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Earth & Space Science > Geological Processes > Flashcards

Geological Processes Flashcards

1
Q

Who proposed continental drift and when?

A

Wegner in 1916

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2
Q

Evidence of continental drift

A
  • South America and Africa can puzzle piece together
  • the parts that fit together have similar rock frequencies
  • the parts that fit together have shared plants
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3
Q

Why would continents move?

A

Continents are on drift and subduct under each other when they collide and new crust wells up from the rifts.

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4
Q

What is the mid Atlantic ridge?

A
  • evidence of see floor spread

* on either side of this ridge, magnetization of sea floor rocks switch every few kilometres

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5
Q

Why do tectonic plates move?

A

The driving energy source is convection in the mantle of the earth.

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6
Q

What is convection?

A

A method of heat transfer in a fluid. Hot fluid moves up while cold fluid moves downward.

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7
Q

What is a divergent plate boundary?

A

Two plates that split apart usually at ocean ridges, upwelling of molten lava emerges from these ridges-ex. Mid Atlantic ridge, rift valleys of Eastern Africa

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8
Q

What is a convergent plate boundary?

A

Plates collide together, one sinks below the other(subduction), mountains build up and volcanic activity or earth quakes occur-ex the alps

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9
Q

What is a transform plate boundary?

A

Plates slide past one another causing earthquakes-ex. San Andreas California

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10
Q

What does subduction mean?

A

When plates collide and one is “subducted” or sinks below the other, building a mountain.

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11
Q

What is a hot spot and examples of where?

A

•place where magma plumes rise out of the mantle
•crust is hotter here
•leads to volcanoes and hot springs
Ex. Hawaii, Yellowstone

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12
Q

What is an island arc and example of where?

A

•moving plates over a hot spot creates a succession of volcanoes.
Ex. Hawaii

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13
Q

What is magma?

A

A hot substance that is within or below the earths crust that is turned into lava or igneous rock when cooled.

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14
Q

Lava erupts through an opening in the earths crust called a…

A

Vent

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15
Q

A bowl shaped depression that forms around the vent of a volcano is a…

A

Crater

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16
Q

Rock fragments that are thrown into the air during a volcanic eruption are called…

A

Tephra

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17
Q

The smallest tephra are…

A

Dust

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18
Q

Fast moving clouds of gas, ash, and other tephra are…

A

Pyroclastic flows

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19
Q

What is formed when the top or side of a volcano collapses into the magma chamber?

A

Caldera

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20
Q

Large angular volcanic fragments are called…

A

Volcanic blocks

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21
Q

When magma reaches the earths surface it’s called…

A

Lava

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22
Q

Large rounded or streamlined tephra are called…

A

Volcanic bombs

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23
Q

What is a composite volcano?

A 
•medium sized with a curve 
•forms in layers of tephra and lava
•fuelled by magma that contains large amounts of silica, water, and gase
•potentially most dangerous volcano
Ex. Mount St. Helens & mount rainier
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24
Q

What is a cinder cone volcano?

A

•forms when tephra are ejected into the air and pile up around a vent
•small steep volcanoes
Ex. Lava butte in Oregon

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25
Q

What is a shield volcano?

A

•broad gently sloping sided and a nearly circular base
•forms when layers of basaltic lava accumulate during non explosive eruption
Ex. Mauna Kea

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26
Q

What is an earthquake?

A

Wave motion of the earth caused by sudden massive dislocations.

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27
Q

What is a longitudinal wave or “p-wave”?

A
  • particle motion is parallel to the wave direction
  • can pass through fluids
  • the fastest speed of wave
  • bend when striking the core•
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28
Q

What are transverse waves or “s-waves”?

A
  • particle motion is perpendicular to the wave direction

* they cannot pass through fluids

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29
Q

What is a surface wave?

A

•do the most damage and go the least distance

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30
Q

What device is used to detect earthquakes and how does it work?

A

Seismographs measure the vibrations of earth over time.

31
Q

What is stress?

A

Forces per unit area that acts on material by compression tension and shear.

32
Q

What is strain?

A

Deformation of materials in response to stress.

33
Q

What is a reverse fault?

A

Associated with compressive forces –>

34
Q

What is a normal fault?

A

Associated with tension forces

35
Q

What is a strike-slip fault?

A

Associated with sideways forces or shear stress

36
Q

Name a major earth quake

A

2004 Indian Ocean tsunami leaving 230000 dead

37
Q

What is the Richter scale?

A
  • an increase of 1 means an energy increase of 10 times

* the biggest number by seismometer is 9.5

38
Q

What is the “focus” of an earthquake?

A

Where the earthquake happens underground

39
Q

What is the epicentre?

A

The point on the ground directly above the focus.

40
Q

What is the mercalli scale?

A
  • A scale that measures the intensity of an earthquake.

* scale ranges from I-XII

41
Q

What is elastic deformation on a stress strain curve?

A

Before the elastic limit.

42
Q

On the stress Strain curve what part represents ductile deformation?

A

After the elastic limit.

43
Q

Energy released by an earthquake is measured by…

44
Q

Most earthquakes occur in narrow ___________, near boundaries of Tectonic plates.

A

Seismic belts

45
Q

What seismic belt do nearly 80% of the worlds earthquakes occur in?

A

Circum-pacific belt

46
Q

What seismic blet does 15% of the worlds earthquakes occur in?

A

Mediterranean-Asian blet

47
Q

What structures suffer the most damage from earthquakes?

A

Unreinforced brittle buildings. Surface quake waves have resonant frequency as 5-15 story building break easily.

48
Q

What can happen during earthquakes in areas where the ground contains fluid-saturated sand?

A

Landslides

49
Q

What is fault scarp?

A

A cliff created by an earthquake

50
Q

What happens in the process of pancaking?

A

A building crumples down from top to bottom laterallay

51
Q

What is seismic gap?

A

Sections of active faults that haven’t moved in a while

52
Q

What is the earths crust?

A
  • top layer
  • lighter rocks or silicates
  • ridged
  • 5-100km thick
53
Q

What is the lithosphere?

A
  • second layer
  • moves with crust in plate tectonics
  • ridges part of mantle
54
Q

What is the asthenosphere?

A
  • upper mantle that is partially molten
  • third layer
  • convection currents move the continents
  • main mineral is olivine
55
Q

What is the mesosphere?

A
  • forth layer
  • lower part of the mantle
  • less molten
  • main mineral is olivine
56
Q

What is the outer core?

A
  • liquid mineral
  • iron &a nickel
  • 5th layer
57
Q

What is the inner core?

A
  • 6th layer
  • solid mineral
  • iron & Nickle
58
Q

The rock cycle step by step:

A

1) magma eventually cools and turns into igneous rock (intrusive or extrusive)
2) weathering, erosion, transportation and deposition leads to sedimentation
3) from sedimentary rock, it can either be brought back to the surface and turned into more sedimentary rock or can be pressurized into metamorphic rock
4) metamorphic rock can get reburied into metamorphic rock, melted into magma or get raised up and eroded back into sediment.

59
Q

What is weathering?

A

A process that breaks down rocks. Water can contain chemicals, wind carrying sand, and temperature change.

60
Q

What is erosion?

A

Taking Broken down material away from where it started.

61
Q

What is mechanical weathering and it’s four agents?

A

1) wind- rock abrasion but dust or sand particles
2) gravity- things falling on other things
3) water- earth material flowing down rivers or streams
4) Ice- frost wedging cracks open the ground, glaciers crush landscape U valleys indicate a glacier was once there

62
Q

What is chemical weathering?

A

1) substances dissolving in water
2) oxidation of metal bases minerals
3) dissolving of carbonate based minerals by acids

63
Q

What type of sediment will form a quick flowing river?

A

Pebbles or larger particles.

64
Q

What type of sediment will form a slow moving river?

A

Muddy bottom with very fine grain.

65
Q

What is the rock name for the particles-boulders, pebbles, and cobbles?

A

Conglomerate, or breccia

66
Q

What is the rock name for the particle of sand?

67
Q

What is the rock name for the particle of silt and clay?

A

Siltstone, mudstone, shale

68
Q

What does poorly sorted sediment mean?

A

Not a very long transportation time for sorting

69
Q

Where would there be well sorted sediment?

A

Beaches usually have well sorted sediment, rounded grains indicate a greater time of transportation.

70
Q

What is chemical sedimentation?

A

•Dissolved materials in water precipitate out to produce earth deposits
Ex. an evaporite is produced when a body of water drys out. The most common mineral in this case is halite or rock salt
•dissolved calcium carbonate can precipitate out of cold water to produce travertine and dolostones
•silicon dioxide can replace other materials in the surrounding environment, the general name for this is chert.

71
Q

Examples of Clastic sediment?

A
  • conglomerates
  • sandstone
  • shale
72
Q

Examples of chemical sediment?

A
  • chert
  • halite
  • gypsom
73
Q

Examples of biochemical sediment?

A

Sediment made from marine shells (calcium carbonate & limestone)

Earth & Space Science (3 decks)

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