Planet Earth CE-20110 Midterm 1 Simonetti

Notre Dame Fall 2024 Planet Earth midterm 1

Geocentric

Sun & moon revolve around earth

Doppler Effect / redshift

Shift in wavelength of object’s light waves due to movement. Redshift when moving away

Nebula

cluster of galaxies

Solar Winds

Highly charged particles sent out by suns magnetic field

Terrestrial Planets

Rocky, smaller, different gasses, divided into layers (crust,mantel,core)

Jovian Planets

Gas, bigger, rings, hydrogen and helium

Lithosphere

Layer of crust and outer mantle. Also known as the tectonic plates

Aesthenosphere

“Plastic” layer of mantle. S, O, and Mg

NEOs

Asteroids or Comets that approach earth

Where are NEOS?

Most Asteroids come from between mars and Jupiter (ie the asteroid belt)

Asteroids composition?

Heavy, stony, iron, usually metallic, with chondrules (rounded pieces of rock that rapidly melted and cooled)

Meteor vs. Meteorite

Meteors burn up in the atmosphere,
meteorites strike earths surface

Comets composition

Generally larger than asteroids, composed of dust, ice, and a rocky core.

Short Period Comets come from:

Kuiper belt, comes every 200 years

Long Period Comets come from:

From Oort Cloud, comes decades to 1000 years.

Simple Craters

Bowl shaped, few kilometers wide

Complex Craters

greater than 4km, central peak, ring structures

How big are craters compared to NEO

about 10-20 times larger

Continental Drift

Wagenr’s theory, 250 mil years ago (Pangea), Continents fit together like puzzles, plant and fossils are cross continental

Continental Shelf

where continents hit the ocean, very narrow

Mid- Oceanic Ridge

Mountain range of volcanic activity, divergent, rocks at seafloor are youngest at ridge

Heat Flow

highest along ocean ridges

Where are the deepest earthquakes?

Subduction Zones, trenches

Heliocentric

Confirmed by Galileo’s early 17th century observations of the phases of Venus

A collection of stars, gases, and other matter bound together by the force of gravity is a ______.

galaxy

Common elements in the sun?

hydrogen, helium, some metals

heliosphere

area of space affected by the sun’s solar wind

paradigm shift

a fundamental change in the way we view a basic concept

what causes solid asthenosphere to melt as it rises to the surface of oceanic ridges.

Decompression

Mantle plume

A hot spot on earths surface

Where does the energy for plate movement come from?

decay of radioactive isotopes, heat left over from the planets formation

Plutonic/intrusive rocks

Igneous rocks formed/cooled below the surface (i.e. diorite)

Batholith

Cooled magma reservoir

Dike

Cooled vertical vein of magma

Sill

Cooled horizontal vein of magma between layers of rock

Texture

The size and arrangement of mineral grains in igneous rocks

when magma cools slowly

mineral molecules have time to bond into larger and larger clusters

when magma cools quickly

the liquid solidifies without time for crystals to grow very large

Volcanic Rocks

Igneous rocks formed when magma rises to the surface and cools

Granite, rhyolite, basalt, and diorite are examples of

igneous rocks

What determines the darkness/lightness of igneous rocks?

The silica content (High silica=whiter)(Low silica=darker)

Chemical sedimentary rocks

Formed from the precipitation of minerals from solution

Biochemical sedimentary rocks

formed from the actions or remains of organisms

Clastic Sedimentary rocks

From fragments of other rocks (most common)

Sediment

weathered material with a range of grain

Strata or beds

the layers in sedimentary rock

Erosion

Movement of sediment from its place of origin

Lithification

The compaction and cementation of rocks

Metamorphism

the process of one type of rock changing into another through increased pressure and temperature

Contact Metamorphism

When rocks come in contact with a heat source, usually form narrow bands due to heat not dissipating far

Foliations

When minerals are aligned parallel to one another (perpendicular to pressure) and aligns minerals into sheets

Concentration factor

The scale used to determine if a mineral deposit can be economically utilized

Crystal settling

Minerals form in magma chambers, heavier minerals sink to the bottom of the chamber