CSET Multiple Subject Subtest II Science Geology and Meteorology

Geology

the science that describes and interprets the earth. It classifies materials that make up the earth, observes their shapes and distribution and tries to discover the processes that caused the materials to be formed in that manner.

Glaciation

the condition of being covered with glaciers or masses of ice

The Earth's Structure

Has been inferred from its astronomical properties and seismic records of earthquake waves that have traveled through the interior of the earth: Inner Core, Outer Core, Mantle, Crust.

The Rock Cycle

The rock cycle is a set of events that repeats again and again. Constructive forces form new igneous rock, destructive forces break down rock and form sedimentary rocks, and other forces push rock deep beneath the surface, where heat and pressure form metamorphic rock.

Minerals

a substance obtained by mining or digging in the earth. Each mineral has a specific composition or narrow range of compostition.

The Most abundant Minerals in the crust

Orthoclase-feldspar

plagioclase- feldspar

quartz

olivine

augite

Silicates

Orthoclase-feldspar

plagioclase- feldspar

quartz

olivine

augite

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

Sedimentary Rocks

Rock formed from sand and mud that once settled in layers on the bottom of seas, lakes, and marshes. Sedimentary rocks are often rich in fossils.

Metamorphic Rocks

formed from older sedementary or igneous rocks under intense heat or pressure at depths beneath the earth's surface

Weathering

The breaking down of rocks and other materials on the Earth's surface.

Erosion

(geology) the mechanical process of wearing or grinding something down (as by particles washing over it)

Strata

new layers of sediment cover older ones and compress them into superimposed layers of rock in places like lakes, deltas at the mouths of rivers, beaches and sandbars along the coast.

The Law of Original Horizontality

This principle states that layers of sediment are originally deposited horizontally under the action of gravity

Law of Superposition

The geologic principle that states that in horizontal layers of sedimentary rock, each layer is older than the layer above it and younger than the layer below it.

Fossils

Skeletons, bones, shells, body parts, leaves, seeds, or impressions of such items that provide recognizable evidence of organisms that lived long ago.

The Geological Time Scale

Used to measure the amount of radioactive decay in minerals and calculate the time at which the rock formed

The earth is believed to be about 5.6 billion years old.The immensity of geological time is the major discovery of geology. Human Civilization has lasted only 10,000 years old.

Oceans

the largest of all the ecosystems. The ocean regions are separated into separate zones: intertidal, pelagic, abyssal, and benthic. All four zones have a great diversity of species.

Continents

One of the principal land masses of the earth, usually regarded as including Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Earth Movements

The result of forces within the earth, where temperature and pressure differences lead to instability.The stress is particularly severe in orogenic zones, which are characterized by volcanism, metamorphism, deformation, and uplift. Two styles of rock deformation are faulting and folding. Edge-of-continent deformation is attributed to plate tectonics.

Natural Resources

those raw materials supplied by the Earth and its processes. Natural resources include nutrients, minerals, water, plants, animals, and so forth. (See also perpetual resource, renewable resource, and nonrenewable resource.)

Meterology

The scientific study of the atmosphere and weather.

Alluvium

The gradual increase of the earth on a shore of an ocean or bank of a stream resulting from the action of the water.

Aquifer

a body of rock or sediment that stores groundwater and allows the flow of groundwater

Atmospheric Pressure

The pressure caused by the weight of the atmosphere lying directly abouve the area: at sea level, about 15 pounds per square inch.

Basalt

a dark, dense, igneous rock with a fine texture found in oceanic crust formed from lava.

Cloud

A collection of tiny water or ice droplets sufficiently numerous to be seen.

Coal

Sedimentary rock formed from decayed plant material; the world's most abundant fossil fuel

Conglomerate

A sedimentary rock consisting of pebbles cemented together.

Continental Drift

The hypothesis that the continents slowly move across Earth's surface

Crust

the thin and solid outermost layer of the Earth above the mantle

Cyclone

a low-pressure center characterized by a counterclockwise flow of air in the Northern hemisphere

Delta

a triangular area of land formed from deposits at the mouth of a river

Erosion

The process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one location to another

Evaporation

the process by which water changes from liquid form to an atmospheric gas

Extrusive

these types of igneous rocks are formed as lava cools on the surface of Earth

Fault

A planer break in rock along which displacement has occurred

Fold

Bent or warped rock layers

Front

the atmospheric phenomenon created at the boundary between two different air masses

Geothermal Energy

Energy from steam or hot water produced from hot or molten underground rocks within the earth.

Igneous

Rock formed by the solidification of molten rock material.

Intrusive

a type of ingneous rock that generally contains large crystals and forms when magma cools slowly beneath Earth's surface.

Karst

An area of irregular limestone in which erosion has produced fissures, sinkholes, underground streams, and caverns.

Laterite

Iron rich soil caused by tropical weathering

Lava

magma that reaches Earth's surface out of a volcano

Limestone

a sedimentary rock consisting mainly of calcium that was deposited by the remains of marine animals

Lithification

The physical and chemical processes that transform loose sediments into sedimentary rocks

Lithology

study of rocks or stone

Magma

molten rock beneath the earth's surface

Mantle

the layer of the earth between the crust and the core

Metamorphic

rocks changed by intense heat or extreme pressure

Older sedimentary or Igneous rocks

Mineral

a naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition

Paleontology

The science of fossil life

Permafrost

Ground that is frozen throughout the year.

Petroleum

a hydrocarbon that forms as sediments are buried and pressurized. The liquid fuel from the transformation of plant and animal remains.

Plutonic

of igneous rock that has solidified beneath the earth's surface

Precipitation

any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth's surface, rain, snow, sleet, or hail

Rainbow

A circular arc of colored bands produced by the refraction and reflection of sunlight by a sheet of raindrops. The sun must be behind the observer.

Sedimentary

rock formed when layers of sediments were pressed and cemented together at the earths surface

Specific Gravity

the ratio of the weight of a given volume of solution divided by the weight of the same volume of distilled water. A measure of density which therefore has a specific gravity of 1

Stalactite

a cylinder of calcium carbonate hanging from the roof of a limestone cave

Stalagmite

a cylinder of calcium carbonate projecting upward from the floor of a limestone cave

Strata

Layers of sedimentary rock; the singular is stratum

Stratosphere

the layer of the atmosphere that is above the troposphere and in which temperature increases as altitude increases

Syncline

a downward fold in rock formed by compression in Earth's crust

Tectonic

pertaining to the structure or movement of the earth's crust

Troposphere

the layer closest to Earth, where almost all weather occurs; the thinnest layer

Water Table

the upper surface of underground water; the upper boundary of the zone of saturation. Below which all pores in the rocks are filled with water.

Weathering

The breaking down of rocks and other materials on the Earth's surface.