Exam practice Flashcards

1
Q

Quesiton
 What is a hypothesis?

A

essentially an ‘educated guess’
about what nature will do or why nature does
what it does

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2
Q

What is the difference between a hypothesis and
a theory?

A

Starting point: a set of observations and/or
measurements

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3
Q

What is a theory?

A

A theory is an accepted explanation for an
observation or set of data

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4
Q

When does a hypothesis become a theory?

A

A hypothesis becomes a theory only after
extensive testing produces no better explanation

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5
Q

What is the difference between a theory and a
law?

A

Scientific law is an observation used to predict future behavior, while a theory is used to explain an observation

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6
Q

What is inside of the Earth?

A

Crust, Upper mantle, Lower mantle, Outer core, Inner core

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7
Q

What are the two sets of terminology used to talk about the layer of earth?

A

Chemical Composition: Oceanic crust, Continental Crust, Mantle and Outer and Inner core

Material Behavior: Lithosphere, Asthenosphere, Mantle, and Outer/Inner core

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8
Q

What is a Seismic Discontinuity?

A

Change in the seismic velocity at some boundary in
the earth

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9
Q

What are there Seismic Discontinuities?

A

Changes in chemical composition or crystal structure
of rocks

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10
Q

What are the characteristics of something that
make it a Mineral?

A

Solid, Natural, Organic, Ordered internal structure, specific chemical composition

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11
Q

What is the difference between an element and
a mineral?

A

Element: a pure chemical substance consisting of
only one type of atom

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12
Q

What is an atom?

A

smallest particle into which an element can
be divided while still retaining its chemical
characteristics

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13
Q

What is a Molecule?

A

Two or more atoms held together

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14
Q

What are the processes that grow minerals?

A

Molten rocks cools, surface water evaporates, diffusion within rock, diffusion, Hydrothermal Fluids, Fossils

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15
Q

What are the three main types of rock (based on
their mechanism of formation)?

A

Igneous

Sedimentary

Metamorphic

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16
Q

What are the two type of rocks?

A

Crystalline and Clastics

17
Q

How minerals form rocks?

A

By interlocking minerals that grew together know as Crystalline rocks

Form from pieces or grains of other rocks known as Clastic rocks

18
Q

Why do rocks melt?

A

interior of Earth is hot - geothermal gradient
 as we go deeper into the Earth, it gets hotter

19
Q

How do sedimentary rocks form?

A

1) from grains that break off pre-existing rock
and become cemented together
2) from minerals that precipitate out of
solution

20
Q

What happens to rocks to cause
metamorphism?

A

form when preexisting
rocks undergo changes in response to heat
and pressure

21
Q

Who came up with the idea of continental drift?

A

Continental Drift was Proposed
by artic meteorologist Alfred
Wegener:

22
Q

Why wasn’t the idea widely accepted?

A

He had no good mechanism for
explaining how these positions
changed

23
Q

What was the evidence for moving continents?

A

He suggested that the positions
of continents changed-the
continents drifted apart over
time

24
Q

What were the 5 different types of evidence that
suggested that the continents had moved?

A

Glaciers
Mountain Belts
Fossils
Past Climate
Rock Similarities

25
What is plate tectonics?
Theory that describes the motion of the earth's lithospheric plates
26
What are the forces that move the plates? Which is most important?
Slab Pull and Convection Slab pull is the most important
27
What are the three main types of plate tectonic boundaries?
Divergent Boundary Convergent Boundary Transform Boundary
28
Where do deep sea trenches form?
Accretionary wedge
29
What type of plate boundary has subduction?
Convergent plate boundary
30
What type of plate boundary doesn’t have volcanoes?
Transform Boundary
31
Why are mid-ocean ridges higher than surrounding lithosphere?
Rising Solid- ductile hot mantle
32
Where do the oceans spread apart?
At the crust