Exam practice Flashcards
Quesiton
What is a hypothesis?
essentially an ‘educated guess’
about what nature will do or why nature does
what it does
What is the difference between a hypothesis and
a theory?
Starting point: a set of observations and/or
measurements
What is a theory?
A theory is an accepted explanation for an
observation or set of data
When does a hypothesis become a theory?
A hypothesis becomes a theory only after
extensive testing produces no better explanation
What is the difference between a theory and a
law?
Scientific law is an observation used to predict future behavior, while a theory is used to explain an observation
What is inside of the Earth?
Crust, Upper mantle, Lower mantle, Outer core, Inner core
What are the two sets of terminology used to talk about the layer of earth?
Chemical Composition: Oceanic crust, Continental Crust, Mantle and Outer and Inner core
Material Behavior: Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Mantle, and Outer/Inner core
What is a Seismic Discontinuity?
Change in the seismic velocity at some boundary in
the earth
What are there Seismic Discontinuities?
Changes in chemical composition or crystal structure
of rocks
What are the characteristics of something that
make it a Mineral?
Solid, Natural, Organic, Ordered internal structure, specific chemical composition
What is the difference between an element and
a mineral?
Element: a pure chemical substance consisting of
only one type of atom
What is an atom?
smallest particle into which an element can
be divided while still retaining its chemical
characteristics
What is a Molecule?
Two or more atoms held together
What are the processes that grow minerals?
Molten rocks cools, surface water evaporates, diffusion within rock, diffusion, Hydrothermal Fluids, Fossils
What are the three main types of rock (based on
their mechanism of formation)?
Igneous
Sedimentary
Metamorphic
What are the two type of rocks?
Crystalline and Clastics
How minerals form rocks?
By interlocking minerals that grew together know as Crystalline rocks
Form from pieces or grains of other rocks known as Clastic rocks
Why do rocks melt?
interior of Earth is hot - geothermal gradient
as we go deeper into the Earth, it gets hotter
How do sedimentary rocks form?
1) from grains that break off pre-existing rock
and become cemented together
2) from minerals that precipitate out of
solution
What happens to rocks to cause
metamorphism?
form when preexisting
rocks undergo changes in response to heat
and pressure
Who came up with the idea of continental drift?
Continental Drift was Proposed
by artic meteorologist Alfred
Wegener:
Why wasn’t the idea widely accepted?
He had no good mechanism for
explaining how these positions
changed
What was the evidence for moving continents?
He suggested that the positions
of continents changed-the
continents drifted apart over
time
What were the 5 different types of evidence that
suggested that the continents had moved?
Glaciers
Mountain Belts
Fossils
Past Climate
Rock Similarities
What is plate tectonics?
Theory that describes the motion of the earth’s
lithospheric plates
What are the forces that move the plates?
Which is most important?
Slab Pull and Convection
Slab pull is the most important
What are the three main types of plate tectonic
boundaries?
Divergent Boundary
Convergent Boundary
Transform Boundary
Where do deep sea trenches form?
Accretionary wedge
What type of plate boundary has subduction?
Convergent plate boundary
What type of plate boundary doesn’t have
volcanoes?
Transform Boundary
Why are mid-ocean ridges higher than
surrounding lithosphere?
Rising Solid- ductile hot mantle
Where do the oceans spread apart?
At the crust
