ESCI-11040 chapters 1,2, and 3 exam 1

modle plumes and hot spots

-stream upward slowly bc the rock is hot and less dense than the overlaying rock

-occurs beneath ocean plates and continental plates

ocean lithosphere

maximum thickness at 80 million years (no oceanic lithosphere is more than 200 million years old)

plate tectonic theory

The lithosphere has rock and crust, and the upper mantle. Tectonic plates move relative to each other, converging or diverging, or sharing past one another, driven by convection of heat and hot rock in the asthenosphere below

Himalayas why are they growing?

The continental plate is colliding with another continental plate

submarine divergent plate boundary

Two plates are being pulled apart, creating volcanic activity, mid-ocean ridges, and seafloor spreading

What's the chain of volcanoes along west coast of South America?

The Andes mountains

Why did the Andes exist?

An oceanic plate is subducting under the western edge of the South American plate

What does subduction cause?

A tectonic plate is forced beneath another, creating a volcanic island arc

Global occurrences of earthquakes reveal?

They are occurring on boundaries of plates or hotspots

What is cosmology?

The origin, structure, and evolution of the universe

Earth magnetic field

A field that surrounds the Earth because of the Earth's convection currents in the liquid iron core.

What are the internal layers of the Earth called?

The crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core

Crust

Earth's outermost layer.

Continental layers is thicker oceanic is thinner

Mantle

The layer of hot, solid material between Earth's crust and core.

Outercore

A layer of molten of iron and nickel that surrounds earths innercore

Innercore

the solid iron layer of earth hot and dense

Lithosphere

A rigid layer made up of the upper mantle and the crust.

Asthenosphere

The soft layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats.

Continental drift hypothesis by Alfred Wagner. What was the evidence he found?

The hypothesis was that the continents were connected but drifted apart. His evidence was the fit of continents, the fossils rock + mountain similarity evidence of ancient climate

seafloor spreading

The process that creates new sea floor as plates move away from each other at the mid-ocean ridges

Why was the continental drift theory rejected?

He couldn't explain how they were moved, but later found out it was because the floor spreading

Paleomagnetism

changes in Earth's magnetic field, as shown by patterns of magnetism in rocks that have formed over time

Plate boundaries are?

when tectonic plates meet

Divergent Boundaries

Plates move apart, forming new crust (mid ocean Ridge, rift Valley)

Convergent Boundaries

Plates collide, causing subduction zones (volcanoes, trenches)

Transform Boundaries

plates slide past each other (earthquakes)

What is the transform fault?

Plate slides horizontally past one another

What's a subduction zone?

Plate sinks beneath another plate into the mantle

What are collisions of plates?

Two continental plates crashed into one another, creating massive mountain ranges

Rifting

The process by which Earth's crust breaks apart can occur within continental crust or oceanic crust

collision

Two continents smash forming together

What are hotspots and how do they form?

Magma rises through the asthenosphere and breaks through the crust, which can create a chain of islands as the plates move over the hotspot (Hawaiian islands)

What's ridge push?

New crust at the mid-ocean Ridge pushes the older crust away

whats slab pull?

Where plates pull away from each other at mid-ocean ridges, magma from the asthenosphere rises to the surface

What's mantle convection?

Slow circulation of hotspot rock helps me move the plates

How much per year does a plate move?

They move at 1-15 cm a year, about how much a fingernail grows

What is a mineral?

a naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition

What are some types of non-minerals

Glass, organic materials, liquid or gas

How do atoms arrange in a crystal?

Repeating a 3-D pattern makes crystals have flat sizes and specific shapes

Minerals grow when what?

Atoms bond together as the substance solidifies

Cooling of Magma

Igneous rocks form (quartz and feldspar)

Precipitation

calcite and gypsum

Evaporation

halite from rock salt

Metamorphism

High heat and pressure create garnet, and mica

What are all the mineral classes?

silicates, carbonates, oxides, sulfides, sulfates, halides and native elements

What are examples of silicates?

quartz and feldspar the most abundant

What are examples of carbonates?

calcite and dolomite (fizz in acid)

What are examples of oxides?

hematite and magnetite

What are examples of sulfides?

pyrite, galena

What are examples of sulfates?

Gypsum

What are examples of halides?

halite (rock salt), fluorite

What are examples of native elements?

gold, silver, diamond

What is a gem?

beautiful, durable mineral, very valuable (diamond or ruby)

What is a cut gem?

raw crystal, shaped and polished

What is luster?

how a mineral reflects light

Mohs hardness scale

A scale ranking ten minerals from softest to hardest; used to test the hardness of minerals