LF - Intro to Landforms Flashcards
Define:
Mafic?
Other Name?
Oceanic Crust
- High Density (Heavy)
- Basaltic Rock (Thinner)
- Darker Color
Oceanic Crust
Define:
Felsic?
Other Name?
- Low Density (Light)
- Granitic rock (Thick)
- Ligther Color
Continental Crust
Define:
Icostasy?
Differences among oceanic crust, continental crust, and the mantle
- Lithosphere floats on asthenosphere
- The adjustment of Earth’s crust due to its load atop
Define:
Uniformitarianism?
Today’s external and internal processes are likely the same as those which occured in Earth’s past
Define:
Catastrophism?
The old idea that Earth’s major features (Canyons/Mountains) were produced by sudden upheavals & catastrophic events of the past
Define:
Seafloor Spreading?
Evidence?
Theory that mid ocean ridges are formed by currents of magma rising up from the mantle & the volcanic eruptions created new basaltic ocean floor, which spreads away from ridge
Paleomagnetism & Rock Age
Define:
Subduction?
Ocean trenches take in old lithosphere & recycles it into the atmosphere
Identify:
Minerals?
Examples?
- Solid
- Inorganic
- Distinct Chemical Composition
- Crystalline Structure
Silicales, Oxides, Sulfides, Sulfates, Carbonates, Halides, Elements
Identify:
Rocks?
3 Types?
- An aggregate of mineral Particles
- Often many minerals
Igneous; Metamorphic; Sedimentary
Identify:
Asthenosphere?
Part of Mantle; rocks become mushy like tar ‘ weak sphere’
Identify:
Layers of the Earth?
- Crust: MOHO
- Mantle
- Lithosphere
- Asthenosphere
- Lower Mantle
- Outer Core
- Inner Core
Identify:
Crust?
Earth’s outermost shell; broad mixture of rock types
MOHO : Narrow area w/ significant change in mineral composition
Identify”:
Lithosphere?*
Combo of crust & upper rigid mantles - ‘plates’ of plate tectonics
Mantle?
Extends downward approx 2900km
Composed of:
- Lithosphere
- Asthenosphere
- Lower Mantle
Explain:
Inner Core?
Solid part of Earth due to High Temperature
