yes Flashcards
Alfred Wegener: A German geologist and meteorologist who proposed the theory of continental drift in 1912.
Continental Drift: The concept that Earth’s continents were once part of a large supercontinent but split apart and moved to their present locations.
Pangaea: A supercontinent that existed millions of years ago, meaning “all lands” in Greek.
Gondwana: The southern part of Pangaea that eventually broke into South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica.
Laurasia: The northern part of Pangaea that eventually broke into North America and Eurasia.
Future Continental Movement (50 million years from now):
Continents move further north.
Central America and the Caribbean may be submerged.
Australia moves closer to the equator.
Coastlines shrink due to rising sea levels.
Four Proofs of Continental Drift:
Puzzle Pieces – Continents fit together like a puzzle (e.g., South America and Africa).
Similar Fossils and Rocks – Matching rock types and fossils found on continents now far apart.
Mountain Locations – Similar mountains on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ice Sheets – Evidence of glaciers in areas that are now warm.
Issue with Wegener’s Theory: He could not explain what force was strong enough to move continents.
Modern Proof of Continental Drift: Satellites (Lageos I & II) show continents drifting about 2.5 cm per year.
John Tuzo Wilson: A Canadian geophysicist who developed the modern Plate Tectonics theory in the late 1960s.
Plate Tectonics Theory: The theory that Earth’s outer shell consists of 20 moving plates, causing earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains.
Convection Currents: Circular movements in the mantle caused by heat, driving plate movement.
Divergent Boundary: Plates move apart, forming new crust (e.g., Mid-Atlantic Ridge, East African Rift Valley).
Convergent Boundary: Plates collide, forming mountains or subduction zones (e.g., Himalayas, Pacific Ring of Fire).
Transform Boundary: Plates slide past each other, causing earthquakes (e.g., San Andreas Fault, Alpine Fault in New Zealand).
Ring of Fire: A Pacific Ocean region with 75% of Earth’s volcanoes and 90% of its earthquakes.
Tsunami: A series of ocean waves caused by underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides.
Seismograph: An instrument used to measure earthquake vibrations.
Richter Scale: A scale used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes.
Largest Earthquake Recorded: 9.5 magnitude in Chile, 1960.
Volcano: An opening in the Earth’s crust where magma, ash, and gases escape.
Canadian Volcanoes: Found mainly in British Columbia and Yukon.
Glacier: A slowly moving mass of ice formed by accumulated and compacted snow.
Alpine Glacier: A glacier found in mountains, moving through valleys.
Continental Glacier: A massive ice sheet covering land (e.g., Antarctica, Greenland).
Glaciation: The process of land being covered by glaciers.
Glacial Spillways: Large valleys carved by meltwater from glaciers (e.g., Trent River Valley, parts of Niagara Escarpment).
Till Plains: Flat or gently rolling areas formed by glacial deposits, often fertile for agriculture (e.g., Manitoba Lowlands).
Moraines: Ridges of debris left behind by glaciers (e.g., Oak Ridges Moraine).
Drumlins: Smooth, oval-shaped hills made of glacial debris (e.g., Peterborough Drumlin Field).
Glaciation’s Impact on Canada:
Created the Great Lakes.
Formed fertile land like Holland Marsh.
Shaped Canada’s landscape with lakes, valleys, and plains.
Erosional Effects of Glaciation:
Abrasion: Glaciers scrape and grind rock surfaces.
Plucking: Glaciers lift and carry away rock pieces.
Depositional Effects of Glaciation:
Till Deposition: Unsorted material dropped by glaciers.
Meltwater Deposition: Sorted layers of sediment left by melting glaciers.
Threats to Glaciers:
Melting has more than doubled in the last 10 years.
Increased CO₂ emissions trap heat, raising global temperatures.
Three Types of Rocks:
Igneous – Formed from cooled magma (e.g., basalt, granite).
Sedimentary – Formed from compacted sediments (e.g., sandstone, limestone).
Metamorphic – Formed under heat and pressure (e.g., marble, slate).
Igneous Rock:
Formed from the cooling of magma or lava.
Intrusive: Cools slowly below Earth’s surface, forming large crystals.
Extrusive: Cools quickly on the surface, forming small crystals.
Examples: Pumice, basalt, granite.
Sedimentary Rock:
Formed by layers of compacted sediment.
Clastic: Formed from broken rock fragments.
Non-Clastic: Formed from plant or animal remains (fossils).
Examples: Sandstone, limestone, shale.
Metamorphic Rock:
Formed when rock undergoes heat and pressure.
Examples: Gneiss, slate, marble.
Rock Cycle:
Magma cools → Igneous rock.
Igneous rock weathers and compacts → Sedimentary rock.
Sedimentary rock undergoes heat and pressure → Metamorphic rock.
Geography: The study of places and the relationships between people and their environments.
Physical Geography: The study of Earth’s natural features (e.g., landforms, climate, ecosystems).
Human Geography: The study of human activities and their interaction with the environment (e.g., urban development, migration).
Sense of Place: The emotional and cultural connection people have with a location.
Absolute Location: The exact position of a place using latitude and longitude.
Relative Location: The location of a place in relation to another place.
Why There?: The study of why things are located where they are (e.g., climate, landforms, human impact).
Why Care?: Understanding the importance of geographic issues (e.g., climate change, deforestation).
Spheres of the Earth:
Lithosphere – Earth’s crust (solid land).
Mantle – Semi-liquid layer beneath the crust.
Core – The Earth’s center, consisting of a solid inner core and liquid outer core.
Lithosphere: The outermost layer of Earth, containing continents and ocean basins.
Mantle: The largest layer of Earth, made of semi-liquid molten rock.
Convection Currents in the Mantle: Circular flow of heat that moves tectonic plates.
Outer Core: A layer of liquid iron and nickel.
Inner Core: A solid, extremely hot layer of iron and nickel under immense pressure.
