Introduction to Geology: Earth Systems, Spheres, and the Rock Cycle

Vocabulary flashcards covering the introductory concepts of geology, Earth systems, spheres, rock classification, and the rock cycle.

Geology

The science of Earth that studies geologic processes sculpting its surface and interior, ancient environments, organisms, and the formation and destruction of landforms.

Sustainable development

A sustainable way of doing business and living on the planet that does not bankrupt the Earth.

Catastrophism

A seventeenth- and eighteenth-century belief that Earth's features (such as mountains, valleys, oceans, and rivers) were permanent and had been produced by a few great upheavals.

James Hutton

An eighteenth-century scientist ($1726$-$1797$) known as the father of modern scientific geology who proposed the counterhypothesis of uniformitarianism.

Principle of uniformitarianism

The principle stating that the same geological processes observed operating today have been operating throughout Earth's history.

Relative dating

Determining the relative chronological sequence of past events based on the superpositional relationships of rock strata and fossil progression, rather than numerical age in years.

Radiometric methods

Techniques developed in the early 1900s for determining the precise numerical age of rocks in years.

Scientific method

A general research plan based on methodical observations and experiments designed to discover patterns in nature and make predictions.

Hypothesis

A plausible but unproven explanation formulated for the way something happens.

System

Any size group of interacting parts that form a complex whole.

Open system

A system in which both energy and matter flow freely into and out of the system (e.g., the ocean).

Closed system

A self-contained system that allows only energy, but not matter, to flow into and out of the system (e.g., the Earth as a whole).

Critical zone

A term used to describe Earth's land surface where water routes and transfer processes interact across spheres.

Hydrosphere

All of Earth's water—including oceans, lakes, streams, underground water, snow, and ice—specifically excluding water vapour in the atmosphere.

Geosphere

The solid Earth extending from core to surface, composed principally of rock and unconsolidated sediment.

Atmosphere

The mixture of gases surrounding Earth, predominantly composed of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, and water vapour.

Biosphere

All of Earth's living organisms, as well as any organic matter that has not yet decomposed.

Rock

A coherent, naturally occurring solid consisting of an aggregate of minerals.

Crystal

A piece of a mineral that grew into its present shape.

Grain

Any fragment or piece of mineral, rock, or glass.

Aggregate of minerals

Many mineral grains or crystals stuck or grown together, such as quartz, hornblende, and feldspar combining to form granite.

Natural cement

Mineral material that precipitates from water and fills the spaces between grains.

Clastic rocks

Rocks whose grains are held and stuck together by mineral cement.

Crystalline rocks

Rocks whose constituent crystals interlock directly with one another.

Igneous rocks

Rocks that form by the cooling and solidification of molten rock (magma or lava).

Sedimentary rocks

Rocks formed either by the cementing together of fragments broken off pre-existing rocks or by the precipitation of mineral crystals out of water solutions.

Metamorphic rocks

Rocks that form when pre-existing rocks transform in response to changes in pressure and temperature conditions.

Texture

The physical arrangement and distribution of grains or crystals in a rock.

Bedding

Layering specifically found in sedimentary rocks, defined by bands of differing compositions, textures, or aligned grains.

Foliation

Layering that develops within metamorphic rocks.

Rock cycle

The continuous model representing the progressive transformation of Earth materials from one rock type to another along various geological pathways.