Study Guide for Solar System and Earth Science

Gas Giants

Jupiter and Saturn, made primarily of hydrogen and helium, located closer to the Sun.

Ice Giants

Uranus and Neptune, containing ices like water, ammonia, and methane, located farther from the Sun.

Frost Line

A boundary marking where temperatures were low enough for gases to condense into ices and solids.

Terrestrial Planets

The four rocky planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars; they are closer to the Sun.

Asteroid Belt

Located between Mars and Jupiter, containing rocky remnants from the early solar system.

Meteorites

Remnants from the solar system's early stages that provide important information about its formation.

Inner Core

The solid iron center of the Earth, extremely hot.

Outer Core

The liquid iron and sulfur layer that generates Earth's magnetic field.

Mantle

The semi-fluid layer of Earth involved in plate tectonics.

Crust

The thin outer layer of Earth, varying in thickness from 5 to 50 kilometers.

Magnetosphere

The protective magnetic field created by differences in rotation between Earth's inner and outer cores.

Age of the Earth

4.6 billion years old

Plate Tectonics

The theory that explains the movement of Earth's lithospheric plates driven by mantle convection.

Divergent Boundaries

Places where tectonic plates spread apart, allowing magma to create new crust.

Convergent Boundaries

Places where tectonic plates collide, leading to subduction and volcanic activity.

Transform Boundaries

Places where tectonic plates slide horizontally past each other, causing earthquakes.

Hotspots

Stationary volcanic activity beneath tectonic plates that can create islands.

Rock Cycle

The continuous process by which rocks are transformed from one type to another.

Igneous Rocks

Rocks formed from the cooling and solidification of magma.

Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks formed from compacted sediment, often containing fossils.

Metamorphic Rocks

Rocks formed from existing rocks that undergo heat and pressure.

Earth Formation

4.6 billion years ago.

Moon Formation

4.5 billion years ago.

First Bacteria

3.8 billion years ago.

First Oxygen Accumulation

About 2 billion years ago.

Mineral Definition

A naturally occurring, inorganic crystalline solid with a definite chemical composition.

Direct Imaging

A method for identifying exoplanets by observing the light they emit or reflect.

Transit Method

A technique to detect exoplanets by observing the dimming of a star's light when a planet passes in front.

Radial Velocity Method

A method that measures the wobble of a star caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet.

Exoplanet

A planet that orbits a star outside of our solar system.

Nebular Hypothesis

The widely accepted theory that explains the formation of the solar system from a rotating cloud of gas and dust.

Solar Nebula

The cloud of gas and dust from which our solar system formed, consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium.

Accretion

The process by which particles clump together to form larger bodies, eventually leading to planet formation.

Protoplanets

Larger bodies that formed from the collision and merging of planetesimals, leading to the formation of planets.

Tidal Forces

Forces exerted by gravity from large bodies, influencing the shapes and orbits of smaller bodies in the solar system.

Solar Wind

A stream of charged particles ejected from the sun that affects the atmospheres of celestial bodies, including planets.

Van Allen Belts

Two doughnut-shaped regions of charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field, located above the atmosphere.

Planetesimals

Small celestial bodies that formed from dust and gas in the solar nebula, coalescing to create planets.

Lithospheric Plates

Rigid segments of the Earth's lithosphere that move on the semi-fluid asthenosphere, driving plate tectonics.

Asthenosphere

The semi-fluid layer of the Earth's mantle located beneath the lithosphere, responsible for enabling plate tectonics.

The driving force for plate tectonics

Convection

Ring of Fire

A horseshoe-shaped area in the Pacific Ocean known for a high frequency of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, resulting from tectonic plate boundaries.

Tectonic Plate Movement Speed

1 to 10 centimeters per year, similar to the rate at which human fingernails grow.

Silicate Minerals

The most abundant group of minerals in the Earth's crust, composed primarily of silicon and oxygen tetrahedra.

Carbonate Minerals

The second most abundant group of minerals in the Earth's crust, primarily composed of CO3.

Extrusive Igneous Rocks

Rocks formed from the cooling and solidification of lava that erupts onto the Earth's surface.

Intrusive Igneous Rocks

Rocks formed from the cooling and solidification of magma within the Earth's crust.

Weathering

The process by which rocks, including igneous rocks, are broken down into smaller particles or sediments through physical and chemical means.

Stages of the Rock Cycle

Melting, crystallization, erosion, sedimentation, compaction, and metamorphism.

Melting

The process where rocks turn into magma due to high temperatures.

Crystallization

The solidification of magma into igneous rocks as it cools.

Erosion

The wearing away and transport of rock and soil by wind, water, or ice.

Sedimentation

The accumulation of sediments that can form sedimentary rocks over time.

Compaction

The process of layers of sediments being pressed together under pressure.

Metamorphism

The alteration of existing rocks due to heat, pressure, and chemical processes, leading to the formation of metamorphic rocks.

Clastic Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks formed from the accumulation and cementation of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing rocks.

Non-Clastic Rocks

Rocks formed by chemical precipitation, including limestone and evaporites, resulting from the evaporation of water or the precipitation of minerals from solution.

Number of Discovered Exoplanets

Over 5000

Neptune-like

35% of exoplanets are

Earth-like

3% of exoplanets are

Gas Giants

30% of exoplanets are

Terrestrial

4% of exoplanets are