Exam Review Flashcards
Evidence for earth’s rotation
Coreolis effect
Foucaults pendulum
Day and night
Evidence for earth’s revolution
Seasons
Parallax
Where do comets originate?
Kuiper belt
Why do you weight less on the equator?
Earth is an oblate spheroid
Frequency units
Hz
Wavelength units
Angstom
Meters
Most useful type of spectrum for astronomers?
Absorption spectrum
Hubble’s law
All galaxies are moving away from us
Farthest ones are moving fastest
What particles were created first?
Quarks
What epoch did humans arise
Pleistocene
What era did the dinosaurs roam the earth? What periods are they?
Mesozoic era - Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous periods
How does seismology support the theory that earth’s core is a liquid
Earthquakes/seismic activity at all
Magnetic field
Seismic wave speed
Density (inner+outer core have different densities but are both mainly Fe)
Problems with wegener’s theory
Couldn’t explain how the plates moved
He’s a meteorologist (not credible)
Why do earthquakes never happen beneath 650km of earth’s surface?
Rocks act like plastic because high temp
What’s happening down the centre of the Atlantic?
Divergent fault
Difference between magma and lava
Lava is magma above ground
Speed of earth’s revolution
30km/s
Define insolation
Exposure to sun’s rays
Alps and Mediterranean Sea
- subduction
- continent-ocean
- African + Eurasian plates
Mount Kilimanjaro
- divergent
- African + Arabian plates
On what two factors does the force of gravity depend
Mass and distance
Relationships between asteroids, meteoroids, comets
Asteroids = big meteoroids Comers = small asteroids with more ice and dust
What’s a piece of rock of dust that enters our atmosphere?
A meteor
Hits the ground = meteorite
What’s the SDSS and what can we learn from the data it collects?
Sloan Digital Sky Survey
- very detailed maps of universe
- can probably see stuff like how things relate to each other
- computer models probably
Why do we detect remnants of the light from the Big Bang as microwave radiation
Light has been stretched so much that it’s no longer gamma radiation
In which era was earth formed
Pre-geological time
Precambrian era
How is earth’s magnetic field generated
- spinning iron core
- ferromagnetic
Modern evidence for continental drift
- sea floor spreading
- magnetic field (sea floor rock)
What is the ring of fire
- ring around edges of Pacific plate
- lots of tectonic activity
P waves
- primary waves
- longitudinal
- travels through solid and liquid
- fastest
S waves
- secondary waves
- transverse
- only travels through solids
P and S waves are called?
Body waves
Surface waves
- two types (love and Rayleigh)
- only at boundary between 2 substances
- slowest
- high amplitude so most destructive
- rayleigh is longitudinal
- love is transverse
Along which types of plate boundaries to earthquakes typically occur
- all of them
- continent-ocean though (subduction)
How does pahoehoe lava differ from aa lava
- smoother
- slower
- cools slower
- larger crystals
What direction does earth rotate from the perspective of the North Pole
Counter clockwise
Difference between the magnetic North Pole, celestial North Pole and geographical North Pole
- magnetic north - magnetic field’s north is (dependent on core)
- geographical north - most northern part of earth
- celestial north - where axis points
Tibetan plateau
- continental-continental
- Indian and Eurasian plates
Aleutian Islands
- pacific + North American plates
- ocean-continental
As the distance between two bodies increases, the force of gravity _______
Decreases
Point farthest from earth’s orbit
Aphelion
Point closest to the sun in earth’s orbit is called
Perihelion
When is earth closest to the sun
January
Earth’s shape is
Oblate spheroid
In elliptical orbits, when is the planet the fastest
When its closest to the sun
A small body from space that burns up when entering the earth’s upper atmosphere is called
Meteor
Why do we only see one side of the moon
The orbital period of the moon is the same length as its rotational period
Sudden outbursts of solar matter the Suns magnetic lines and returns to the sun without any impact on earth
Solar prominences
Seasons are caused by
Earth’s revolution and axial tilt
What planet has the most prominent ring system
Saturn
What planet has the largest orbital eccentricity
(Most elliptical)
Pluto
What planet has the greatest orbital inclination
(Most tilted orbit)
-Mercury
What planet has no atmosphere
-Mercury
What planet has the largest gravitational force
Jupiter
What planet has retrograde motion
Venus
What planet is the hottest
Venus
How does the moon’s gravity impact us
- tides
- slowing earth’s day down
- keeps our axis tilted
How does jupiters gravity impact us
- saves us from comets and stuff
- stops a planet from forming in the asteroid belt
What three criteria must an object meet to be classified as a planet
- orbit a star
- sphericalish in shape
- neighbourhood cleared
Marianas trench
- pacific + Philippines plates
- ocean-ocean
Red Sea
- African + Arabian plates
- divergent
Japan earthquake
- pacific + Eurasian plates
- ocean-ocean
Azores
- North American + Eurasian + African plates
- diverging + hotspot
In what period did the dinosaurs go extinct?
Cretaceous
Earth’s crust: thickness
Very thin
Earth’s crust: chemical makeup
Light stuff
earth’s crust: seismic behaviour
Yep
Earth’s mantle: thickness
The thickest
Earth’s mantle: chemical makeup
Fe, Si, Mg
Earth’s mantle: seismic behaviour
It literally causes it
Earth’s outer core: thickness
It’s second thickest honestly
Earth’s outer core: chemical makeup
NiFe (l)
Earth’s outer core: seismic behaviour
Not so much
Earth’s inner core: thickness
I mean, second last isn’t too bad, right?
Earth’s inner core: chemical makeup
NiFe (s)
Earth’s inner core: seismic behaviour
None happening here
What type of seismic wave is most destructive? Why?
Surface waves - highest amplitude
Most dangerous aspect of a volcanic eruption
Pyroclastic flow
Pyroclastic flow
Cloud of hot gas + ash
Can be 1000 C
Moves 500miles/h
Why doesn’t the North Star move
Our axis points at it
Where is the sub-solar point on the Equinox
Equator
How does the angle of incidence control the intensity of solar radiation received at earth’s surface
Surface area
In which periods do most of our fossil fuels originate
Carboniferous
What scales are used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes
Richter
Moment magnitude
Mercalli
Moment magnitude scale
Richter but more accurate
Uses log
Mercalli scale
Based on people’s experiences
Not that accurate
What are the different types of zones where volcanoes form
Hot spots
Divergent faults
Convergent boundaries
When is the sub solar point on the Tropic of Cancer
June 21