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Empirical World > Midterm 5 > Flashcards

Midterm 5 Flashcards

1
Q

Earths 3 basic layers

A

Crust
Mantle
Core

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2
Q

Earths crust

A

Thin and cool

Divided into basaltic oceanic crust and granitic continental crust

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3
Q

Earths mantle

A

Thick
Hot rock rich in silicon and oxygen (like the crust)
Mantle contains more magnesium, iron, and calcium

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4
Q

Earths core

A

Composed of scorching hot metal

Mostly iron/some nickel

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5
Q

Earth consists of layers that differ by properties rather than….

A

Chemical composition

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6
Q

Properties that determine Earth’s layers

A

Temperature
Pressure
Strength
Ability to flow

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7
Q

Earth’s structural layers

A 
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Lower mantle
Outer core
Inner core
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8
Q

Seismology is..

A

The study of earthquakes and seismic waves

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9
Q

Earthquakes release stored

A

Elastic energy

Energy radiates outward in all directions

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10
Q

Energy travels in the form of

A

Seismic waves

Which cause the ground to shake and vibrate

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11
Q

What does the analysis of seismic waves provide?

A

A detailed view of Earth’s layered interior

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12
Q

Two types of seismic waves

A
  • Body waves: travel through earth’s interior (primary waves: p-waves; secondary waves: s-waves)
  • Surface waves: travel on earth’s surface (Rayleigh waves; love waves) MOST DESTRUCTIVE
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13
Q

Wegener’s evidence to support continental drift hypothesis

A
  • Jigsaw fit of the continents
  • Fossil evidence
  • Matching rock types
  • Structural similarities in mountain chains on different continents
  • Paleoclimatic evidence
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14
Q

Plate Tectonics - earths division

A

Earth divided into a dozen or so major lithospheric plates as well as a few smaller ones

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15
Q

Plates

A

In motion and continually changing in shape and size

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16
Q

Largest plate

A

Pacific Plate

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17
Q

Do several plates include an entire continent plus a large area of sea floor?

A

Yes

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18
Q

Oceanic-oceanic convergence

A
  • When 2 oceanic plates converge, the older and denser plate descends beneath the other plate
  • As the denser plate descends, partial melting of mantle rock generates magma and volcanoes
  • If the volcanos emerge as islands, a volcanic island arc is formed (ex: Japan)
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19
Q

Oceanic-continental convergence

A
  • the denser oceanic slab sinks into the asthenosphere
  • As the denser plate descends, partial melting of mantle rock generates magma
  • The mountains produced by volcanic activity from subduction of oceanic lithosphere are called continental volcanic arcs or island arcs
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20
Q

Continental-continental convergence

A
  • continued subduction can bring two continents together
  • the less dense, buoyant continental lithosphere does not subduct
  • the result is a collision btwn two continental blocks
  • the process produces mountains
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21
Q

Transform-Fault boundaries

A
  • most located within ocean basins

- a few of these cut through continental crust

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22
Q

Extremophiles

A

Organisms adapted to the extreme conditions found at great depth in ocean trenches

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23
Q

Some ocean trenches contain hydrothermal vents; what are those?

A

Cracks in the crust often associated with tectonic activity

24
Q

What can a food chain develop around?

A

A hydrothermal vent where chemosynthesis, rather than photosynthesis, provides food for the lowest-level organisms in the chain

25
Q

5 characteristics of a mineral

A
  • naturally occurring
  • a solid
  • definite chemical composition, with slight variations
  • inorganic
  • has a characteristic crystalline solid
26
Q

Some minerals have same composition but diff crystal structure

A
  • Diff arrangements of the same atoms result in diff minerals
  • Such minerals are called polymorphs
  • with a diff crystal structure, the minerals have diff properties
27
Q

What is a rock?

A

A coherent aggregate of minerals- a physical mixture

28
Q

Three categories of rock

A

Igneous: formed from cooling and crystallization of magma or lava

Sedimentary: formed from preexisting rocks subjected to weathering and erosion

Metamorphic: formed from preexisting rock transformed by heat, pressure, or chemical fluids

29
Q

Magma

A

Molten rock that forms inside earth

30
Q

Lava

A

Molten rock (magma) erupted at Earth’s surface

31
Q

Sedimentary rocks

A
  • products of mechanical and chemical weathering and erosion
  • 5% of earths crust
  • 75% of Earth’s surface
  • contain evidence of past environments
  • contain fossils
32
Q

Metamorphic rocks produced from…

A

Igneous rocks
Sedimentary rocks
Other metamorphic rocks

33
Q

Metamorphism

A

“Changed rock”

The transition of one rock into another by temperatures or pressures different from those in which it formed

34
Q

Solar system consists of…

A

Sun
System of planets
Asteroids
Comets

35
Q

Sun

A
  • nearest star to earth
  • composed of mostly hydrogen in the plasma phase
  • hydrogen is fused to helium by thermonuclear fusion in the Sun’s core
  • in the sun 4.5 mil tons of mass are converted to energy each second
  • a tiny fraction of this energy reaches and sustains earth
36
Q

Inner Planets

A
  • four nearest the sun
  • high-density solid rock
    Mercury
    Venus
    Earth
    Mars
  • the orbital speeds of planets around the Sun decrease with increasing distance from the sun
37
Q

Earth

A

Third planet from the sun

At a distance from the sun where most of its water is neither solid nor gas, but liquid

38
Q

Outer planets

A
  • gaseous, low-density worlds
  • appreciably larger than Earth
  • more widely spaced than the inner planets
    (In order of distance from sun…)
    Jupiter
    Saturn
    Uranus
    Neptune
39
Q

Asteroids

A

Small rocky bodies that orbit the Sun

40
Q

Where are most asteroids located?

A

Btwn mars and Jupiter

Some encounter earth

41
Q

In what setting are asteroids conspicuous?

A

On ice (many are in Antarctica)

42
Q

Comets

A

Differ from asteroids in chemical composition

43
Q

Comets are made up of what

A

Masses of water, methane, and ice

44
Q

Where are most comets located

A

Kuiper belt and Oort Cloud

45
Q

Do comets have highly elliptical orbital paths?

A

Yes

46
Q

How are the tails of comets swept?

A

Outward from the sun by solar wind

47
Q

How do monthly constellations in the night sky change?

A

They change as earth moves in its path around the sun

48
Q

Time exposure of the night sky reveals what?

A

Streaks of stars from our “carousel Earth”

49
Q

Star color indicates temperature

A

Red star: cooler than a blue star

Blue star: almost twice as hot as a red star

50
Q

Life cycles of stars

A
  • Star begins as a nebula, a cloud of gas and dust
  • hot center of a nebula becomes a protostar
  • protostar becomes a star when fusion in its core occurs
  • depending on its mass, the star may become a red giant and then burn out to become a white dwarf
51
Q

White dwarf (stars)

A
  • cools for eons until it is too cold to emit light

- if part of a binary star, it pulls matter from its partner, which can lead to a nuclear blast (nova)

52
Q

Supernova

A
  • final stage of more massive stars is collapse and then an explosion (supernova)
  • Crab Nebula (remnant is a supernova)
53
Q

Black holes

A
  • what remains when a supergiant star collapses into itself

- so makes bc gravitation at its surface is so intense that even light can not escape

54
Q

3 types of galaxies

A

Elliptical
Irregular
Spiral
(Giant elliptical galaxy, M87)

55
Q

Most of the composition of the universe

A

Dark energy

Then dark matter

Empirical World (2 decks)

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