Final Exam study Flashcards
What is a mineral?
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. They are non-living, solid, and, like all matter, are made of atoms of elements. Minerals are typically formed when molten rock, or magma, cools, or by separating out of mineral-rich water, such as that in underground caverns.
What is the largest group of minerals?
silicates
What is the hardest naturally occurring mineral?
diamonds
What is the softest naturally occurring material?
talc
What is the formula for calculating DENSITY?
Mass / Volume = Density
Explain the Moh scale of hardness - what is it, what is it used for, and what is the ranking.
Mohs hardness refers to a material’s ability to resist abrasion or scratching. The Moh scale of hardness is used to rank gemstones and minerals according to hardness, on a scale from 1 (very soft) to 10 (very hard).
Name 4 physical properties
Color, streak, luster, hardness
What is luster?
Luster is a characteristic of the light reflected by a mineral. Luster has two categories, metallic and nonmetallic .
What is streak?
The streak of a mineral is the color it displays in finely powdered form.
What is hardness?
Hardness is how well a substance will resist scratching by another substance. /hardness.aspx#sthash.zHuvUChn.dpuf
What is crystal?
A crystal is a solid in which the particles are arranged in a pattern to make shapes with flat surfaces
What is magnetism?
A characteristic that allows a mineral to attract or repel other magnetic materials.
What is Specific Gravity?
Specific Gravity of a mineral is a comparison or ratio of the weight of the mineral to the weight of an equal amount of water.
What is fracture?
Breakage of a mineral, not along planes of weakness in the crystral structure.
What is a Gem?
A gem is a natural, mineral or organic substance, that has substantial beauty, rarity, and durability.
What is ore?
Rock or earth from which metal can be obtained
What is a rock?
A naturally occurring solid aggregate of one or more minerals.
How does an igneous rock form?
Igneous rock is formed when magma cools and solidifies, it may do this above or below the Earth’s surface.
Explain the Mafic igneous rock classification.
Mafic igneous rocks are dark colored and consist mainly of magnesium and iron.
Explain the Felsic igneous rock classification.
Felsic igneous rocks are light in color and are mostly made up of feldspars and silicates.
What is Ultramafic?
Ultramafic igneous rocks are very dark colored and contain higher amounts of magnesium and iron than mafic igneous rocks.
What is the difference between INTRUSIVE and EXTRUSIVE igneous rocks?
The difference between an Extrusive and Intrusive igneous rock is the way in which they cool. An Extrusive igneous rock cools very fast on the surface and is created by lava. Since the cooling process is very fast extrusive igneous rocks have very small crystals (fine grained). On the other hand an Intrusive igneous rock cools very slowly beneath the surface and is created by magma. Since the cooling process is very slow intrusive igneous rocks have very large crystals (coarse grained).
What are the 8 most abundant elements in earth’s crust (the ones which most rocks are made up of)?
Oxygen, Silicon, Aluminum, Iron, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium (O SIC SPAM)
What is sediment?
Solid fragments of inorganic or organic material that come from the weathering of rock and are carried and deposited by wind, water, or ice.
What is the difference between Clastic vs. Nonclastic sedimentary rocks?
Clastic rock is formed from particles of other rock (this is the most common sedimentary rock). Non-clastic is composed of chemical precipitate out of solution.
What are the three forms of sedimentary rocks?
Clastic (rocks are accumulations of little pieces of broken up rock which have piled up and been “lithified” by compaction and cementation). Chemical (formed when standing water evaporates, leaving dissolved minerals behind).
Organic (any accumulation of sedimentary debris caused by organic processes. Many animals use calcium for shells, bones, and teeth).
What are the three types of bedding?
Bedding (a series of visible layers
within a rock; most common
sedimentary structure).
Graded bedding (a progressive change in grain
size from bottom to top of a bed).
Cross-bedding (a series of thin, inclined
layers within a horizontal bed of rocks).
What is the difference between evaporites and precipitates?
Evaporites are water-soluble mineral sediments that result from concentration and crystallization by evaporation from an aqueous solution. Evaporites form in dry climates where the water can rapidly evaporate leaving sediment behind to precipitate.
Precipitates are minerals that settle or rain down after forming from saturated solutions containing the necessary ingredients for that mineral’s formation.
What are the two types of metamorphic rocks?
Foliated and non-foliated
Describe foliated metamorphic rocks.
Foliated metamorphic rocks are formed within the Earth’s interior under extremely high pressures that are unequal, occurring when the pressure is greater in one direction than in the others (directed pressure). This causes the minerals in the original rock to reorient themselves with the long and flat minerals aligning perpendicular to the greatest pressure direction. This reduces the overall pressure on the rock and gives it a stripped look.
Describe non-foliatted metamorphic rocks.
Nonfoliated metamorphic rocks are formed around igneous intrusions where the temperatures are high but the pressures are relatively low and equal in all directions (confining pressure). The original minerals within the rock recrystallize into larger sizes and the atoms become more tightly packed together, increasing the density of the rock.
What is Regional metamorphism?
Characteristics of regional metamorphism:
- Occurs over large areas (1000’s of sq. miles)
- Closely related to episodes of mountain building
- Both temperature and pressure important
What is Contact metamorphism?
Contact metamorphism is a type of metamorphism where rock minerals and texture are changed, mainly by heat, due to contact with magma. This is an easy name to recall if you remember that these rocks change by actually coming in contact with something very hot, like magma.
What two things are necessary for rocks to undergo metamorphism?
Heat and pressure!
Which type of rock (sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic) can become a metamorphic rock?
Sedimentary and igneous can become metamorphic. Metamorphic rocks are already metamorphic :)
How are metamorphic rocks formed?
Metamorphic rocks are made from the transformation of other sedimentary and/or igneous rocks through a process called metamorphism, “change in form”. The original rock is subjected to heat and pressure, causing physical and/or chemical change.
How are igneous rocks formed?
Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
How are sedimentary rocks formed?
Sedimentary rocks are formed from pre-existing rocks or pieces of once-living organisms. They form from deposits that accumulate on the Earth’s surface. Sedimentary rocks often have distinctive layering or bedding.
What is the formula for pressure?
Pressure = Force / Area
or P = F / A
If a person weighs 54 kg (force) and the area of their hell (which is stepping on the ground) is 60cm2 (squared cm)…what is the amount of pressure being put on the person’s heel?
P = Force / Area... P = 54 kg / 60cm2 P = 0.9 kg/cm2
What kind of change, chemical or physical, do rocks undergo when they are HEATED?
CHEMICAL change
What is the process that leads to the formation of IGNEOUS rock?
Igneous rocks are called fire rocks and are formed either underground or above ground. Underground, they are formed when magma deep within the Earth becomes trapped in small pockets. As these pockets of magma cool slowly they become igneous rocks. Igneous rocks are also formed when volcanoes erupt. Igneous rocks are formed as the lava cools above ground. The upper 16 km of the Earth’s crust is composed of 95% igneous rock.
Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/82009/how-are-igneous-rocks-formed/#ixzz33sdTy5Gp
What is the process that leads to the formation of SEDIMENTARY rock?
Sedimentary rocks are formed by sediment that is deposited over time, usually as layers at the bottom of lakes and oceans. This sediment can include minerals, small pieces of plants and other organic matter. The sediment is compressed over a long period of time before consolidating into solid layers of rock. Sedimentary rocks forms layers called strata which can often be seen in exposed cliffs.
Sedimentary rocks cover the majority of the Earth’s rocky surface but only make up a small percentage of the Earth’s crust compared to metamorphic and igneous types of rocks.
What is the process that leads to the formation of metamorphic rock?
Metamorphic rocks have been changed over time by extreme pressure and heat. Metamorphic rocks can be formed by pressure deep under the Earth’s surface, from the extreme heat caused by magma or by the intense collisions and friction of tectonic plates. Uplift and erosion help bring metamorphic rock to the Earth’s surface.
Explain the ROCK CYCLE.
The Rock Cycle is a group of changes. Igneous rock can change into sedimentary rock or into metamorphic rock. Sedimentary rock can change into metamorphic rock or into igneous rock. Metamorphic rock can change into igneous or sedimentary rock.
Explain the Theory of Plate Tectonics.
The Theory of Plate Tectonics states that earth’s surface (outer crust) is broken into shifting plates that move relative to one another. The theory explains the how and why behind mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes, as well as how, long ago, similar animals could have lived at the same time on what are now widely separated continents.
Explain the Continental Drift Theory.
Once all the continents were joined in a super-continent, called Pangaea. Over a vast period of time, the continents drifted apart to their current locations.
What causes plate tectonic movement?
Mantle convection, gravity and the Earth’s rotation cause the plates to move. Plates at the surface move because of the intense heat in the Earth’s core that causes molten rock in the mantle layer to move. It moves in a pattern called a convection cell that forms when warm material rises, cools, and eventually sink down. As the cooled material sinks down, it is warmed and rises again.
What evidence is used to support seafloor spreading and continental drift theory?
The fit of the continents, glacial till deposits, and the shifting of climatic belts over time, paleomagnetism (when hot magma rises to the earth’s surface and cools, the minerals become magnetized in alignment with the Earth’s magnetic field), and mantle convection.
Who created the Continental Drift Theory and named the super continent “Pangea”?
Alfred Wegener, a German scientist in 1915
What are the 3 different types of boundaries?
Transform, divergent, convergent
Explain what the “transform” boundaries.
The two plates slide against each other in a sideways motion - the result of two massive plates pushing against one another is that massive amounts of energy build up. Occasionally this energy is released suddenly in the form of large earthquakes.
Explain “divergent” boundaries.
Where two tectonic plates are moving away from one another - this most often takes place at ocean ridges. These ridges are zones of intense volcanic activity. In addition to forming at the bottom of oceans, these divergent boundaries can also form on continents. When this happens, a line of volcanoes emerges.
Explain “convergent” boundaries.
Two plates push against each other, one is ultimately forced down beneath the other. When this happens near land, we see the earth above the two meeting plates rise, forming spectacular mountain ranges. A parallel oceanic trench typically forms just off the shore, as one plate descends deep into the Earth’s core.
These convergent boundaries commonly cause volcanoes to form, as old crust melts. As two plates rub against one another, a number of small and large earthquakes are common near convergent boundaries.
What is the difference between folds, fractures and faults?
Fractures are when rocks break.
A fold is when a rock twists or bends but does not break. Folds usually occur in a series and look like waves in the rock.
Faults are when rocks under enough stress break and results is a block of rock still standing on either side of a fracture line; f the blocks of rock on one or both sides of a fracture move, the fracture is called a fault.
Describe the two types of folds: anticline and syncline
ANTICLINE: a fold that arches upward. The rocks dip away from the center of the fold. The oldest rocks are found at the center of an anticline and the youngest ones are draped over them. When rocks arch upward to form a circular structure, that structure is called a DOME.
SYNCLINE: a fold that bends downward. The rocks curve down to a center; the youngest rocks are at the center and the oldest at the outsides. When rocks bend downward in a circular structure, that structure is called a BASIN.
How are faults classified, and what are the 3 types of faults?
We classify faults by how the two rocky blocks on either side of a fault move relative to each other. The types are: Normal, Reverse, and Strike-Slip
What is a “Normal” fault?
A normal fault drops rock on one side of the fault down relative to the other side.
What is a “Reverse” fault?
Along a reverse fault one rocky block is pushed up relative to rock on the other side.
What is a “Strike-Slip” fault?
When rocky blocks on either side of the fault scrape along side-by-side or horizontally (instead of up and down like normal and reverse faults).
What 3 things cause earthquakes?
Plate Tectonic Interaction, Fracturing, and Faulting
Where are earthquakes most likely to occur?
Along plate edges and along faults.
How are earthquakes measured?
Using the Richter Scale (uses a mathematical formula to calculate the magnitude of the earthquake) and the Mericalli Scale (measures the intensity of the quake).
What are the 3 types of waves?
P-Waves, S-Waves, and L-Waves
The actual speed of P and S seismic waves depends on the density and elastic properties of the rocks and soil through which they pass. In most earthquakes, the P waves are felt first. The effect is similar to a sonic boom that bumps and rattles windows. Some seconds later, the S waves arrive with their up-and-down and side-to-side motion, shaking the ground surface vertically and horizontally. This is the wave motion that is so damaging to structures. The third general type of earthquake wave is called a surface wave, reason being is that its motion is restricted to near the ground surface. Such waves correspond to ripples of water that travel across a lake.
Describe a P-Wave.
P-waves are the first waves to arrive because they travel the fastest. Its motion is the same as that of a sound wave in that, as it spreads out, it alternately pushes (compresses) and pulls (dilates) the rock. P waves are able to travel through both solid rock, such as granite mountains, and liquid material, such as volcanic magma or the water of the oceans.
Describe an S-Wave
The slower wave through the body of rock. As an S wave propagates, it shears the rock sideways at right angles to the direction of travel. If a liquid is sheared sideways or twisted, it will not spring back, hence S waves cannot propagate in the liquid parts of the earth, such as oceans and lakes.
Describe an L-Wave
Surface waves that travel more slowly than P and S-waves
What is the epicenter of an earthquake?
The epicenter of earthquakes is directly above where the earthquake actually started along the fault line.
What is the focus of an earthquake?
The point where the rocks actually break is the earthquake focus.
What creates volcanoes?
Plate Tectonics (convergent and divergent boundaries)
List the anatomy of a volcano.
Ash, lava flow, lava dome, lava, vent, tephra, caldera, lahar, fissure, dike, magma,
List the three types of volcanoes.
Shield, Cinder, Composite
Explain a Shield volcano.
Can grow to be very big. tall and broad with flat, rounded shapes.They have low slopes and almost always have large craters at their summits. Fluid lava flows (basalt), Quiet
Explain a Cinder volcano.
Cinder cones are simple volcanoes which have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit and steep sides. They only grow to about a thousand feet, the size of a hill. They usually are created of
eruptions from a single opening.
Explain a Composite volcano.
The most majestic - tall, symmetrically shaped, with steep sides, sometimes rising 10,000 feet high. They are built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, and cinder.
Describe the differences between Active, Dormant, and Extinct volcanoes.
An Active volcano is a volcano that has had at least one eruption during the past 10,000 years. An active volcano might be erupting or dormant.
A dormant volcano is an active volcano that is not erupting, but supposed to erupt again.
An extinct volcano has not had an eruption for at least 10,000 years and is not expected to erupt again in a comparable time scale of the future.
What is half-life?
The time required for any property to decrease by half.
How do geologists use half-life?
If they know the rate of that decay, or the half-life, then they can determine the age of the rock.
Graph half-life data.
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Which elements have a half-life and why?
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What are the 3 different types of radiation?
Alpha, Beta, and Gamma
What is Alpha radiation?
A heavy, very short-range particle and is actually an ejected helium nucleus. Some characteristics of alpha radiation are: Most alpha radiation is not able to penetrate human skin. Alpha-emitting materials can be harmful to humans if the materials are inhaled, swallowed, or absorbed through open wounds. A variety of instruments has been designed to measure alpha radiation. Special training in the use of these instruments is essential for making accurate measurements. A thin-window Geiger-Mueller (GM) probe can detect the presence of alpha radiation. Instruments cannot detect alpha radiation through even a thin layer of water, dust, paper, or other material, because alpha radiation is not penetrating.Alpha radiation travels only a short distance (a few inches) in air, but is not an external hazard. Alpha radiation is not able to penetrate clothing. Examples of some alpha emitters: radium, radon, uranium, thorium.
What is Beta radiation?
Beta radiation is a light, short-range particle and is actually an ejected electron. Some characteristics of beta radiation are: Beta radiation may travel several feet in air and is moderately penetrating. Beta radiation can penetrate human skin to the “germinal layer,” where new skin cells are produced. If high levels of beta-emitting contaminants are allowed to remain on the skin for a prolonged period of time, they may cause skin injury. Beta-emitting contaminants may be harmful if deposited internally. Most beta emitters can be detected with a survey instrument and a thin-window GM probe (e.g., “pancake” type). Some beta emitters, however, produce very low-energy, poorly penetrating radiation that may be difficult or impossible to detect. Examples of these difficult-to-detect beta emitters are hydrogen-3 (tritium), carbon-14, and sulfur-35.Clothing provides some protection against beta radiation. Examples of some pure beta emitters: strontium-90, carbon-14, tritium, and sulfur-35.
What is Gamma radiation?
Gamma radiation and x rays are highly penetrating electromagnetic radiation. Some characteristics of these radiations are: Gamma radiation or x rays are able to travel many feet in air and many inches in human tissue. They readily penetrate most materials and are sometimes called “penetrating” radiation. X rays are like gamma rays. X rays, too, are penetrating radiation. Sealed radioactive sources and machines that emit gamma radiation and x rays respectively constitute mainly an external hazard to humans.
Gamma radiation and x rays are electromagnetic radiation like visible light, radiowaves, and ultraviolet light. These electromagnetic radiations differ only in the amount of energy they have. Gamma rays and x rays are the most energetic of these.
Dense materials are needed for shielding from gamma radiation. Clothing provides little shielding from penetrating radiation, but will prevent contamination of the skin by gamma-emitting radioactive materials.Gamma radiation is easily detected by survey meters with a sodium iodide detector probe.
Gamma radiation and/or characteristic x rays frequently accompany the emission of alpha and beta radiation during radioactive decay. Examples of some gamma emitters: iodine-131, cesium-137, cobalt-60, radium-226, and technetium-99m.
Know “fossils” vocabulary and pre-post test questions.
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How is the geologic period organized?
Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs
How long ago did the earth form (how old is it)>
4.6 billion years
What is an Eon?
about a billion years
What is an Era?
can last 5 years to 100 years are more
What is a Period?
about 80 million years
What is an Epoch?
smaller than a period and larger than an age
What evidence was used to “build” the geologic time scale?
Rocks - age, layers
What is the difference between relative time and absolute time?
Absolute age is the method that scientists determine the age of something. Absolute age provides a numerical value on how long something existed.
Relative age refers to the age that is determined using the sequence of important events, which comes before or after the thing existed.
Which Era was known as the “Age of the Dinosaurs”?
The Mesozoic era
Which Era we are in at present day?
The Cenozoic Era
How and why is the geologic time scale useful to scientists?
The geologic time scale provides a system of chronological measurement relating to time tha is used by geologists, paleontologists and other earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships between events that have occurred during the history of the Earth.
What are the 4 layers of atmosphere?
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere
Which layer of the atmosphere do we live in?
Troposphere
Which layer of the atmosphere contains the ozone?
Stratosphere
Does the temperature increase or decrease with altitude?
Decreases with altitude
Which layer of the atmosphere do planes fly in because there is typically no weather?
Stratosphere
What causes weather to form in the troposphere?
Convection- caused by the temperature gradient
What are the two most abundant gases in our atmosphere?
Nitrogen and Oxygen
What are clouds made up of?
A collection of very tiny droplets of water or ice crystals
How do clouds form?
All air contains water, but near the ground it is usually in the form of an invisible gas called water vapor. When warm air rises, it expands and cools. Cool air can’t hold as much water vapor as warm air, so some of the vapor condenses onto tiny pieces of dust that are floating in the air and forms a tiny droplet around each dust particle. When billions of these droplets come together they become a visible cloud.
What are the three prefixes to describe clouds by altitude?
Strato, Alto, Cirro
What are the four prefixes to describe clouds by shape?
Cumulus, Cirrus, Stratus, Nimbus
What are the three stages of how a thunderstorm develops and ends?
Cumulus - The sun heats the Earth’s surface during the day. The heat on the surface and warms the air around it. Since warm air is lighter than cool air, it starts to rise (known as an updraft). If the air is moist, then the warm air condenses into a cumulus cloud. The cloud will continue to grow as long as warm air below it continues to rise.
Mature - When the cumulus cloud becomes very large, the water in it becomes large and heavy. Raindrops start to fall through the cloud when the rising air can no longer hold them up. Meanwhile, cool dry air starts to enter the cloud. Because cool air is heavier than warm air, it starts to descend in the cloud (known as a downdraft). The downdraft pulls the heavy water downward, making rain.
Dissipating - fter about 30 minutes, the thunderstorm begins to dissipate. This occurs when the downdrafts in the cloud begins to dominate over the updraft. Since warm moist air can no longer rise, cloud droplets can no longer form. The storm dies out with light rain as the cloud disappears from bottom to top.
Study the Types of Clouds worksheet and clouds quiz
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Define relative humidity.
Compares how much water is in the air with how much could be in the air, or in other words, with the maximum vapor pressure.
Define dew point.
Dew point is the temperature at which the air can no longer “hold” all of the water vapor which is mixed with it, and some of the water vapor must condense into liquid water. The dew point is always lower than (or equal to) the air temperature.
How does convection in the atmosphere create weather?
Convection is one cause of rising air in our atmosphere, usually warm air rises above cold air. Convection is the principle motor of cloud formation and circulation on all scales - including the atmosphere’s general circulation as warm moist air is going .upwards and colder, drier and denser air will be sinking downward
How does hail form?
Hail forms when thunderstorm updrafts are strong enough to carry water droplets well above the freezing level. This freezing process forms a hailstone, which can grow as additional water freezes onto it. Eventually, the hailstone becomes too heavy for the updrafts to support it and it falls to the ground.
How does freezing rains form?
Freezing rain is caused when you have a warm mass of air in the middle altitudes between the ground and the cloud deck, followed by a mass of freezing air near the surface. When the precipitation falls from the cloud, it will generally be snow. As it encounters the warm air, it will melt into the usual rain. But right before it reaches the ground, it enters the below-freezing air and quickly turns to ice. On impact, it usually freezes to whatever it lands on. That can turn streets into skating rinks in no time.
Explain how pressure affects the formations of gases and liquids.
Increased pressure = Liquid Decreased pressure = Gas
Which is more dense - cold air/water or hot air/water?
cold air/water
Study the ibook review Questions “Weather and Atmospheric Water.”
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What are the eight lunar phases?
New, Waxing Cresent, 1st Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full, Wanning, Gibbous, 3rd Quarter, Wanning Cresent
How long does it take for earth to complete a full rotation?
23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds
How long does it take for earth to complete a full revolution around the sun?
365.25 days (a little more than 365 days)
What causes tides?
Gravitational pull from the moon
What causes the seasons?
Angle of tilt of earth’s axis (23.5 degrees)
Explain why we see the same side of the moon from earth.
The Moon makes one revolution around the Earth about every 29 days, and that’s what causes the Moon phases, but the Moon also rotates once every 29 days also. Because of this, the same side of the Moon always faces the Earth.
Study ibook review questions “Sun, Earth, Moon System.”
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