Geology Assignment 1

What is the name of our galaxy?

milky way

How old is the galaxy we live in?

13.5 billion

What does 1 Ga equal?

1 billion years

What is the age of out universe?

13.7 billion years

What is the age of earth?

4.6 billion years

Which spacecraft captured the pale blue dot image of the earth?

voyager 1

What is Ga a unit of?

time

What does the beginning of the universe mark?

the creation of mass, energy, and time

In the equation M=mc², “c” is what?

speed of light

Who came up with the equation E=mc²

einstein

What order do the wavelengths of light go in relation to increasing wavelength?

violet, green, red

Which of these is arranged in decreasing wavelength? Blue>Yellow>Orange, Yellow>Orange>Green, Violet>Red>Blue, or none of the above?

none of the above

What color shift does light moving away have?

red

Light moving towards earth has what shift?

blue

The majority of all galaxies have what kind of shift?

red

What does Doppler Redshift tell us about the universe?

its expanding

The LBT telescope in Tucson, AZ detects light from two galaxies, Galaxy A and Galaxy

B, and light from both the galaxies is red-shifted. Galaxy A is 1-million light years

away. Galaxy B is 20-million light years away. 1 light year = 9.5 trillion km. What does this mean?

galaxy b is moving away from earth faster than galaxy a

What event marks the beginning of the universe?

the big bang

What did the big bang create?

mass, energy, and time

What is true about the temperature of the universe since its beginning?

it is decreasing

When did the first stars and galaxies form?

a few hundred million years after big bang

When was CMBR emitted after the Big Bang?

380,000 years

What time period/range of the universe is potentially unobservable?

0-380,000 years

After the big bang, which elements came first, light or heavy

light followed by heavy

Which galaxy is moving toward us?

andromeda

when did the nuclei of H and He form after the big bang?

after 100-1000 seconds

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis is part of what period of the universe?

unobservable

What kind of nucleosynthesis created elements with atomic numbers 6-26

stellar

What kind of nucleosynthesis created elements with atomic numbers >26?

supernova

In what order does the nebular theory go?

solar nebula, protoplanetary disk, earth forms, giant impact

Moon’s composition is similair to Earth’s what?

mantle

What shaped proto-Earth into a sphere?

gravity

Ice in a glacier is part of what sphere?

hydrosphere

Atmospheric moisture is part of what sphere?

hydrosphere

What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere

nitrogen

The boundary between the stratosphere and mesopshere is called the what?

stratosphere

What layer of the atmosphere contains ozone?

stratosphere

What is the outermost atmospheric layer?

exosphere

What atmospheric layer are we in?

troposphere

Why does temperature increase with altitude in the stratosphere

uv rays

Order these in order of decreasing air pressure: Mt. Everest, Smoky Mountains, Mt. Denali, and New Orleans

new orleans, smoky mountains, mt denali, everest

Which four elements make up 90% of earths mass?

iron, oxygen, silicon, and magnesium

Which part of the Earth’s core is liquid?

outer

What is the main atomic element of the Earth’s core?

iron

Which part of the core generates Earth’s magnetic field?

outer

What rock is the most common in the mantle?

peridotite

What part of the mantle aid plate tectonic motion?

upper mantle

Which type of crust is denser?

oceanic

Which type of crust is thicker?

continental

Which of the two is liquid: Lithosphere and Asthenosphere?

asthenosphere

Lithosphere = Tectonic Plate = Crust + _______

upper mantle

What is the numerical range of geothermal gradient in Earth’s crust?

20-30 c/km

Arrange these in order of increasing density: Inner core, Oceanic crust, Mantle

oceanic crust, mantle, inner core

What shields the Earth from the bulk of the harmful solar winds?

the van allen belts

Where are the van allen belts found?

magnetosphere

Northern lights are called what?

aurora borealis

What are the southern lights called?

aurora australis