test 1

Question 1

What is Earth Science

Answer 1

The study of the structure and physical processes of the Earth and other bodies in space

Question 2

Name and describe the four components of the Earth System

Answer 2

• Land (solid part of our planet), volcanoes and earthquakes are processes of rearrangement
• Water (liquid portion of our planet), moves and deposits materials
• Air, weather and climate
• Life, organisms depend on and interact with all

Question 3

What Earth processes can generate negative concerns for humanity

Answer 3

Hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, and tsunamis

Question 4

What is the value of latitude and longitude

Answer 4

To know exactly where something is, each point is uniquely mapped

Question 5

Contrast quantitative and qualitative problem solving

Answer 5

Qualitative: uses specific words to describe (that rock is gray)
- Physical properties: density and strength
- Composition: what minerals are in granite?
- Age: objects can be dated (not just life
Quantitative: uses numbers (and commonly measure with instruments)
- Orientation: layers and fractures
- Composition: nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide are in the atmosphere (what percent?)
- Chemistry: granite has…
- Earth surface location: latitude, longitude, elevation

Question 6

What is our Solar System

Answer 6

Our solar system is the sun, planets, and moons

Question 7

Name and describe the four basic components of the scientific method

Answer 7

Observation
- Using senses and instruments to detect and record information
- Instruments make measurements more accurately than our sense. Examples include: thermometer, balance, microscope
Hypothesis
- An educated guess
- An attempt to predict the future
Experimentation
- Testing of hypothesis
- To confirm or reject hypothesis
Conclusion
- What did this all mean?

Question 8

Contrast the terms theory and law

Answer 8

• A theory develops after repeated experimentation
• A law develops if a theory or set of theories can be shown as universal to all solutions

Question 9

What is a mineral

Answer 9

A naturally occurring inorganic element or compound with a solid form and a chemical composition that is fixed or varies within narrow limits

Question 10

In what two processes can result in crystallization to form minerals

Answer 10

• Cooling of magma (liquid earth material)
• Evaporation of water

Question 11

What is the Mohs scale or hardness

Answer 11

A scale developed by Mohs of 1-10, 1 being very soft and 10 being very hard

Question 12

Name some common items used to help determine hardness

Answer 12

Fingernail (2.5), copper coin (3.1), steel pocketknife (5.2), glass (5.5), steel needle, or a streak plate

Question 13

Describe the following features that can be used to identify a mineral

Answer 13

• streak the color left on unglazed ceramic (streak plate)
• luster way mineral reflects light
• specific gravity mass per unit volume
• cleavage ability of a mineral to separate readily in definite directions reflects how atoms fit together

Question 14

Name and distinguish the groups of minerals

Answer 14

1. Silicates – silicon and oxygen (quartz)
2. Carbonates – carbon and oxygen (calcite)
3. Oxides – oxygen and a metal (hematite)
4. Halides – chlorine and fluorine (halite)
5. Sulfates – sulfur and oxygen (gypsum)
6. Sulfides – sulfur and a metal (pyrite)
7. Nature minerals – single element (copper, silver, gold)

Question 15

Contrast mineral and ore deposits

Answer 15

Mineral deposits are rocks with high proportion of a mineral and ore deposits are mineral deposits of economic value

Question 16

What four features can make a mineral deposit of value to humans

Answer 16

1. Concentration of a mineral (gold)
2. What the mineral is mixed with
3. Size and depth of deposit
4. Location

Question 17

What is a rock

Answer 17

A sold material typically as a result of the combination of two or more minerals

Question 18

Contrast the following terms: bedrock, sediment, soil, rock

Answer 18

• Sold rock below the surface is known as bedrock
• Material moved from one place to another is sediment
• Highly broken material at the surface on which plants grow in soil
• The larger material that are solid are rocks

Question 19

Name and describe the formation of the three major types of rocks

Answer 19

1. Sedimentary – weathering, sedimentation, lithification
2. Igneous – melting, recrystallization
3. Metamorphic – heat & pressure, deformation, partial recrystallization

Question 20

Name and describe the two types of weathering

Answer 20

• Physical weathering
  o Fracturing (gravity)
  o Thermal expansion (cycle between warm and cold
  o Frost and wedging (freezing water expands)
  o Biological activity (expanding tree roots)
• Chemical weathering
  o Dissolution into minerals (into water and moved away)
  o Hydrolysis into clay materials (degradation into clay)
  o Oxidation

Question 21

In what three ways are sediemtns classified

Answer 21

1. Grain size – gravel over 2mm, sand 1/16mm-2mm, mud less that 1/16mm
2. Shape of clasts – angular to rounded
3. Amount of sorting – poorly, moderate, well

Question 22

Name and describe the five textural types of Igneous rocks

Answer 22

1. Coarse (phaneritic): slow cooling – large crystals
2. Fine (aphanitic): fast cooling – small crystals
3. Glassy: rapid cooling
4. Vesicular
5. Porphyritic

Question 23

Name and contrast the two extreme types of Igneous rocks

Answer 23

• High temperature
  o Dark color
  o “early” as in solidifies at high temperature
  o Basaltic
• Low temperature
  o Light color
  o “late” – solidifies at a lower temperature
  o Granitic

Question 24

Describe the three stages of development of metaporphic rocks

Answer 24

1. Physically squeeze grains closer together loss of air space and/or liquids
2. Formation of interlocking mosaic of crystals
3. Small mineral grains reform into fewer larger crystals, aka recrystallization