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Geology 101 > Test 1 > Flashcards

Test 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Geocentric

A

Earth sits motionless at the center of the universe

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2
Q

Heliocentric

A

sun lies act the center of the universe

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3
Q

star

A

immense ball of plasma

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4
Q

Planet

A

object that orbits a star, is roughly spherical, and has “cleared its neighborhood of other objects”

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5
Q

terrestrial planets

A

consists of a shell of rock surrounding a ball of metal

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6
Q

moon

A

sizable body locked in orbit around a planet

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7
Q

Big bang theory

A

all matter and energy was initially packed into an infinitesimally small point

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8
Q

nebulae

A

patchy clouds of hydrogen and helium gas

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9
Q

accretionary disk

A

bulbous plate-like shape

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10
Q

protostar

A

when the ball of gasses becomes hot enough to glow

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11
Q

supernova

A

when stars run out of fuel, collapse, and explode

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12
Q

Planetesimals

A

bodies whose diameter exceeds 1 km

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13
Q

protoplanets

A

almost full sized planets

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14
Q

differentiation

A

In bodies whose temp rose sufficiently to cause internal melting, denser iron alloy separated out and sank to the center of the body, whereas the lighter rocky materials remade in a shell.

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15
Q

atmosphere

A

the envelope of gas that surrounds the planet

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16
Q

sections of the atmosphere by increasing altitude

A

Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere

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17
Q

Hydrosphere

A

oceans, surface water, and groundwater

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18
Q

Cyrosphere

A

ice

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19
Q

geosphere

A

solid Earth, from the surface to the center

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20
Q

Bathymetery

A

variations in depth of the seafloor

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21
Q

organic chemicals

A

carbon-containing compound the either occurs in living organisms or has characteristics that resemble compounds in living organisms

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22
Q

Minerals

A

a solid, natural substance, in which atoms are arranged in an orderly pattern

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23
Q

Glasses

A

a solid in which atoms are not arranged in an orderly pettern

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24
Q

Rocks

A

an aggregate of mineral crystals or grains, or a mass of natural glass

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25
Greatest to least proportion of silica
Felsic, intermediate, mafic, and ultramafic
26
Biosphere
the aggregate of all living organisms, as well as the portion of Earth in which living organisms exist
27
When did differentiation of the Earth occur?
about 4.5 billion years ago
28
Till
sediment left behind by melting glaciers
29
paleomagnetism
a record of Earth's magnetic field in the past
30
magnetic declination
the angle between the direction that a compass needle points and a line of longitude at a given location
31
magnetic inclination
the angle between a magnetic field line and the surface of the Earth
32
Mid ocean ridge fracture zones
narrow bands of vertical cracks and broken up rock
33
Seamounts
isolated submarine mountains, which were once volcanoes but no longer erupt
34
Magnetic anomaly
the difference between the expected strength of Earth's main dipole field and the actual measured strength of the magnetic field
35
Asthenosphere
warmer mantle that can flow very slowly when acted on by a force
36
Continental lithosphere thickness
~150 km
37
oceanic lithosphere thickness
~100 km
38
Continental crust thickness
25-70 km
39
oceanic crust thickness
7-10 km
40
Wadati-Benioff zone
the band of earthquakes in a downing plate
41
Accretionary prism
sediment from the downing plate piles up at the boundary
42
Mantle plume
a column of very hot rock rising up through the mantle to the base of the lithosphere
43
rifting
when a continent splits apart
44
Suture
the boundary between once two separate continents after a collision
45
Polymorphs
two different minerals that have the same composition but different crystal structures
46
Biomineralization
when minerals grow at the interface between the physical and biological components of the Earth system
47
How does a crystal grow?
from the inside out so the outer most layer is the youngest part of the crystal
48
Color
results from the way a mineral interacts with light
49
Streak
the color of a powder produced by pulverizing the mineral
50
Luster
the way a mineral surface scatters light
51
Hardness
a measure of the relative ability of a mineral to resist scratching
52
Specific gravity
represents the density of a mineral
53
crystal habit
the shape of a single crystal with well formed crystal faces
54
Special properties
such as the whether a mineral reacts with a certain chemical
55
Cleavage
If a mineral breaks to form distinct planar surfaces that have a specific orientation in relation to the crystal structure
56
Conchoidal fractures
smoothly curving, clamshell-shaped surfaces
57
Independent tetrahedra
on oxygen shared
58
single chain
tetrahedra linked to form a chain by sharing two oxygen atoms
59
Double chains
share 2 or 3 oxygen atoms
60
sheet silicates
tetrahedra share 3 oxygen atoms and therefore form 2-D sheets
61
Framework silicates
each tetrahedra shares all 4 oxygen atoms forming a 3-D structure
62
Igneous rock
any rock formed by the solidifying of a melt
63
Extrusive igneous rock
rock that forms by the freezing of lava above ground, in contact with air or water, after it erupts
64
Pyroclastic debris
a rock made from cemented together fragments
65
Intrusive igneous rock
rock formed by the solidification of melt underground, after it has intruded into preexisting wall rock
66
Melting due to decompression
occurs when the mantle rock moves slowly for as the rock moves up its pressure lessens while the rocks temp remains the same
67
Assimilation
As magma sits underground before solidifying completely, it may incorporate chemicals dissolved from the wall rocks.
68
The two reasons that magma rises
buoyancy and pressure from the weight of overlying rock
69
Fractional crystallization
different minerals grow in sequence so the melt composition changes progressively as cooling takes place
70
Mafic lava characteristics
low viscosity | broad, thin flows
71
Volatile-rich celtic lavas
tend to erupt explosively and from thick ash and debris
72
Dike
a tabular intrusion that cuts across a pre-existing layering
73
Sill
a tabular incursion that injects between layers
74
Plutons
blob-shaped intrusions that range from tens of meters across to tens of km across
75
xenolith
a body of rock within an intrusion
76
Crystalline texture
size and visibility of individual crystals
77
Fragmental texture
from from pyroclastic debris and consist of chunks and/or shards that are packed together
78
Prophyritic rocks
1. the melt cools slowly at depth forming larger crystals | 2. the melt rises and erupts so that the remainder cools quickly forming smaller crystals
79
mafic rock color
tend to be black or dark gray
80
intermediate rock color
lighter gray or greenish gray
81
felsic rock color
light tan to pink or maroon
82
Pumice
a felsic volcanic rock that consists tiny air bubbles
83
Scoria
mafic volcanic rock with many air bubbles
84
Tuff
composed mostly of volcanic ash

Geology 101 (4 decks)

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