Earth Science Fundamentals

Vocabulary terms covering the basic branches of Earth science, geological processes, and environmental hazards based on the lecture material.

Earth science

The name for all the sciences that collectively seek to understand Earth and its neighbors in space, including geology, oceanography, meteorology, and astronomy.

Geology

A word that literally means "study of Earth," divided into two broad areas: physical and historical.

Physical geology

The branch of geology that examines the materials composing Earth and seeks to understand the processes that operate beneath and upon its surface.

Historical geology

The branch of geology that strives to understand the origin of Earth and the development of the planet through its $4.6$-billion-year history.

Oceanography

A study that integrates chemistry, physics, geology, and biology to examine the oceans in all their aspects, including seawater composition, coastal processes, and marine life.

Meteorology

The study of the atmosphere and the processes that produce weather and climate.

Astronomy

The study of the universe, which is useful for probing the origins of Earth's environment and its relationship to the solar system and galaxies.

Atmosphere

A mixture of gases held to the planet by gravity that thins rapidly with altitude and reacts to Earth's motions and solar energy to produce weather.

Internal processes

Forces that occur beneath Earth's surface, responsible for creating earthquakes, building mountains, and producing volcanic structures.

External processes

Processes such as the effects of water, wind, and ice that break rock apart and sculpt a broad diversity of landforms.

Natural hazards

Natural processes including volcanoes, floods, tsunami, earthquakes, landslides, and hurricanes that become hazards when people live where they occur.

$$2008$$

The year in which the United Nations indicated that more people began living in cities than in rural areas globally.

Global ocean coverage

The fact that more than $70$ percent of Earth's surface is covered by the global ocean.