Regents Review Earth and Space

Regents Vocab

Solar System Formation

Around 4.6 billion years ago, a giant cloud of gas and dust (solar nebula) collapsed under gravity, spun into a disk, and formed the Sun at its center. 

Earth’s Beginning

Remaining material in the disk formed the planets; Earth officially materialized about 4.5 billion years ago.

Accretion & Composition

The rocky, metal-rich makeup of inner planets like Earth proves they grew via accretion—smaller space bodies colliding and merging.

Comparing Planets

Comparing solar system objects (like gas-rich Jupiter vs. rocky Earth) reveals how different planets formed based on available materials.

Impact Cratering Record

Analyzing craters across planetary surfaces reveals the timing, frequency, and intensity of ancient space collisions, which heavily shaped planetary evolution.

Diverse Evidence Sources

Scientists study ancient Earth rocks, minerals, fossils, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to infer early conditions.

Radiometric Dating

Measures radioactive isotope decay in ancient materials and meteorites to calculate their absolute age and establish a precise timeline.

Analytical Techniques

Isotopic analysis and geologic mapping help reconstruct the exact physical and chemical conditions of early Earth.

The Theory

Earth’s solid outer layer (lithosphere) is divided into large tectonic plates that drift over the flowing mantle beneath them. This continuous movement forms, destroys, and recycles crustal rocks.

Seafloor Spreading

New oceanic crust is continuously created by volcanic activity at mid-ocean ridges.

Internal Processes

Driven by mantle convection, tectonic activity, and volcanism. They operate over millions of years (large temporal scale) to shape massive features like ocean basins and mountain ranges (large spatial scale).

Surface Processes (Small & Fast)

Driven by weathering, erosion, and deposition. They operate over much shorter timeframes (typically thousands of years down to single storm events) and gradually alter localized landscapes.

Volcanism & Uplift

Magma eruptions create volcanoes and lava fields, while tectonic plates colliding force the crust upward to form mountains and plateaus.

Deposition

The accumulation of dropped sediment creates new surface features like river deltas, beaches, and valleys.

Ocean-Floor Features

Mid-ocean ridges form where plates pull apart to create new seafloor, while underwater volcanic activity builds isolated seamounts.

Weathering & Erosion

Mechanical, chemical, and biological forces break rocks into fragments, while water, wind, and waves carve out cliffs, caves, arches, and canyons.

Subdcution

At tectonic boundaries, one plate is forced beneath another down into the mantle, destroying old oceanic crust and forming deep ocean trenches.

Geosphere

Rocks & Land

Hydrosphere

Water

Atmosphere

Air

Biosphere

Life

Cryosphere

Ice

Crust

The thin, solid, outerost rock layer.

Mantle

The largest layer, made of hot, semi-fluid/semi-solid rock.

Outer Core

A liquid layer of iron and nickel that surrounds the inner core.

Inner core

A solid ball composed of iron and nickel.

Seismic Waves

Tracked from earthquakes to image internal structures.

Magnetic Field Records

Analysis of iron locked into igneous rocks on the ocean floor.

Convection

Heat from Earth’s core warms the lower mantle, causing the hot, semi-fluid material to expand, become less dense, and rise toward the surface at mid-ocean ridges.

Plate Motion

The lithosphere (crust and uppermost mantle) is broken into tectonic plates. The convection currents in the mantle act as the primary engine driving their movement.

Weathering

Water hydrates some minerals, causing them to expand, crack, and physically breaks them down.

Chemical Alteration & Transport

It dissolves minerals and transports them, which eventually leads to the formation of sedimentary rocks.

Erosion & Deposition

The physical movement of water carves landscapes by eroding sediment from one area and depositing it in another.

Groundwater

Water infiltrates (seeps into) the ground by flowing into the spaces between rocks and soil.