SCIENCE - WEEK 1 Flashcards
3rd planet from the sun
Earth
radius of Earth
3959 miles / 6,371 km
5th largest planet in the Solar System
Earth
only planet known to have liquidwater on its surface
Earth
not named after a Roman deity, instead named “earth” which is Germanic for:
ground
time it takes the Earth to revolve around the sun
365.25 days
Earth’s distance from the Sun
93 million miles
time it takes the Earth to rotate in it’s axis
23.9 hours
- composed of the crust and the upper mantle
- rigid and breaks under stress
- broken into large and small tectonic plates
lithosphere
outermost layer of the Earth
crust
two types of crusts
continental crust and oceanic crust
thickness of CONTINENTAL crust
40-70 km
composition of CONTINENTAL crust
granitic rock, aluminum silicates
thickness of OCEANIC crust
7-10 km
composition of OCEANIC crust
basaltic rocks, magnesium silicates
semisolid, rocky, and very hot layer below the crust, the thickest layer
mantle
thickness of the mantle
2900 km
composition of the mantle
ferromagnesium silicates
temp. of upper mantle
900 C
temp. of lower mantle
1000 C - 3700 C
contains hot, molten rocks or magma
asthenosphere
can deform & reshape as a result of the hot, molten mantle, which circulates as convection current.
asthenosphere
rising, cooling, and sinking of magma, generates earthquakes
convection current
only liquid layer of the Earth
outer core
composition of the outer core
liquid nickel and iron
temp of the outer core
3700 C - 4300 C
thickness of outer core
2270 km
solid iron
inner core
temp of inner core
6000 C
thickness of inner core
1220 km
boundary between crust and upper mantle
Mohorovicic Discontinuity
boundary between lower mantle and outer core
Gutenberg Discontinuity
boundary between outer core and inner core
Lehmann Discontinuity
waves inside earth
body waves
waves that can pass through solid, liquid, and gas
primary waves
cannot pass through liquid waves
secondary waves
comes from the Greek word “tekton” meaning builder
plate tectonics
are massive, irregular slab of solid rocks that envelop the surface of the Earth.
plate tectonics
explains the structure of Earth’s crust due to many phenomena
Plate Tectonic Theory
author of the Plate Tectonic Theory
Abraham Ortelius
author of the Continental Drift Theory
Alfred Wegener
80% of earthquakes occur along the boundary of this plate
Pacific Plate
country located above the Mid-Atlantic Range
Iceland
volcanic island but not located on plate boundary, instead uses hotspots
Hawaii
destructive plate boundary
Convergent Plate Boundary
the third basic type of landforms that rise high above the surrounding land, forms when two continental plates collide
Mountains
are formed when the crust is pushed up by forces from Earth’s interior
Upwarded Mountain
with folded rock layers looking like a rag that has been pushed up
Folded Mountain
are made of big blocks of rocks that are tilted and separated from surrounding rocks by faults
Fault-Block Mountain
What are the 7 primary plates?
Eurasian Plate
African Plate
Australian Plate
Antarctic Plate
South American Plate
North American Plate
Pacific Plate
What are the 8 secondary plates?
Indian Plate
Arabian Plate
Scotia Plate
Caribbean Plate
Cocos Plate
Nazca Plate
Juan de Fuca Plate
Philippine Plate
What theory says that earth is linked to a grape that contracted into raisin due to a cooling process that occured after the bigbang, by Eduard Suess, and Australian geologist?
Raisin Theory or Contraction Theory
author of “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum”
Abraham Ortelius
author of “The Origins of Continents and Oceans”
Alfred Wegener