ESC Midterm Flashcards
A government report about a hurricane would
be part of the discipline of meteorology.
A newspaper article about an earthquake would be reporting on the discipline of
geology.
According to the figure, the birth of the Earth occurred approximately

4,540 Ma.
Glaciers would be considered part of both the cryosphere and the
hydrosphere.
If buying a house in the area shown, Earth Science may help you determine

if the area is safe from natural hazards.
The difference between meteorology and climate science is that
meteorology studies shorter-term conditions of the atmosphere and climate science studies the longer-term trends.
The mantle and core would be considered part of which Earth System realm?
Geosphere
The study of Earth’s oceans and their interaction with Earth’s land and atmosphere is called
oceanography
The theory of _________ is considered to be the foundation of geology.
plate tectonics
Which one of these practical questions may be answered by Earth Science?
What will the weather be like today?
A bathymetric map of the Earth’s oceans would reveal that most of the ocean floor is made up of
abyssal plains.
Earth’s core
generates Earth’s magnetic field.
Edwin Hubble’s research was important because
his measurements of galaxies showed that the Universe is expanding.
From earliest to latest, which of the following is the correct order of events in the formation of Earth?
Formation of accretionary disk, formation of planetesimals, differentiation, formation of Moon
How did the Earth become round?
The early Earth’s interior rock became warm enough to flow in response to gravity.
Scientific cosmology
investigates the overall structure and history of the Universe.
Soil forms when ________ interact(s) with air, water, and organisms.
sediment
The Big Bang
began with all matter and energy concentrated in an infinitesimally small point.
The Moho is the boundary between Earth’s
crust and mantle.
The earliest nebulae to form in the Universe were made almost entirely of
hydrogen and helium.
The geothermal gradient
refers to the rate of increase in temperature with increasing depth in the Earth.
The leading hypothesis for the formation of our Moon states that it
was formed by the collision of Earth with a Mars-sized protoplanet.
The nebular theory explains
how the Solar System formed.
The process by which the Earth developed its layered interior is called
differentiation.

































