Praxis 5005

Plate tectonics

Theory that explains the movement of the continents and changes in the crust caused by internal forces

Plates

Blocks of the crust and upper mantle

Lithosphere

Plates of Earth's crust and upper mantle that are broken into the nine large plates

Divergence

Creates new oceanic crust when hot mantle rises and separates

Convergence

Oceanic crust collides with another plate, making a trench and volcanic activity. OR 2 continent plates collide.

Transform fault

When two plates slide past one another

Plate boundaries

-spreading apart

-pressing together

-sliding past each other

Rifting

Boundaries form between spreading plates where the crust is forced apart in mid-ocean ridges. On land it creates ocean basins

Subduction

Ocean and continental crust collide and the ocean crust slides under into the mantle

Dry Air components

Nitrogen, Argon, Oxygen, and Carbon Dioxide

Atmosphere layers

Troposphere

Stratosphere

Mesosphere

Thermosphere

Troposphere

Closest to surface

Weather occurs here

Temp decreases with increasing altitude

Stratosphere

Little water

Ozone layer

Mesophere

Coldest layer

Air temp decreases with increasing altitude

Thermosphere

Temp increases with increasing altitude

Ionosphere

Exosphere

Ionosphere

Gases that give off light and glow in the sjy

Exosphere

Layers held together by magnetic pull

Composition of mountains

Igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary ricks

Folded mountains

Crust movements press horizontal layers of sedimentary rocks together from the sides, making wavelike folds

Alps, Himalayas

Fault-block mountains

USA southwest

Like an ice buckle

Dome mountains

Blister with magma underneath

Upwarped mountains

Black Hills of SD

Broad arching of the crust

Processes of forming mountains

Folding or faulting

Dip-slip fault

Movement of plates is vertical and opposite

Reverse fault

Rock above the fault plane move upward

Strike-slip fault

Horizontal movement along the fault

Transform fault

San Andreas

Large strike-slip along the boundaries of the fault

Oblique-slip fault

Both vertical and horizontal movement

Volcanism

movement of magma through the crust and its emergence as lava onto the Earth's surface

Location of active volcanoes

Ring of Fire = rim of the Pacific Ocean

Shield volcanoes

quiet, oozing eruptions that slowly build

Cinder-cone volcanoes

eruptions that make layers of cinder and ash that create a cone that compacts to become a more permanent landform

Composite volcanoes

created by layers of magma and ash/cinder

Lava cools to form...

igneous rock

types of igneous rocks

intrusive and extrusive

intrusive rock

igneous rock that is formed below surface

extrusive rock

igneous rock that is formed above surface

dikes

old lava tube created by magma going in a vertical fracture

sill

thin horizontal sheet of hardened magma between two rock layers

laccolith

magma moves through a dike and pools to creates a surface dome

caldera

"crater" formed by the collapse of the top of a volcano into an empty magma chamber

volcanic neck

magma solidified in the pipe of an inactive volcano that's resistant to erosion

Subdivisions of rocks

sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic

Sedimentary rocks

created by lithification when fluid sediments are transformed into solid rocks through compaction and then cementation

Igneous rocks

classified according to how they formed which determines texture and composition

as the magma cools, crystals grow. rapid cooling means no crystals, slow cooling means large crystals

Metamorphic rocks

formed by high temp. and pressure

types of metamorphic rocks

foliated (compressed bands) and unfoliated rocks

types of metamorphic changes

deformation by extreme heat and pressure

compaction

destruction of parent rock

bending/folding

emergence of new minerals

Minerals

natural, non-living solid with definite chemical composition and crystalline structure

Ores

minerals or rocks that can be mined for profit

Rocks

Naturally occuring earth materials made of 1+ minerals

Glaciers

large masses of ice that form in high mountains or cold regions and move or flow over the land in response to gravity

ice age

time period when glaciers cover a lot of ground

Evidence of glacial coverage

abrasive grooves

large boulders of misplaced rocks

U-shaped valley (glacial trough)

cirques

Continental glaciers

smooth everything out - steamroll the landscape

Fossil

remains of an organism that has been preserved in the Earth's crust - usually in sedimentary rock, amber or tar pits

fossil mold

hollow space that outlines the organism

fossil cast

fossil mold that's filled with hardened sediment that recreates the organism's shape

erosion

a moveable material (usually wind, ice or running water) moving surface materials

abrasion

particles grinding against solid formations that causes them to break off pieces

erosion in streams

caused by abrasion or dissolving/absorbing minerals of bedrock

deposition

process by which material from one area is slowly deposited into another area (ie river deltas)

weathering (& types)

breaking down of rocks at or near Earth's surface. either chemical or physical

physical weathering

breaking rocks down into smaller fragments without undergoing chemical changes

causes of physical weathering

freezing water (frost weathering)

expansion of rock

exfoliation

plants & animals

chemical weathering

breaking down rocks through chemical changes such as water, carbon dioxide, and oxygen

Time units from largest to smallest

eons --> eras --> periods --> epochs

Eras (current to past)

Cenozoic

Mesozoic

Paleozoic

Precambrian

Cenozoic periods

Quaternary

Tertiary

Quaternary

Cenozoic Era

1.6 million years ago to present

ice age

humans

Tertiary

Cenozoic Era

65-1.64 million years ago

mammals/birds evolved to replace great reptiles

forests --> grasslands

climate cooled

Mesozoic periods

Cretaceous

Jurassic/Triassic

Cretaceous

Mesozoic Era

135-65 million years ago

reptiles/dinos were prominent

continents separate and flooded

Jurassic

Mesozoic Era

350-135 million years ago

reptiles evolving

Pangea starting to break

Deserts --> forests and swamps

Paleozoic

Permian/Carboniferous

Devonian

Silurian/Ordovician

Cambrian

Permian/Carboniferous

Paleozoic Era

355-250 million years ago

creation of Pangea

Forests grew on mountains

Deserts formed

Devonian

Paleozoic Era

410-355 million years ago

continents moving towards each other

first land animals (insects/amphibians)

fish in the sea

Silurian/Ordovician

Paleozoic Era

510-410 million years ago

sea life prominent

first fish

land plants around water

Cambrian

Paleozoic Era

570-510 million years ago

sea animals

no life on land

Precambrian periods

Proterozoic

Archaen

Proterozoic

Precambrian Era

beginning of earth - 570 million years ago

some life

Archaen

Precambrian Era

beginning of earth - 570 million years ago

no life

uniformitarianism

"the present is the key to the past"

applied to the laws of Earth

catastrophism

concept that the Earth was shaped by catastrophic events of a short-term nature

absolute dating

use of radioactivity to make accurate determinations of Earth's age

carbon dating

using the half-life principle to determine how old a material is

inner planets

Mercury

Venus

Earth

Mars

outer planets

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

What planets have retrograde rotation?

Venus and Uranus

Parts of the sun

core

photosphere

sunspots

chromosphere

corona

The sun's core

where fusion takes place

photoshpere

"the surface" where sunspots (dark areas) occur

chromosphere

hydrogen turns this part red

solar flares

solar prominences - gases that shoot out of this layer

corona

transparent area of the sun visible only during a total eclipse

Star

a ball of hot glowing gas that's hot/dense enough to trigger nuclear reactions to fuel it's existence

magnitude

the ranking of how bright a star appears to humans

luminosity

amount of energy radiated by star per second

spiral galaxy

arms that rotate around a dense center

ex: The Milky Way

black hole

structure that's collapsed so much that light can't get to the surface because it's trapped by a gravitational field

nebula

creates stars by gravity acting on particles of dust and gas in a cloud