VOCAB: Unit 3 Flashcards
Basalt
An igneous rock, primary product of volcanic lava, fine grained, dark grey to black
Fission Hypothesis*
Moon broke off from a rapidly spinning Earth
Condensation Hypothesis*
Earth and Moon formed a contemporaneously from the same material
Capture Hypothesis*
Moon formed as an independent planetary body that was later ‘captured’ by Earth during a close pass
Kinetic Energy
Energy a body has by virtue of it motion, increases exponentially w/velocity
Obliquity/Tilt Angle
Tilt of the rotational axis
Thuban
The ‘north pole star’ in the constellation of Draco, when the Egyptian Pyramids were built
Polaris
The ‘north pole star’ in the constellation Ursa Minor, for today
Vega
The ‘north pole star’ of the northern hemisphere, 12000 years from now
Accretion
Growth by accumulation of smaller bodies, dust, and gas
Iron Catastrophe*
The upheaval of the planet produced by iron sinking to the planet’s core released more energy and cause the whole planet to melt
Differentiation*
Process of chemical donation from core to surface
Plate Tectonics*
‘earthquakes’ Earth crust moving around
Lithosphere*
Earth’s crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle, a solid, strong rocky layer
Asthenosphere*
A layer of heat-softened, weak, slow flowing rock beneath the Earth’s surface
Mesosphere*
Confining pressure is so great that the rock has to be solid, but temp is high enough the material acts like a stiff plastic
Outer Core*
Is liquid and purely metal
Inner Core*
Is solid and purely metal
Dynamo*
Most practical mechanism by which to generate a magnetic field, converts physical energy to electrical energy
‘Normal’ (magnetic poles)
How the poles are facing now,
‘Reverse’ (magnetic poles)
With north magnetic poles becoming south magnetic poles
Plates
Segments of the Earth’s lithosphere
What plate is London, Ontario located in?
North American Plate
Pangaea
1 big continent that suggested North and South American were joined w/ Europe and Africa
