that occurs when there’s a difference between high and low water?
Neap Tide
This mountain is home to the Pangboche Crater near its summit and formed
during the Noachian Period. This mountain is associated with the Tharsis (+) Montes chain, and has a surface area larger than Hungary. Of known peaks, this mountain is only possibly surpassed by Rheasilvia on Vesta, standing at a height of (*) 72,000 feet. For the points, name this volcano, the highest of Mars and the Solar System.
Olympus Mons
The trailing suction method of this task involves filling hoppers with material
and unloading it once full, while another method involves use of a suction device and a specialized augur. Leonardo (+) Da Vinci developed a schematic for a “drag” tool to perform this task, which was done in ancient times to construct harbors along the Eastern Mediterranean. Sometimes used to recycle sand for “beach (*) nourishment,” for the points, what is the term for excavating material from beneath the water?
dredging
Because this substance stores as much as ten times more carbon dioxide than
other ecosystems, scientists consider it the most efficient natural carbon sink on
earth. The (+) Tollund Man was preserved in an ecosystem containing this substance,
which makes up fens. Sphagnum moss makes up most of this substance, which is
made of decayed (*) plant matter. For the points, name this substance that can accumulate in bogs.
Peat
The removal of sediments cause surface depressions known as blowouts which are
typically associated with the parabolic type of these topographical features, whose slip face is convex in shape. Draas are a large-scale version of, for the point, what topographical features that are mounds of sand formed by wind deposits?
Sand Dunes
This structure can be classified into Piedmont and Tidewater types and cuts a U shaped valley of surrounding bedrock to form a fjord. The retraction of these
structures can result in the formation of drumlins or moraines. When these structures generally found in polar regions break apart, they form crevasses or large icebergs. Antarctica is made up of, for the point, what large moving body of dense ice?
Glacier
Within these areas are formations made of nodes of calcite, aragonite, or gypsum
known as “popcorn”, and another formation within these areas are made from sheets of calcium carbonates known as flowstones. The erosion of limestone forms, for the point, what natural, underground voids that contain stalactites and stalagmites, a place where spelunkers explore?
Caves
According to the Thornthwaite system, the index relating to the effectiveness of this
weather phenomenon in steppe vegetations ranges between 16 and 31, which classifies it as semiarid. For the point, name this weather phenomenon that formed when frozen or liquid
water is released from clouds, whose subtypes include hail, rain, and snow.
Precipitation
These are not mountains, but one type of these landforms is created due to slow
convergence of tectonic plates and upward movement of the earth’s crust. Another type of these landforms is formed due to the upwelling of magma and the accumulation of lava in layers. Dissected and volcanic are the two major types of, for the point, what features that are formed by thermal expansion and crustal shortening, and are elevated pieces of land with flat tops?
Plateau
Alkali types of these minerals have lower specific gravity than their plagioclase and
orthoclase types. A subclass of these minerals constitutes the continuous branch of Bowen’s reaction series, and a subclass of these minerals defines six on the Mohs hardness scale. For the point, name this most abundant class of minerals in Earth’s crust.
Feldspar
Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote The Long Winter detailing her and her family’s efforts to survive during one of these events. The Storm of the Century caused one of these natural events to occur in March 1993. The National Weather Service states wind speeds must be greater than or equal to 35 miles per hour in order to be, for the point, what type of severe,
prolonged snowstorm?
Blizzard
A handful of isolated populations of this animal on St. Paul Island and Wrangel
Island survived until 4,000 years ago, and a frozen specimen of this animal was discovered at Yukagir. For the point, name this tusked, furry creature that roamed the earth during the last Ice Age.
Wooly Mammoths
The Miller-Urey experiment tested whether this phenomenon led to the first organic compounds on earth. St. Elmo’s fire can be produced by this phenomenon, whose “ball” variety may be explained by the soliton hypothesis. This phenomenon occurs when the atmospheric field strength exceeds three million volts per meter. For the point, name this phenomenon seen during thunderstorms.
Lightning
Some plants in this biome have adapted to utilizing CAM photosynthesis or C4
carbon fixation to minimize the rate of transpiration. Features like ergs and oases can be found in this biome that can be formed by the rain shadow effect or weathering processes. The Gobi and Sahara are examples of, for the point, what type of biome characterized by
little precipitation and arid climate?
desert
Hypercynal flows characterize these landforms, which are formed by river water depositing sedimentary rock as turbidites. The Tocantins river meets the Amazon at one of these landforms. For the point, name these features that form from deposited sediments in locations where rivers meet another body of water.
Delta
The hanging wall lies above the plane of one of these features in the “normal” type,
while the “reverse” type of these features sees the footwall above the plane. Types of these structures include dip-slip and strike-slip. For the point, name these planar fractures in rock, of which a notable one is named after San Andreas.
Fault
To determine this value, one scientist neglected convection and nuclear processes, leading Thomas Huxley to declare that value was magnitudes too small. Lord Kelvin was the first to devise this quantity, which has been calculated using meteorites and zircon deposits.
For the point, name this quantity relating to our planet, which is estimated to be about 4.5 billion years.
Age of the Earth
A type of this phenomenon called jökulhlaup [[yo-KOOL-lahp]] results from volcanic subglacial eruptions or geothermal heating. Glacial retreats can result in examples of this phenomenon, including one that carved out the Columbia River Gorge. For the point, name
this phenomenon in which ice dams melt, leading to an overflow of water.
Flood
One system that classifies this concept was developed by Charles Warren
Thornthwaite in 1931. The earth’s movements are described by Milankovitch cycles, which describe the effects its eccentricity and tilt have on this concept. This concept is classified based on five characteristic vegetations, including rainforest, grassland, and desert. For the
point, name this concept that describes long-term weather patterns in a particular area.
Climate
Some of these natural structures in Rotomahana field were destroyed by the
eruption of New Zealand’s Mount Tarawera. An example of these natural formations is located beside the Hvítá River of Iceland. That formation of this type. known as the Strokkur, has a clear conduit and has been erupting constantly since 1969. For the point, name this type of spring that intermittently ejects steam and boiling water.
Geyser
The Moho discontinuity forms the boundary between this region and what lies below it, and the brittle-ductile transition zone divides this region’s upper and lower areas. This region forms the uppermost boundary of the lithosphere, and isostatic equilibrium is the process by which this region floats over the mantle. For the point, name this outermost layer of the Earth.
Earth’s Crust (or Crust)
Wind forces lead these entities to move at a 90-degree angle from the direction of
the surface wind in Ekman transport, and the Coriolis effect plays a large role in developing the “surface” variety of these entities. “Deep” varieties of these entities are driven by thermohaline circulation. Gyres are rotating examples of these entities, which include the Gulf Stream. For the point, name these large flows of water in the ocean.
Ocean Currents
Kimberlite pipes are often used to mine this mineral, which is placed at the tip of an apparatus in the Vickers test. This material, which is ranked above corundum on the Mohs scale, is a carbon allotrope consisting of a tetrahedrally bonded covalent network lattice. For the point, name this precious mineral, the hardest naturally occurring material.
Diamond
These events can be detected by the presence of a “hook echo” pattern on a Doppler Radar. These events, examples of which include the landspout and waterspout varieties, and their intensity is measured by the TORRO and Fujita scales. A namesake “Alley” in the Central United States depicts, for the point, what meteorological events characterized by a
violent funnel-shaped rotating cloud of air?
Tornado
These markings, which are excavated by paleontologists through the process of
lithification, were discovered by a team led by Mary Leakey in Laetoli and likely belonged to the Australopithecus afarensis species, providing evidence of bipedalism in early hominins. For the point, name these impressions that are left on a surface when a human or animal takes a step?
Footprint
Two oceanic plates colliding at a convergent boundary forms these landforms. The most famous example of adaptive radiation occurs in these ecosystems, which Charles Darwin investigated finches in. For the point, name these landforms surrounded completely by water, examples of which include Galapagos.
Island
Climates in this biome are categorized under ET in the Koppen climate classification. Soil in this biome often contains large amounts of biomass stored as methane under layers of permafrost. This biome can be found in mostly arctic, alpine, and Antarctic variants. For the point, name this biome characterized by little tree growth, low rain and snowfall, and extensive moss and lichen growth.
Tundra
While the “complacent” type of these features show little variation, “sensitive” types allow for easier cross-dating to assign dates to when they were formed. These things, which are compared on skeleton plots, are “crowded” during periods of drought. Dendrochronology is the process of dating these things, which are affected by amounts of rainfall and are found in the cambium. For the point, name these circular patterns found in
wood.
Tree Ring
Edward Lorenz believed that the long-term performance of this task was impossible
due to the butterfly effect. Remote sensing and radiosondes [[“radio”-sahndz]] are used in this task, which is performed pseudo-scientifically on February 2nd with a groundhog. For the point, name this task commonly performed by a meteorologist, who might state that rain is likely tomorrow.
Weather forecast
The predecessors of these rocks undergo diagenesis. Arkose is a feldspar-rich
variant of one example of these rocks, while another example of these rocks is primarily composed of calcite and aragonite. Sandstone and limestone are examples of these rocks. For the point, name these rocks that are formed from cementation of particles and are contrasted with igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Sedimentary rocks
A substance referred to as “virga” can be released from these objects that can be
divided into roll and shelf types. Human activity can form instances of these entities known as contrails, while nacreous varieties of these entities form above the stratosphere. The appearance of halos from these objects form via the passage of sun light through crystals of ice in the cirrus varieties of these objects. Cumulonimbus is one variety of, for the point, what fluffy white objects in the sky?
Clouds
The North Sea is an epeiric sea on one of these entities. This entity ends at the point
of an increasing slope called a ‘break’, before which lie the regions called the slope and rise. The pelagic environment of these entities comprise the neritic zone, while the benthic zone is its seafloor region. For the point, name these portions of a continent submerged under an area of shallow water that can be exposed when sea levels drop.
Continental shelf
These bodies of water become enriched with nutrients during eutrophication. When a river meander is cut off, the “oxbow” varieties of these bodies of water can form. For the point, name these bodies of water that come in glacial and fluvial varieties, examples of which include Michigan and Superior.
Lake
These structures that can produce tephra were observed by the Voyager 2
spacecraft on Triton. The Pacific Ring of Fire is home to many of these structures that can be found at convergent and divergent tectonic plate boundaries, examples of which include Krakatoa and Mauna Loa. Cinder cone, submarine, and shield are all types of, for the point,
what type of structure from which lava erupts?
volcano
One phenomena associated with these events is subject to Omori’s law, which
describes how the frequency of those events decreases reciprocal to the amount of time elapsing from its cause. These events are concentrated at their hypocenter, or focus, and
these events can be followed by aftershocks. For the point, identify this type of seismic event whose magnitude is measured on the Richter scale.
Earthquakes
The Aleutian [[ah-LOO-shen]] arc was formed by subduction along these types of
locations, which were explored by vehicles such as Kaiko and Trieste. The deepest one of these locations is named after a nearby Pacific Island Chain, with its deepest point being Challenger Deep. For the point, name these depressions in the ground caused by tectonic plate movement, some of which include the Marianas.
Oceanic Trenches
A variety of this mineral, along with iridium, is found at the K-Pg boundary and
provides evidence for the hypothesis that an asteroid impact killed the dinosaurs. This mineral is found at the bottom of Bowen’s reaction series. The “shocked” variety of this mineral was found at the Chicxulub crater, and its chemical name is silicon dioxide. For the point, name this mineral that is a seven on the Mohs hardness scale.
Quartz
Locations such as Haua Fteah and Atapuerca contained stone tools from this species’ Mousterian culture. This species, which interbred with the closely related Denisovan group, became extinct roughly 30,000 years ago. For the point, name these hominids with heavy brows, named for the German valley where their remains were discovered.
Neanderthals
Many ammonoids and conodonts went extinct during this period’s Carnian pluvial
episode. During this period, Pangaea began to separate into the continents of Laurasia and Gondwana. This period, which followed the mass extinction of trilobites in the “Great Dying,” gave rise to the archosaurs. The Permian era preceded, for the point, what first
geologic period in the Mesozoic Era, named for a set of three distinct rock layers?
Triassic Period
These objects are harvested to make beer by the Quidi Vidi Brewing Company in
Newfoundland. The largest current one of these objects was first detected in the Weddell Sea and the largest one on record, B-15, broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf in March, 2000. Mostly found near Greenland and Antarctica is, for the point, what type of floating, frozen object that sunk the RMS Titanic?
Iceberg
These types of organisms are classified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is
also responsible for their protection. The IUCN’s Red List lists the status of these creatures, and they’re broken down into categories with abbreviations such as VU or CR. The gray wolf and the humpback whale are examples of, for the point, what type of animals that are classified as vulnerable, threatened, and near-extinct?
Endangered Species
Ralph Solecki controversially claimed that the presence of flower pollen with a
buried member of this species was evidence of ritual burial. This species is believed lto have frequently interbred with the closely related (+) Denisovans
[[deh-NEE-soh-vins]]. The 1983 discovery of this species’s hyoid bone suggests they
had the ability to talk. A valley in Western (*) Germany names, for the point, what
cave-dwelling relatives of modern humans?
Neanderthal
Due to having temperatures near the surface ofthesun,thisregionpassesthe
Curie temperature and is not ferromagnetic. This layer, whose existence is demonstrated by (+) PKiKP waves, is composed of a solid iron-nickel alloy. The liquid outer core surrounds, for the point, what solid metal layer of the Earth?
Inner Core
Large circular holes in these objects are called moulins [[MOO-lins]]. Deposits
created by these objects include eskers and drumlins. Cirques [[SIRKS]], fjords,
and moraines were created by the retreat of these objects which break down at the
coast via calving [[KAV-ing]], forming (*) icebergs. Greenland and Antarctica are covered in, for the point, what massive ice formations?
Glaciers
These objects can form when an empty cavity, such as a gas bubble, is filled
with groundwater that deposits crystalline minerals. These objects are smaller
analogs to vugs and crystal caves. Coming from the Greek word for “Earth-Like,” for the point, what are these hollow rocks containing crystals?
Geode
When this process occurs over a single geographic range, it is termed
“sympatric.” The allopatric type of this process occurs due to geographic isolation, and new branches on phylogenetic [[FY-loh-“genetic”]] trees are formed by this process. The inability of two populations of organisms to (*) breed is caused by, for the point, what ecological process?
Speciation
This rock, the intrusive counterpart of rhyolite, is the most common material
found in Bornhardts. This rock forms its namesake domes at landmarks such as
Sugarloaf Mountain and Yosemite’s Half Dome. This rock contains crystals of
feldspar and quartz and predominantly makes up the continental crust. A
coarse-grained igneous rock, (*) for the point, what is this material commonly used to make high end countertops?
Granite
Common causes of these events, the largest of which occurred in Washington
in 1980, include increases in pore pressure and hydrostatic pressure in surface cracks. The field of predicting these events is called (+) slope stability analysis. These events, which are a form of mass wasting, are often preceded by heavy rains destabilizing the (*) surface layer. For the point, name these potentially catastrophic movements of rock and sediment down a slope.
Mudslides
