General Geology Flashcards - EES 101

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the introductory topics of General Geology (EES 101), including Earth's systems, layers, resources, and fundamental geological principles.

Geology (Geo-logos)

The study of Earth, divided into physical and historical branches.

Physical Geology

The study of the composition of Earth and its active internal and external processes.

Historical Geology

The study of the origin of Earth and its development through time, spanning more than $4.6$ billion years.

Internal Processes

Dynamic Earth activities such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building processes.

External Processes

Geological activities such as weathering (caused by temperature, wind, and water) and erosion (caused by water, wind, and ice).

Natural Hazards

Natural Earth processes studied by geologists that cause damage and loss, including volcanoes, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, and landslides.

Earth System Science

An interdisciplinary approach used to solve global environmental problems by viewing interacting parts (subsystems) as a complex whole.

Geothermal Energy

An internal energy source consisting of heat stored in the Earth since its origin, which is slowly cooling.

Nuclear Energy (Earth's Internal)

Internal energy generated due to radioactive decay.

Physical Environment

A component of the environment including water, air, soil, and rock, as well as conditions like temperature, humidity, and sunlight.

Renewable Resources

Resources that can be replenished, such as plants, animals, and energy from water, solar, and wind.

Non-renewable Resources

Resources that require millions of years to accumulate, including fossil groundwater, minerals, metals, oil, natural gas, nuclear energy, and coal.

Catastrophism

An 17th and 18th-century belief that Earth's crust changes resulted from sudden, violent, and unusual events, often fitting the biblical age of Earth ($4004$ BC).

Uniformitarianism

The principle established by James Hutton stating that physical, chemical, and biologic processes operating today also operated in the past; summarized as 'The present is the key to the past.'

Superposition

A law of geology stating that in a sequence of rocks, younger rocks are located on top while older rocks are at the bottom.

Principle of Faunal Succession

The concept that fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite and determinable order, allowing time periods to be recognized by fossil content.

Index Fossils

Fossils used to define geological time periods because they lived for a short period of time and were spread over a large geographical area.

Hydrosphere

A dynamic mass of water comprising approximately $71\%$ of Earth's surface area and containing $97\%$ of Earth's water.

Atmosphere

A thin, weak gas sphere that provides life-supporting gases, protects Earth from solar radiation, and drives climate/weather through energy exchange.

Biosphere

The sphere containing all forms of life on Earth, concentrated near the surface from the ocean floor to several kilometers into the atmosphere.

Geosphere (Solid Earth Sphere)

The non-uniform solid part of Earth extending approximately $6400\,km$ deep, categorized by composition (core, mantle, crust) or mechanical properties.

Lithosphere

The rigid outer layer of Earth consisting of the crust and the uppermost mantle.

Asthenosphere

A weak layer beneath the lithosphere in the upper mantle that is able to flow.

Big Bang

The leading theory for the origin of the universe, suggesting use of a large explosion approximately $13.7$ billion years ago.

Continental Crust

Earth's outer skin with an average thickness of $35$–$40\,km$ and a granitic composition (Granodiorite) with a density of $2.7\,g/cm^3$.

Oceanic Crust

Earth's outer skin under the oceans, roughly $7\,km$ thick, composed of basalt with a density of $3.0\,g/cm^3$.

Outer Core

A liquid layer of iron-nickel alloy whose movement generates Earth's magnetic field.

Inner Core

A solid sphere at Earth's center maintained by immense pressure despite high temperatures.

Igneous Rocks

Rocks formed when molten rock (magma or lava) solidifies either at the surface (extrusive) or beneath the surface (intrusive).

Sedimentary Rocks

Rocks consisting of particles derived from the weathering of other rocks, such as the Navajo Sandstone layer.

Continental Margin

The portion of the seafloor adjacent to landmasses, including the continental shelf, slope, and rise.

Oceanic Ridges

The most prominent feature on the ocean floor, extending over $70,000\,km$ and consisting of fractured, uplifted igneous rock.

Cratons

The stable interiors of continents that have remained relatively undisturbed for at least the past $600$ million years.

Shields

Expansive, flat regions within cratons composed primarily of deformed igneous and metamorphic rocks.

Stable Platforms

Areas of the stable interior where highly deformed shield rocks are covered by thin layers of sedimentary rocks.