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Geology > Exam practice > Flashcards

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
Q

What is plate tectonics?

A

Theory that describes the motion of the earth’s
lithospheric plates

26
Q

What are the forces that move the plates?
Which is most important?

A

Slab Pull and Convection
Slab pull is the most important

27
Q

What are the three main types of plate tectonic
boundaries?

A

Divergent Boundary
Convergent Boundary
Transform Boundary

28
Q

Where do deep sea trenches form?

A

Accretionary wedge

29
Q

What type of plate boundary has subduction?

A

Convergent plate boundary

30
Q

What type of plate boundary doesn’t have
volcanoes?

A

Transform Boundary

31
Q

Why are mid-ocean ridges higher than
surrounding lithosphere?

A

Rising Solid- ductile hot mantle

32
Q

Where do the oceans spread apart?

A

At the crust

Geology (1 decks)

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