Unit 5 Flashcards
Define minerals.
Can be an element or compound and make up rocks.
Define Rocks
Are naturally occurring and made up of minerals
What is Moh’s Hardness Scale?
It judges the hardness of a mineral. Diamond is hardest at 10 and talc is the softest at 1.
Name 5 ways to identify minerals?
Hardness, colour, luster, streak, cleavage, and fracture
Name 3 rock families
Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rock
How is igneous rock formed?
Formed from cooled lava and magna. Example: Obisidian.
How is sedimentary rock formed?
Formed from loose sediments compressed together. Example: Shale
How is metamorphic rock formed?
Formed from high pressure and heat. Example: Marble
How does soil form?
Minerals and organic matter combine and make soil.
Define soil profile?
A description of the characteristics of the different layers that make up soil.
Define top soil
The top most layer of soil.
Define leaching?
The process by which the materials from soil are dissolved.
Define chemical weathering
Chemical weathering breaks down minerals through chemical reactions.
Define biological weathering
The physical or chemical breakdowns of minerals caused by living organisms.
Define abrasion
The wearing down of rocks by wind, ice, waves, and running water.
What an erratic?
When glaciers retreat they leave behind large rocks called erratics.
Name the layers of the earth’s crust from the surface of the earth to the inner core.
Crust, outer mantle, inner mantle, outer core, inner core.
What is continental drift?
Over thousands maybe millions of years the continents have gradually moved to their present day positions.
What three types of evidence did Alfred Wagner use to back up his theory of continental drifts?
Rocks/mountains/fossils
What are tectonic plates?
Small pieces of the crust
What are converging plates?
Plates that are colliding.
What are divergent plates?
Plates that are diverting.
What is the subduction zone?
A place on the earth’s crust where high pressure pushes one very large rock below the other.
How do we measure earthquakes?
With seismographs.
What are three types of seismic waves?
Surface waves, P waves, S waves
Define focus
The place deep in the crust where the earthquake begins
What is a fault?
An area where 2 very large rock surfaces move against each other.
What is the epicenter?
The area on the surface of the earth’s crust that is directly above the focus.
Name 3 types of faults?
Normal faults, reverse faults, strike slipes/transform faults.
How do volcanoes form?
Can be formed when rocks surfaces beneath the earth’s crust push against each other.
What is an anticline?
An upfold of rock layers and sedimentary rock.
What is a syncline?
A downfold of rock layers and sedimentary rock.
What is thrust faulting?
Low angle faulting of rock.
What are fault block mountains?
Mountains formed by the process of thrust faulting.
What are the 4 eras in geological time scale?
Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic, and Precambrian
