Earth and Space Science- Gardner- PCC- Test 2

fault

a fracture surface which has had no motion; abrupt ending and displacement of faults

normal fault

a type of fault; when the hanging wall slides downwards

reverse fault

a type of fault; when the hanging wall moves upwards

strike-slip fault

a type of fault; when rock masses move horizontally

fault scarps

cliffs along normal or reverse faults

folding

when layers of rocks are bent due to slow, continuous movement

syncline (sink/trough)

a type of folding in which the layers of rock fold downwards

anticline (arch)

a type of folding in which layers of rock fold upwards

Mauna Kea

a dormant shield volcano

fault-block mountains

mountains formed by normal and reverse faults

folded mountains (Rocky mountains/Himalayas)

mountains formed by folded continental plates

Antonio Snider

creationist; concluded in his book that a continental drift happened rapidly; (Pangea)

Pangea

supercontinent; broke apart into Laurasia and Gondwana; occurred during the Flood

lithosphere

the solid, outer layer of the earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle

asthenosphere

the upper layer of the earth's mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow (soft rock)

Features that indicate ocean floor spreading

-Mid-ocean ridges.

-Trenches.

-Island Arcs.

-Magnetic Ridges

plate tectonics

the study of crustal movements that are a result of ocean floor expansion

7 major plates

the lithosphere is broken into _ major plates

oceanic-continental plate collision

a type of subduction in which ....; forms subduction zones

subduction zones

the part under the oceanic-continental plates that has folded under

oceanic-oceanic plate collision

a plate collision in which both plates are made of basalt (the denser plate will go down because it's had more time to cool); creates island arcs

island arcs

chains of volcanic islands that can only be formed by oceanic-oceanic plate collisions

continental-continental plate collision

a type of plate collision which creates folded mountains; both plates are made of granite (neither will subduct much because of high buoyancy)

transform faults

a special variety of strike-slip fault; occurs only at tectonic plate boundaries (where two plates meet); most commonly found at mid-ocean ridges

San Andreas fault

a rare transform fault found on land

true

true/false : the earth will never see the same type of crustal changes that we see evidence of

Cuvier

one of the first men to deviate from a Biblical worldview; paleontologist who concluded that catastropheS had killed each fossil layer and that new creatures were created supernaturally

Hutton

man who said "I see no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end"; used vast amounts of time to explain away special creation

Lyell

"Explain the former changes of the earth's surface by forces now in operation." "Free science from Moses"; Father of Uniformitarianism; publishes a widely -used textbook of uniformity

Darwin

man who made the theory of evolution which allowed a supernatural creation of creatures in the fossil record to be discarded

uniformitarianism

present is the key to the past

unconformity

an irregular surface that separates 2 series of rock strata

Reasons Creationists believe sediments laid down by the Flood from different areas were cut through by floodwaters

-Deep and wide erosion.

-Thick layers of mud and sand.

-Marine animals found above sea level and through continents.

-Sand carried across continents.

radiometric decay

change of parent mineral into a daughter mineral

Assumptions that must be true in order for radiometric dating to be reliable

- constant rate of decay

-nothing comes in or leaves the system

-no daughter element was present in the beginning

-initial conditions can be predicted

paleozoic era

the oldest era - marine invertebrates, plants, and small land animals

mesozoic era

middle life - dinosaurs and small animals

cenozoic era

the youngest era; final stages of the earth being covered in water; large mammals and birds

atmosphere

an envelope of gases around the earth; varies in composition and abundance

hydrosphere

the total amount of water on the earth

nitrogen

element which makes up 78% of the air you breathe (of the modern atmosphere); helps to stabilize the atmosphere; not super reactive

oxygen

element which makes up 21% of the modern atmosphere

argon

element which makes up less than 1% of the gases in the atmosphere; not super reactive

troposphere

the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere; where weather occurs; up to 7 miles above the surface

low pressure/surface absorbs heat and light

why do temperatures decrease as one rises through the troposphere?

stratosphere

2nd layer of atmosphere; extends from 10 to 30 miles up; no clouds or weather; ozone in the upper layer traps UV light; the higher you get the warmer

UVA

longest wavelength

UVB

shorter wavelength; causes sunburn, some passes through ozone

UVC

shortest wavelength, most energy, causes death, ozone layer absorbs all of it

mesosphere

middle layer of the atmosphere; coldest portion of the atmosphere; where meteors burn up

thermosphere

uppermost layer of the atmosphere, in which temperature increases as altitude increases; where the ISS is located