Earth Science Test I (SPRING2025)

Steps of the Scientific Method

Ask a Question

Do Background Research

Construct a Hypothesis

Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment

Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion

Communicate Your Results

Percent ocean coverage of Earth

71%

Compare ionic and covalent bonds

- Ionic: electrical charges hold two atoms together due to a gain or loss of one or more electrons (transfer/exchange)

- Covalent: two atoms share one or more pairs of outer shell electrons (share)

5 characteristics used to classify a mineral

- natural

- inorganic

- solid

- posses an orderly internal structure of atoms

- definite chemical composition

Methods to identify minerals

- luster

- color

- streak

- ability to transmit light

The most common mineral group in earth's crust

Feldspar

renewable resources

corn, wind, & water

Non-renewable resources

oil, aluminum, natural gas, & coal

Describe the rock cycle

rocks are broken into sediments... sediments are compacted and form rocks... changed heat, pressure or fluids... magma forms when rock melts beneath surface.. magma cools and forms igneous

What are the 3 types of rocks?

igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic

igneous rocks

formed when magma cools beneath Earth's surface or when lava cools at Earth's surface; forms in or around volcanoes; requires heat (no gas)

sedimentary rock

- A type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together (75% of the continent)

- used to reconstruct earth's history

metamorphic rock

A type of rock that forms from an existing rock that is changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions.

magma and lava difference

- magma has no gas and is underneath the earth's crust

- lava has gas and is above earth's crust

- both molten

early evidence for one continentnt

- fits of South America and Africa

- fossils match across seas

- rock types and structures match

- ancient climates

lithosphere and asthenosphere differences

Lithosphere:

- strong

- formed from the crust/uppermost mantle

- varies in thickness/density

Asthenosphere

- hotter

- the weaker region in the mantle

- solid but never melting temperature

- "flowy" consistency

The 3 types of plate boundaries

Divergent, Convergent, and Transform

divergent boundary

The boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other

convergent boundary

A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together, or crash into each other.

transform boundary

A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions

3 type of seismic waves

Primary (P) Waves, Secondary (S) Waves, and Surface Waves

Primary Waves (P-Waves)

compression waves that travel through solids and liquids, compressing and expanding the material they pass through, temporarily changing volume

(greatest velocity of all waves)

Secondary Waves (S Waves)

only travel through solids and temporarily change the shape, but not the volume of the material they pass through; move slower than P waves

surface waves

a type of seismic wave that forms when P waves and S waves reach Earth's surface

(slowest velocity of all waves)

Destruction caused by earthquakes

- landslides/ ground subsidence

- fires

- tsunami (bc of displacement of floor)

Preventions of destruction caused by earthquakes

- Earthquake-resistant structures

- tsunami & earthquake warning systems

3 major types of volcanoes

shield, composite, cinder cone

Cinder volcano characteristics

1. largest

2. almost exclusively basalt

3. broad (slight dome shape)

5. mild eruptions- large volumes of lava

6. most begin on the ocean floor

composite volcano

1. built from ejected basaltic lava (mainly cinder sized) fragments

2. small size

3. frequently occur in groups

Shield volcano

1. thousands of feet high

2. several miles wide

3. composed of interbedded lava flows

4. violent eruptions

5. most adjacent to pacific ocean

materials that are ejected during volcanic eruptions

ash/dust, pumice, lapilli, cinders, blocks, bombs, (in form of hot lava)

Ring of Fire

region having the greatest concentration of composite volcanoes

catastrophism

- landscape developed by catastrophes

- James Usher (mid 1600s) concluded earth was only a few thousand years old

Uniformitarianism

James Hutton: the idea that the Earth's natural processes have operated in the same way throughout history

In what ways can an animal or plant be preserved as a fossil

frozen, dry caves, fine-grained sediment, three-dimensional detail, and sticky resin

fossil succession

The principle that the assemblage of fossil species in a given sequence of sedimentary strata differs from that found in older sequences or in younger sequences. a given species appears at a certain level and then disappears (goes extinct) at a higher level

3 types of particles emitted in radioactive decay

alpha, beta, and electron capture

alpha particle

A cluster of 2 protons and 2 neutrons emitted from a nucleus in one type of radioactivity

beta particle

a high-speed electron with a 1- charge that is emitted during radioactive decay

electron capture

the process in which an inner orbital electron is captured by the nucleus of the atom that contains the electron

4 basic units that makeup geologic time

eon: one billion years long

era: hundreds of millions of years

period: tens of millions of years

epoch: tens of millions of years

Cambrain explosion

earliest part of the Paleozoic era, when a huge diversity of animal species evolved

(541 million years ago)

ex): jellyfish, worms, and mullusks

extra credit: Big Bang Theory

- 13.7 billion years ago

- heavier elements created in stars

- universe started to expand from one spot

- hydrogen + helium formed shortly after Big Bang

- supernova event stars exploded and creates heaviest elements

extra credit: Earth Formation

- planetesimals to protoplanets

- solar system = solar nebula

- rotating cloud of gas and substances around the protosun

- remained debris formed a flattered disk

extra credit: Life/Animal Evolution

- prokaryotes + eukaryotes

- single celled bacteria

- DNA segregated from nucleous

- complex multicellular

- dinosaurs to reptiles and birds