Geoscience Exam 1 terms

Glass

Solid no orderly atomic arrangement. Formed when sand/glass is heated to high temps and cooled quickly.

Granite

Igneous rock is formed from magma/melted rock. Makes up most of Earth’s continental crust (70-80%)

Hadley Cells

Trade winds; large atmospheric winds that rise near the equator and lowers and cools near the subtropics then flows back near the equator

Heat

Thermal energy that can move from one place or substance to another. Movement of energy from interior of the Earth of the surface.

Hydrosphere

Earth system that holds oceans, lakes, glaciers, is 71% of Earth’s surface (accounts for 97% of Earth’s water).

Igneous

Formed when cooling and solidification of molten rock. Igneous and Basalt make up the oceanic crust.

Inductive Reasoning

Logical thinking that draws conclusions for specific observation

Kármán Line

Boundary separating Earth from outer space; 62 mi/100km it is stopped at the thermosphere

Latent Heat

Heat stored and released later, when water transitions from one state to another, “hidden heat” used to break bonds of water molecules so they can transition between states; (ex. sweat being used for cooling the body)

Le Châtelier’s Principle

Any system in equilibrium that is disturbed will react to: return to original equilibrium or establish a new equilibrium.

Mantle

Is viscoelastic (deformable), composition like crust but enriched in heavy elements (ex. iron & magnesium) including radioactive isotopes.

Melts

Magma rocks

Metamorphic

Rocks that have been transformed due to high temperatures and pressure and have changed form.

Minerals

Natural occurring solid substance with a specific chemical composition and physical properties.

Modes of Scientific Knowledge

Nebular Theory

Solar system was created by a giant cloud of gas and dust and it collapsed due to gravity.

Particulates

Particle pollution; mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets and other chemicals like nitrates and sulfates. Other particles like metals, soil or dust particles. (ex. soot, dust, and smoke).

Plates

Earth’s lithosphere are large tectonic plates that move on the mantle cause seismic activity.

Pressure

Force acting equally from all directions; force per unit area exerted by a body of air above a specific location (atmospheric column).

Radioactivity

Spontaneous decay of radioisotopes; only process creating new heat.

Relative Humidity

Ratio of moisture; water vapor in the air compared to the maximum amount of water vapor the air can hold at any given temperature and pressure.

Saturation

Air contains as much moisture as possible at any given temperature. Process: cooling air and adding water vapor.

Sedimentary

Rocks formed from deposits of pre-existing rocks and organisms that accumulate on Earth’s surface.

Stable Gas

Chemically unreactive and does not readily participate in chemical reactions with other substances; has a full outer electron shell.

System

Set or assemblage of things connected, associated, or interdependent, so as to form a complex unity; a whole composed of parts in orderly arrangement according to some scheme or plan.

Temperature

the measurement of the average kinetic energy of molecules within a substance; the measure of the average heat or thermal energy in a substance.

Triple Point

Pressure moving point at substance three phases solid, liquid, gas.

Ultraviolet Radiation

Invisible rays that come from the sun; form of electromagnetic radiation that is part of the solar radiation spectrum

Vapor Pressure

A measure of the tendency of a material to change into the gaseous or vapor state.

Variable Gas

Those present in small and variable amounts.

Weather

The state of the atmosphere from day to day. It includes temperature, atmospheric pressure, clouds, wind, and precipitation.