Earth Science

Geosphere

Solid Earth, including rocks, minerals, soil, Earth’s core, & landforms that make up the planets crust

Hydrosphere

All the liquid water on and beneath the surface of the Earth (oceans, lakes, groundwater, etc)

Cyrosphere

frozen water (glaciers, ice gaps, sea ice)

Atmosphere

The thin layers of gases (Nitrogen & Oxygen) that surrounds the planet, regulating weather & climate

Biosphere

All living organisms on Earth (Plants, animals, & humans)

Patterns in ages

Possible answers - Increases in one direction across map OR rocks get older as you move farther away from mid ocean ridge

Compass direction

Possible answers - Plate is moving in the direction of the older rocks OR The feature moved towards the older ages or away

Zircon

• Usually found In Igneous rocks

• Hard

• Resistant to weathering

• Incorporates Uranium (measure to determine age)

• Slowly decays into lead

• Radiometric dating

• Used to determine age of rocks

Cross - cutting Relationships

Any feature that cuts across a rock layer must be younger than the rock it cuts through

Ice Sheets vs. Ocean Levels

When Earth cools and massive glaciers form, global sea levels drop —— When glaciers melt, sea levels rise, flooding coastal regions

Plate tectonics

Theory that Earth’s rigid outer shell (Lithosphere) is broken into several, massive, moving slabs

Convection Currents - Magma in mantle acting as a slow moving conveyor belt that pushes and pulls the overlying plates

3 Types of Plate Boundaries

Convergent - crashing

Divergent - separating

Transform - sliding

Continental drift & Fossil Evidence

• Continents once joined together

• Formed a single landmass (pangaea)

• Plate tectonics split & drifts continents apart of MYA

Subsidence

Sinking of the Earth’s surface

Uplift

Rising of Earth’s crust causing weathering & erosion

Correlation

Matching rock layers across different locations based on index fossils or rock characteristics

Half - Lives

The time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms In a sample to decay into a stable product