Earth Science And Geology

Question 0

How many major plates of lithosphere are there?

Answer 0

There are 6 major plates and more than a dozen smaller. The slide on top of the asthenosphere which is believed to be very viscous.

Question 1

What are the Main layers of earth?

Answer 1

Lithosphere(includes outer crust)
Athenosphere (relatively plastic)
Upper mantle
Mantle
Outer core (molten)
Inner core (solid)

Question 2

What types of crust are there?

Answer 2

Oceanic thinner(6.5 miles thick) and denser than the other type Continental(25 miles thick).

Question 3

How is the continental crust formed?

Answer 3

When magma cools on the surface

Question 4

What is a subduction zone?

Answer 4

An area where tectonic plate meet and one is pushed under another. It is the place where most volcanic activity occurs

Question 5

What are the three main types of rocks?

Answer 5

Igneous (crystallized magma, makes up largest portion of earth’s structure)
Sedimentary (compacted sediments)
Metamorphic (heat and pressure warp sedimentary stone, marble,slate)

Question 6

What is a common isotope used to find the age of objects up to 40,000 years old?

Answer 6

Carbon-14

Question 7

What led scientists to be able to date rocks and fossils more accurately?

Answer 7

The discovery if radioactivity in the 1890’s

Question 8

What type if clouds form thunderstorms?

Answer 8

Cumulonimbus. The dark gray towering clouds. Puffy, fair weather cumulus clouds can transform into these. Anything with “nimbo” means rain.

Cirrostratus are the thin, high-level clouds and nimbostratus looks like a gray sheet and can bring rain.

Question 9

Why is it cooler in the mountains?

Answer 9

The air is thinner due to decreased atmospheric conditions, so there are less molecules to absorb heat.

Question 10

What is the era 248-65 million years ago that is made of the triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods?

Answer 10

The Mesozoic. Means “middle animals”

Question 11

What is a giant ball of rock and ice that orbits the sun?

Answer 11

A comet. They are sometimes called dirty snowballs.

Question 12

What is limestone?

Answer 12

A sedimentary rock formed from the shells, bones, and waste deposits of sea life. A marker that it was underwater at one time.

Question 13

Sublimation

Answer 13

Physical change where a solid turns to gas. For example Iodine

Question 14

What is an example of the rain shadow effect?

Answer 14

A town on the leeward side (protected from the wind) receives little annual rainfall.

Question 15

What is the Mohs scale?

Answer 15

Scale of mineral hardness. Talc 1, Iron ranks about 5, Quartz 7, Sapphire 9

Question 16

What are the 4 steps in the water cycle?

Answer 16

Evaporation
Condensation (clouds form together)
Precipitation
Collection

Question 17

What is an Anemometer?

Answer 17

Instrument that measures wind speed.

Question 18

What is the part of the earth where most earthquakes take place?

Answer 18

The crust.

Question 19

What are alluvial plains?

Answer 19

Landforms at the base if hills made by deposits of sediment from erosion and weathering. Often see them in desert environments like the Death Valley. Formed on land and typically dry.