module #1: intro to environmental science

Rock Cycle

Rock Cycle

Describes the transitions through rock types (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic) due to processes like melting, cooling, and weathering.

Physical Geography

Studies natural Earth features, such as landforms, climate, ecosystems, and processes.

5 Themes of Geography

Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, Region.

Plate Boundaries

Types include divergent, convergent, and transform.

Shape of Earth

Oblate spheroid, slightly flattened at the poles.

Uniformitarianism

Geologic processes occurring now operated similarly in the past.

Latitude & Longitude

Latitude (horizontal lines) measures north-south; longitude (vertical lines) measures east-west.

Main Types of Rocks

Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic; these types recycle through the rock cycle.

Advantages of Maps

Visual representation of locations, distances, and spatial relationships.

Planet

A celestial body orbiting a star with sufficient mass to maintain a nearly round shape.

Parallelism

Earth’s tilt remains consistent during orbit, affecting seasons.

Declination

Angular distance north or south of the celestial equator, impacting solar position and seasons.

Importance of Maps

Essential for navigation, planning, and understanding geography.

Geologic Time Scale

Based on fossil and rock data, dividing Earth’s history into eons, eras, periods, etc.

Solstices

Days of the year when the Sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky.

Plate Tectonic Activities

Convergent (collision), divergent (separation), transform (sliding) boundaries cause earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation.

Law of Superposition

In undisturbed layers, older rocks are at the bottom.

Fossils in the Geologic Record

Found in sedimentary layers, indicating organism ages.

Geomorphology

Study of landforms and processes that shape Earth’s surface.

Endogenic Processes

Internal Earth processes like tectonics; opposed to exogenic processes like weathering and erosion.

Exogenic Processes

External Earth processes, including weathering and erosion.

Mercator Projection

Cylindrical map projection useful for navigation but distorts size near poles.

Earth’s Spheres

Lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere.

Mineral and Rock

Minerals are naturally occurring substances; rocks are composed of minerals.

Solar Insolation Distribution

Solar energy received varies by latitude, affecting climate zones.

Most Common Minerals in Earth’s Crust

Quartz, feldspar, mica.

Cartography

The science of making maps.

Sedimentary Rock Characteristics

Formed from sediment deposition; often layered and fossil-rich.

Radiometric Dating

Determines rock age by measuring radioactive decay.

Wegener’s Continental Drift Hypothesis

Proposed that continents were once connected and have since drifted apart.

Types of Plate Boundaries

Divergent, convergent, transform; influence seismic activity.

Earth’s Magnetic Field & Plate Boundaries

Generated by Earth’s core, affecting direction and speed of plate movement.

Earth’s Energy Source

Primarily solar energy, with additional internal geothermal energy from radioactive decay.