Earth Science Lecture Review

Flashcards of key vocabulary terms and definitions from the lecture notes.

Atmosphere

Gas surrounding Earth's surface

Geosphere

The solid Earth from surface to center

Hydrosphere & Crypsphere

Water and ice in all other realms

Biosphere

All types of living organisms

Earth's Magnetic Field

Helps block solar wind and sun particles; field lines point inward and outward at magnetic poles

Earth's Biosphere

Humans to microorganisms, most life lives on Earth's surface or oceans

Earth's Atmosphere

Almost all air within 50km of Earth's surface, mostly nitrogen and oxygen

Weather

Short term atmospheric conditions

Climate

Long term atmospheric conditions

Hydrosphere

Oceans, groundwater, frozen water (glaciers and polar regions)

Topography

Shape of the land

Bathymetry

Shape of the ocean floor (seafloor)

Solar System Formation

Nebula, Protoplanet, Inner and outer planets

4 Elements Accounting for 91% of Earth's Materials

Iron, Silicon, Oxygen, Magnesium

Mineral

Naturally occurring, generally inorganic, homogenous, crystalline solid, definable composition

Rock

Coherent, naturally occurring, aggregate of minerals

Igneous Rock

Rock formed when lava solidifies

Sedimentary Rock

Formed by depositing and accumulated clasts; lithification compacts and cements clasts

Sandstone

Lithified quartz sand

Shale

Lithified clay

Limestone

Forms from deposited calcite shells or precipitated calcite

Metamorphic Rock

Formed by added heat and pressure (not enough to melt)

Protolith

Pre-existing rock

Foliated

Layered metamorphic rock

Slate

When clay minerals become foliated

Schist

Developed when mica mineral becomes foliated

Moho (Mohorovicic Discontinuity)

Seismic discontinuity differentiating crust; chemical difference between crust and mantle

Peridotite

Mostly silica-poor igneous rock with flow plasticity

Earth's Core Composition

90% iron, 5% nickel, and 5% oxygen/silicon/carbon

Earth's Outer Core

Rapidly flowing liquid that generates Earth's magnetic field

Lithosphere

Relatively rigid and cannot flow; brittle

Asthenosphere

Soft and able to flow; exhibits flow plasticity

Trench

When an oceanic plate slides beneath another plate

Downgoing Plate

The plate that sinks during subduction

Overriding Plate

The plate that does not sink during subduction

Subduction

Process of an oceanic plate slipping beneath an overriding plate

Accretionary Prism

Forms at overriding plate boundary

Island Arc

Ocean plate + ocean plate convergence (e.g., Japan)

Continental Arc

Continental plate + ocean plate convergence (e.g., America)

Continental Collision

Two land masses collide creating a collision mountain belt

Suture

Where two plates meet in the middle after continental collision

Transform Boundaries

Plates move horizontally past each other

Compression

Squeezes rock

Tension

Stretches rock

Shear

Adjacent rock moves parallel to a plate boundary

Deformation

Breaking or changing of rock

Suture

Where two plates meet in the middle

Fold Thrust Belt

Little hills created by compression

Rifting

Thins and moves apart

Brittle Deformation

When rock cracks and breaks under low temperature

Plastic Deformation

Rocks change shape without breaking

Jointing

Cracks along zones of weakness

Faults

Cracks in rocks due to shearing

Fold

A bend in a rock layer

Foliation

When metamorphic rock becomes layered

Uniformitarianism

The way we can use what we see now to tell the past; "Present is the key to the past"

Geologic Time Scale

Eon, Era, Period, Epoch

Rock Cycle

Igneous rock, sedimentary rock, metamorphic rock transforming between eachother.

Supercontinent Cycle

Continents that move over time

Anthropocene and Global Change

Humans interact with the planet where we have an impact