Honors Earth and Environmental Science Midterm

Where is our sun located in the Milky Way?

A disk 2/3 away from the center

Using the Doppler Effect, astronomers can determine a star's...?

Speed or velocity

According to Hubble's Law, galaxies are retreating at a speed proportional to their...?

Distance

Based on the observed redshifts in the spectral lines of distant galaxies, astronomers conclude that

They are moving away from each other

Greater redshifts in the spectra of galaxies indicate...?

The universe is expanding faster

Identify two pieces of evidence that support the Big Bang Theory

Redshift and Cosmic Microwave background

Which scientist proposed the three laws of planetary motion?

Johannes Kepler

The turning or spinning of a body on its axis

Rotation

Earth's motion that is responsible for the seasons

Revolution

Summer Solstice

Happens June 21
Hits the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees north

Autumnal Equinox

Happens September 21
Hits the Equator at 0 degrees

What is the moon's period of revolution?

27.3 days

During the period that the moon's phases are changing from new to full, the moon is...?

Waxing

The smallest daily tidal range happens during which type of tide?

Neap Tide

When is the daily tidal range greatest?

Spring Tide

List the 4 Joviant planets

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

List the 4 terrestrial planets

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

The most obvious difference between Joviant and Terrestrial planets is?

Their Size

The formation of the solar system from a huge cloud of dust and gases is called the...?

Nebular Theory

The the order of electromagnetic radiation in order of longest wavelength to shortest

Radio, Microwave, Infrared, Visible Ultra, X-Ray, and Gamma

Sunspots appear darker because...?

They're relatively darker

The source of the sun's energy is?

Nuclear Fusion

Earth receives energy from the sun through what transfer of heat method?

Radiation

A type of plate boundary where two plates grind past each other without destroying or producing lithosphere

Transform Boundary

A type of plate boundary where two plates move together, causing one plate to descend into the mantle beneath the other plate

Convergent Boundary

A type of plate boundary where two plates are moving apart; typified by the oceanic ridges

Divergent Boundary

A rift valley is formed by what plate boundary

Divergent

A Volcanic Arc is formed by what plate boundary

Convergent oceanic-oceanic

A Continental Volcanic Arc is formed by what plate boundary

Convergent oceanic-continental

A subduction zone forms from what plate boundary

Convergent oceanic-continental

New ocean crust is formed from what plate boundary

Divergent

Seafloor spreading is formed from what plate boundary

Divergent

An oceanic trench is formed from what plate boundary

Convergent oceanic-oceanic

An ocean ridge is formed from what plate boundary

Divergent

Oceanic Lithosphere is destroyed from what plate boundary

Convergent oceanic-continental

Deep ocean trenches are associated with?

Convergent boundaries

The Hawaiian Islands were formed when the Pacific Plate moved over...?

Hotspots

List 3 mechanisms of plate motion

1. Convection
2. Ocean floors are moving
3. Heat in earth's interior

Thermal _______ that drives plate motion is caused by an unequal distribution of heat

Convection

An earthquake's _______ is the place om the surface directly above the focus

Epicenter

When an earthquake occurs, energy radiates in all directions from its source, which is called the...?

Focus

Earthquakes are usually associated with...?

Faults

Elastic _____ causes earthquakes

Energy

What type of wave compresses and expands rocks in the direction the waves travel

P Waves

What is the fastest travelling wave

P Waves

What is the slowest traveling wave

Surface Wave

What is the second fastest traveling wave

S Wave

What wave temporarily changes the volume of material by compression and expanssion

P Wave

What wave shakes particles at right angles to the direction the waves travel

S Waves

What wave cannot be transmitted through water or air

S Waves

What waves are the most destructive

Surface Waves

What wave cannot be transmitted through the liquid outer core

S Waves

At least ______ seismic stations are needed to determine the location of an earthquake's epicenter

3

An earthquakes ________ is a measure of the size of seismic waves it produces

Magnitude

The scale most widely used by scientists for measuring earthquakes is the ...?

Momentum Magnitude Scale

The _________ is the instrument that records earthquake waves

Seismograph

The trace that records an earthquake from seismic instrument is called a...?

Seismogram

List 3 major factors that affect the amount of destruction caused by earthquake vibrations

1. Material made on
2. Magnitude
3. Material made with

A succession of ocean waves set in motion by a submarine earthquake is called a...?

Tsunami

Violent shaking from an earthquake can cause soil and rock on slopes to fail and cause a...?

Landslide

Earthquake vibrations can break gas lines, water lines, and electrical lines causing damaging...?

Fires

Most of the active volcanoes on earth are located in a belt known as the...?

Ring of Fire

The Hawaiian Islands are associated with ________ volcanism

Hot spot

Figure 9-1 is a...

Convergent Boundary

Figure 9-2 is a...

Convergent Boundary

A naturally occurring solid mass of mineral or mineral-like matter

Rock

List the 3 types of rock

Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic

The three groups of rocks are classified by

how they're formed

What type of rock forms
On the ocean floor
Slopes of an active volcano
A desert
Below the earth's surface

Igneous Rock
Igneous Rock
Sedimentary Rock
Metamorphic Rock

List the process of forming a sedimentary rock

Weathering, Erosion, Deposition, Compaction, and Cementation

Sedimentary rocks with ripple marks suggest that the rocks formed...

In water

Where the energy source is found that drives the processes that form igneous and metamorphic rocks?

Deep in the earth's interior

The primary agent of contact metamorphism is

Heat

a rock that forms from cooling lava is classified as

Extrusive

Why can two igneous rocks have the same minerals but different name?

They can either be intrusive or extrusive

Lava that cools so quickly that ions do not have time to arrange themselves into crystals will form igneous rocks with a...

Glossy and fine look

At the rate of cooling of igneous rocks increases, the size of the crystals that form...

Decreases

A rock that forms when magma hardens beneath earth's surface is called an

Intrusive Rock

A process that occurs when physical forces break rock into smaller pieces without changing the rock;s chemical composition is called...

Mechanical Weathering

What would cause the inscription on a marble gravestone to become harder and harder to read over time?

Chemical Weathering

Chemical Weathering would be most effective in a

Warm and Moist environments

List factors that affects the rate of weathering

1. Particle Size
2. Mineral Composition
3. Climate

Our galaxy is called the?

Milky Way

LIst the following from smallest to largest
star, universe, galaxy, globular cluster, and planet

Plant, Star, Globular Cluster, Galaxy, and Universe

The ______ model of the universe stated that the Earth was the center of the universe

Geocentric

The _____ model of the universe stated that the sun was the center of the universe

Heliocentric

What are the three laws of planetary motion?

1. The orbit of every planet is one ellipse with the sun at one of the two foci; Law of Orbits
2. An imaginary line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time; Law of Areas
3. The length of time it takes a planet to orbit the sun and the distance is proportional; Law of Periods

Which scientist determined the nature of the forces that keep the planets in their orbit

Isaac Newton

What keeps the planets moving along their orbits

Gravity

Earth's axis slowly but continuously points in different directions

Precession

Earth's motion that is responsible for night and day

Rotation

The orbiting of an object around a larger body in space

Revolution

What is the other factors that causes the seasons and varying length of daylight?

The tilt of Earth at 23.5 degrees

Winter Solstice

Happens December 21
Hits the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees south

Spring Equinox

Happens March 21
Hits the Equator at 0 degrees

What is the moon's period of rotation

27.3 days

During the period that the moon's phases are changing from full to new, the moon is...?

Waning