Earth 2 UP Reviewer

Eon

It represents the broadest category for understanding Earth's history and is subdivided into eras, periods, and epochs.

Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic

The four eons are the

Era

a major division of time that is longer than a period and shorter than an eon.

Period

a basic unit of time that is a subdivision of an era and are characterized by distinct rock systems and often defined by significant changes in the fossil record and Earth's environment.

Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. 

The Phanerozoic eon is divided into three eras:

Epoch

a division of a geological period, representing a specific interval of time marked by distinct geological or paleontological characteristics.

Hadean Eon

the earliest eon in Earth's history, it's characterized by intense heat, frequent asteroid impacts, and a molten or partially molten surface.

Archaean Eon

It is characterized by the formation of Earth's crust, intense volcanism, and the appearance of the first life forms, primarily single-celled organisms. 

LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor)

is thought to be a single-celled organism that existed before the divergence of the three domains of life: bacteria, archaea, and eukarya. 

Stromatolites

The oldest fossils ever discovered are called ____ found in Greenland and Western Australia, dating back 3.7 billion years.

Archaean Rocks, Australia

The oldest fossils found on Earth are of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae found in

Phanerozoic Eon

It is the eon characterized by the abundance and diversification of life, with the presence of abundant fossils in the rock record, hence the name “visible life”

Paleozoic eon

The era that is characterized by the diversification of life, the colonization of land by plants and animals, and the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea, hence the name “Ancient Life” 

Mesozoic Era

It's characterized by the dominance of reptiles, including the famous dinosaurs, hence “The Age of Reptiles” and the start of splitting of Pangea

Cenozoic Era

It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants), hence the name “New Life”

Cambrian Explosion

it is characterized as a rapid diversification of life, particularly in the oceans, that saw the evolution of many new animal phyla. 

Trilobite

These armored, segmented marine arthropods were incredibly diverse and abundant during the Cambrian Period, with thousands of different species known to science.

Ordovician Radiation

Ordovician Period is best known for the tremendous diversification of marine life, a period known

Silurian Period

It's marked by the evolution of jawed fish, the first freshwater fish, and the emergence of vascular plants.

Devonian Period

often called the "Age of Fishes," is known for the diversification and evolution of fishes

Carboniferous Period

Period that is characterized by widespread swamp forests and the formation of coal deposits.

Permian Period

In what period did “The Great Dying” where the most severe mass extinction event happened?

Siberian Traps

the main cause of the Permian extinction was the flood basalt volcanic eruptions that created the ____ which released sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide, resulting in euxinia (oxygen-starved, sulfurous oceans), elevated global temperatures, and acidified oceans.

Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-PG) Extinction Event

a mass extinction that occurred approximately 66 million years ago, marking the end of the Cretaceous Period and the Mesozoic Era.

Chicxulub Crater

It's a massive impact crater, formed by an asteroid or comet that struck Earth approximately 66 million years ago.

Pleistocene Epoch

It is characterized by recurring glacial periods, significant climate fluctuations, and the evolution and expansion of modern humans, often called the “Ice Age”

Absolute Dating

Determines the numerical ages of minerals, rocks, and fossils

Relative Dating

Deals with the sequence and chronology of the layers with respect to each other

Nitrogen-14

Daughter of Carbon-14

Lead-207

Daughter of Uranium-235

Argon-40

Daughter of Potassium-40

Lead-206

Daughter of Uranium-238

Lead-208

Daughter of Thorium 235

Strontium-87

Daughter of Rubidium-87

47 billion

Half life of Rubidium-878

14 billion

Half life of Throium-235

4.5 billion

Half life of Uranium-238

1.3 billion

Half life of Potassium-40

710 million

Half life of Uranium-235

5730

Half life of Carbon-14

Principle of Uniformitarianism

The present is the key to the past

Law of Superposition

justifies why the materials found at the bottom are older and the ones on top are younger.

Law of Original Horizontality

sediments/layers are deposited horizontally

Law of Lateral Continuity

When there is an abundant sediment supply, the tendency of the sediments is to spread out laterally until it reaches a physical barrier or grades into another type of sediment.

Law of Cross-Cutting Relationship

the feature cutting through the layers of rocks is younger than the rock units

Principle of Inclusion

the included rock fragments are older than the layer which contains it

Unconformities

Any significant break in time within a stratigraphic column.

Angular Unconfortmities

a geological feature where sedimentary rock layers are tilted, eroded, and then overlain by younger, horizontal sedimentary rock layers.

Disconformities

exists where the layers above and below an erosional boundary have the same orientation

Nonconformities

develops where sediments are deposited on top of an eroded surface of igneous or metamorphic rocks

Paraconformities

Strata on either side of the unconformity are parallel, there is little apparent erosions with fossils occurrence

Eruption Column

a vertical pillar of volcanic ash, tephra, and gases ejected during an explosive volcanic eruption.

Debris Avalanche

formed when an unstable slope collapses and debris is transported away from the slope

Pyroclastic Flow

a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter that rushes down the slopes of a volcano

Fumaroles

a vent in the Earth's surface, often found near volcanoes, that emits steam and volcanic gases.

Eruption Cloud

a convoluted rolling mass of water vapour and ash that is highly charged with electricity and overhangs a volcano during an eruption.

Lava Flow

refers to the molten rock (magma) that pours or oozes from a volcano during an effusive eruption, spreading downslope until it cools and solidifies.

Lava Fountain

a spectacular display of molten rock (lava) being propelled into the air, often during volcanic eruptions.

Tephra Fall

a volcanic hazard characterized by the ejection and subsequent deposition of fragmented volcanic material, including ash, onto the ground surrounding a volcano

Pyroclastic Density Currents

are ground hugging gas-particle flows that originate from the collapse of an eruption column or lava dome.

Pyroclastic Flow

High density of intensely hot flows of gas and debris fragments that travel at high speeds, arising from volcanic eruptions and follows drainage patterns, hence predictable

nuées ardentes

Pyroclastic Flow also called as

Gravity and Fluidization

What are the energy sources of PDCs

Soufrière Type

The eruption column can no longer be sustained (due to loss of pressure), so the column collapses forming pyroclastic flows on the flanks of the volcano and this pyroclastic flow tend to be cooler than the others.

Pelée Type

a dome of viscous magma (rhyolite, dacite) is blocking the conduit. Eventually it explodes under pressure, blasting pyroclastic material down one of the flanks of the volcano

Merapi Type

a dome of viscous magma (dacite, rhyolite) grows in the crater. Eventually it gets so large, it collapses under gravity, producing a pyroclastic flow

Conduit

the pathway or channel through which magma travels from the magma chamber (reservoir) to the vent at the surface

Pyroclastic Surge

PDC that are less dense, they move more quickly and can surmount topography such as hills and ridges. Therefore, their effects are more widespread and less predictable

Base Surge

first recognized at Taal volcano by Jim Moore in 1967. Very similar to the ground-hugging blasts associated with nuclear explosions.

Ground Surge

these deposits are often found at the base of pyroclatic flows, They are thinly bedded, laminated and often cross-bedded. Typically they are about 1 m

Ash Cloud Surge

these are the most devastating PDC. They form thin deposits, but travel at great speed (10 – 100 m/sec) carrying abundant debris.

Ash Cloud Surge

They are possibly produced when conditions in an eruption column are close to the boundary conditions separating convection from collapse

Lateral Blast

Produces a low-angle blast, traveling at over 200 mph – destroying everything in its path by blast, impact and abrasion and first recognized during the Mount St. Helens eruption (1980).

Lahar

a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water.

Icelandic Eruption

a type of volcanic eruption that is characterized by effusions of molten basaltic lava that flow from long, parallel fissures. Such outpourings often build lava plateaus.

Hawaiian Eruption

Fluid lava flows from a volcano’s summit and radial fissures to form shield volcanoes, which are quite large and have gentle slopes.

Stromboli Eruption

Eruptions involve moderate bursts of expanding gases that eject clots of incandescent lava in cyclical or nearly continuous small eruptions

Stromboli Volcano

The volcano in Italy that has been called the “lighthouse of the Mediterranean.

Vulcanian Eruption

moderately explosive, intermittent bursts of ash and gas, often preceded by a period of pressure buildup within the volcano. These eruptions are known for producing dense, dark ash plumes and can also generate pyroclastic flows.

Pelean Eruption

eruption is associated with explosive outbursts that generate pyroclastic flows, dense mixtures of hot volcanic fragments and gas

Plinian Eruption

In this type of eruption, gases boiling out of gas-rich magma generate enormous and nearly continuous jetting blasts that core out the magma conduit and rip it apart.

Primary Waves (P-waves)

Body wave and first type of wave to arrive, motion: Pushpull, transmitted through: gases, liquids, or solids

Secondary Wave (S-Wave)

Second to arrive, motion: shearing motion, up-down, side-to-side, transmitted through solids only

Love Wave

Surface wave that has horizontal, side-to-side motion

Rayleigh Wave

Surface wave that has rolling motion, elliptical pattern, movement similar to water waves

Liquefaction

phenomena that makes the ground start to behave “like a fluid”, so buildings may start to “sink” and buried structures like tanks may start to “float”.

Tsunami

When an earthquake happens on the seafloor, the ground rupture/movement disrupts the water column leading into the creation of these waves that increase in size as they reach shores.