Earth and Space Science 1 - Summative 2 Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering Earth's interior, plate tectonics in the Philippines, mineral properties, mining regulations, and the rock cycle.

Kola Superdeep Borehole

The deepest hole ever drilled, located in Russia, which reached about $12\,km$ into the Earth's crust.

Xenoliths

Solid fragments of deep rock, such as peridotite, that are carried upward by rising magma before they can melt.

Peridotite

A dense, greenish, olivine-rich rock that geologists believe makes up the majority of the upper mantle.

Iron Meteorites

Meteorites composed of iron and nickel, used by scientists as a proxy to suggest the composition of Earth's core.

P-waves (primary waves)

Fastest seismic waves that are compressional and can travel through solids, liquids, and gases.

S-waves (secondary waves)

Shear seismic waves that can only travel through solids and are unable to pass through liquid layers.

S-wave shadow zone

The area on the far side of the planet from an earthquake where S-waves vanish, leading scientists to conclude the outer core is liquid.

Mantle

A thick layer of mostly solid rock rich in silicate minerals that accounts for approximately $84\%$ of Earth's volume.

Lithosphere

The rigid outermost mechanical layer of Earth composed of the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle.

Asthenosphere

A hotter, weaker, partly plastic layer in the upper mantle that flows slowly and supports the movement of tectonic plates.

Conrad discontinuity

The boundary located within the continental crust separating the upper granitic crust from the lower basaltic crust.

Mohorovičić discontinuity (Moho)

The seismic boundary that separates the Earth's crust from the underlying mantle.

Gutenberg discontinuity

The boundary at approximately $2,900\,km$ depth that separates the solid mantle from the liquid outer core.

Lehmann discontinuity

The boundary at approximately $5,150\,km$ depth separating the liquid outer core from the solid inner core.

Philippine Mobile Belt

A tectonically active and deforming zone of crust squeezed between the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate/Sunda block.

Philippine Trench

A deep ocean trench east of Mindanao formed by the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Philippine Mobile Belt.

Island Arc Crust

Crust built by volcanic activity above a subduction zone, characterized by being younger, thinner, and dominated by igneous rocks compared to continental crust.

Mohs Hardness Scale

A scale from $1$ (talc) to $10$ (diamond) used to measure a mineral's resistance to being scratched.

Luster

The property describing how a mineral's fresh surface reflects light, identified as either metallic or non-metallic.

Streak

The color of a mineral's powder when rubbed against an unglazed porcelain plate; it is more diagnostic than surface color.

Cleavage

A mineral's tendency to break along smooth, flat, repeatable planes of weakness determined by its atomic structure.

Conchoidal fracture

A smooth, curved break typical of minerals like quartz that lack consistent planes of weakness.

X-ray diffraction (XRD)

A laboratory technique used to reveal a mineral's crystal structure by observing the pattern of diffracted X-rays.

Progressive Mine Rehabilitation

Environmental strategy where mining companies restore disturbed land concurrently with ongoing operations rather than waiting for mine closure.

Tailings Storage Facilities (TSFs)

Engineered containment areas designed to store leftover rock and slurry waste to prevent contamination of ecosystems.

Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT)

A group including government, community, and NGO representatives that oversees the environmental compliance of mining companies.

Borax Method

A mercury-free smelting alternative used in artisanal gold mining to separate gold from ore safely.

Intrusive (Plutonic) Rocks

Igneous rocks, like granite, that form from magma cooling slowly deep underground and possess a coarse-grained texture.

Extrusive (Volcanic) Rocks

Igneous rocks, like basalt and andesite, that form from lava cooling quickly at the surface and possess a fine-grained texture.

Lithification

The process of compaction and cementation that transforms loose sediment into solid sedimentary rock.

Foliated Metamorphic Rocks

Metamorphic rocks, such as slate or gneiss, that exhibit visible banding or alignment of minerals due to high pressure.

Rock Cycle

The continuous geological processes of heat, pressure, weathering, and erosion that transform one rock type into another.