Earth Life Midterm Test

**CREATION MYTHS**

* __biblical__ and __greek__ mythical theories
* Genesis 1: 1-31 and Genesis 2: 1-3

**BIG BANG THEORY**

The universe is believed to have started from a __**GREAT EXPLOSION**__ or __**EXPANSION**____.__

__SINGULARITY__

All the matter and energy in the universe are crammed into a tiny compact point called “_________”

__Planck Epoch__

it is the size of a golf ball, around 10-13 cm

Also known as Singularity

Light Elements

Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium

NUCLEOSYNTHESIS

creates new atomic nuclei from pre-existing nucleons and nuclei

**STRONG FORCE**

* short-ranged (10-13 cm) attractive force which binds the **nucleus**
* binding of protons; found inside the singularity

**ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE**

* long-ranged force that binds **atoms**
* Only stars and planets have an electromagnetic field

**WEAK FORCE**

* Short-ranged force present in radioactive **decay**
* radio waves, microwaves, visible rays

**GRAVITATIONAL FORCE**

weak, long-ranged, and attractive force which binds the **solar system**

Evolutionary Theory

density of matter decreases over time

Steady State Theory

* density of matter is __constant__ over time
* The universe is **UNCHANGING**.
* EVIDENCES
* Flatness
* Monopole
* Horizon

**INFLATION THEORY**

* The size of the universe drastically **increased**.
* expanding like a __balloon__
* The universe experienced a period of exponential inflation
* It states that different universes form **from** different areas/regions of a mother universe.
*  Some of these universes expanded through inflation while others did not.

**STRING THEORY**

* The building block that replaces particles may come in **open and close** forms.

**M-THEORY**

* One or both ends of the strings are attached to a sheet on **brane**

**Astrology**

a method of predicting mundane events based upon the assumption that the celestial bodies

**Astronomy**

natural science that deals with the study of **celestial bodies** (stars)

**astron**

Greek word meaning stars

**nomos**

Greek word meaning law

**Optical astronomy**

* study of celestial objects in the **visible band**
* Use of our naked eye, telescope

**Non-optical astronomy**

* uses **instruments** other than telescope to study objects in the radio through gamma ray wavelengths
* using bigger equipment like satellite, coronagraph,

**Planetary**

focuses on the study of **planets**

**Stellar**

study of all the **stars** including their creation, evolution and death

SOLAR ASTRONOMY

only talking about the parts of our sun

**Galactic**

* Study of **stars**, **nebulae** and **dust** that composes the __Milky Way__

**Extragalactic**

study of astronomical objects which are **not** covered by galactic astronomy; **beyond** the milky way galaxy

SOLAR NEBULA

Huge **swirling** cloud of interstellar cloud; surrounding the stars/ sun

**REVOLUTION**

spinning around the **sun** (1 year or 365.25 days); ORBIT: pathway

**ROTATION**

spinning around the **axis** (24 hours); ORBIT: axis; 23.5°

**GEOCENTRIC**

**earth** is the center of the solar system;

Ptolemy

proposed the geocentric theory

**HELIOCENTRIC**

**sun** is the center of the solar system

Copernicus

proposed the heliocentric theory

**SUN**

Composed of **hydrogen** that turns into **helium** through **nuclear fusion**

99\.8% of the mass of the solar system

**CORONAGRAPH**

the instrument used to **study** the **sun** and its part

Photosphere

the **visible** layer of the sun

Corona

rare field region **above** the chromosphere

**collection** of gasses around the sun

**Chromosphere**

* next layer after the photosphere made up of **spicules** (dark spots; loss of hydrogen and helium)
* it is not seen because of the photosphere but seen during solar eclipse

**Helmet Streamers**

* **strings that holds the planet**
* **Large cap-like coronal structures that usually arise from sunspots and active regions.** 
* **Prominence or filament was found here**
* **Created by a network of magnetic loops that connect the sunspots in the active region**

**Coronal Holes**

* **regions found in the dark part of the corona; dark sports**
* **gives off the electromagnetic wave**
* LIGHT = **rich** in H & He; DARK = **less** in H & He.

**Polar plumes**

* **bright structures observed in the polar coronal holes of the Sun**
* **Column-like streamers that project outward the Sun’s magnetic poles**
* **Created by the action of the solar wind**
* **cuz wind is going up and down; north and south**
* most of the strings(H, He) come from here

INNER PLANETS

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

OUTER PLANETS

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

**ASTEROIDS**

* Surrounds the sun in a region called as Asteroid belt
* Size ranges from 50 meters and beyond

**Ceres**

* **LARGEST asteroid in the belt;**

named after the roman Goddess of __growing plants__ and __mother love__

**Giuseppe Piazzi**

discovered Ceres

**METEOR**

* __near__ the atmosphere; outer space; passing through the earth; LARGEST

**METEOR SHOWER**

 less than 100 meteors per hour

**METEOR OUTBURST**

* **more than 1000 meteors per hour**

**METEOROIDS**

__inside__ the atmosphere

**METEORITES**

__land__ surface; SMALLEST

CHICXULUB CRATER

Asteroid that killed the dinosaurs

A 6-12 mile diameter asteroid impact (50 megaton blast)

MEGATSUNAMIS

meteorite impact in the ocean displaces **huge quantities** of water instantly

Vortex

* a mass of **whirling** fluid or air, especially a whirlpool or whirlwind

Collision

* an instance of one moving object or person striking violently **against another**

Nebula

A visible, thinly **spread cloud** of interstellar gas and dust

Asteroid

a small rocky body orbiting the sun

GALAXY

made of **one** or **more** solar systems

**Descartes’ Vortex Theory**

* The Solar System was formed into bodies with nearly **circular orbits** because of whirlpool-like motion in the pre-solar materials.
* He explained the orbits of the **planets** are the __primary__ whirlpool motion and the **satellites** the __secondary__ whirlpool motion.
* The entire universe was filled with **elements** of different sizes which **shifted** around each other.
* At the center is the sun, which is made up of the smallest kind of element and the bigger ones sift out and **circle** around it.
* ___ agrees that all of the planets, including earth, move around the sun.
* However, he maintains that none of the planets are really in motion; the sun is the one moving

This way, ____ gets to have it all: he can account for all the observations that seem best explained by **heliocentrism**.

**Buffon’s Collision Theory**

* Planets were formed by the **collision** of the **sun** with a __giant comet__.
* The resulting **debris** formed into **planets** that rotate in the same direction as they revolved around the sun.

**Kant-Laplace Nebular Theory**

It suggested that a great cloud of gas and dust, called a **nebula**, began to **collapse** because of __gravitational pull__.

As the nebula collapses further, local regions **contract** on their own due to gravity. These local regions became the sun and the planets.

The spinning cloud flattens with a bulge at the center.

**Jeans-Jeffrey’s Tidal Theory**

* Proposed that the planets were formed from the substance that was **torn out** of the sun.
* As a speeding massive star passed near the sun, it pulled off material due to __gravitational attraction__.
* The torn-off material subsequently condensed to form the **planets**.

**The Solar Nebula Theory**

* Internal pressure + gravity (acting against each other) = formed counterclockwise orbits
* The solar system was formed as the result of the **condensation** of hydrogen gas and dust referred to as interstellar gas and dust clouds.
* An **explosion** of a star (supernova) might have caused the dust and gas cloud to **collapse**, forming the sun and planets. 
* Without this violent disturbance, the gas and cloud would remain an expanded and uncondensed cloud.

**Terrestrial Planets**

* are **earth-like** planets.
* are sometimes referred to as the **INNER** planets.
* are composed mostly of **dense**, **rocky** and **metallic** materials.

rocks and metals **condense**, hydrogen compounds stay **vaporized**

**Jovian Planets**

* These are Jupiter-like planets.
* They are made up mostly of **gasses**: hydrogen and helium.
* that’s why Jupiter has the storm
* Gas planets or **Gas Giants**
* hydrogen compounds, rocks, and metals **condense**.

**Dwarf Planets**

* **orbits** the sun directly
* massive enough to be rounded by its **own gravity**; own orbit
* has not cleared the smaller bodies from its orbit

**Eris**

located in the Kuiper Belt

2nd largest dwarf planet

Farthest from the sun

has a moon called dysnomia

**Ceres**

dwarf planet located in the asteroid belt

**Makemake**

located in the Kuiper Belt

covered in iice of ehtane, methane and nitrogen

no known satellites

Haumea

Dwarf planet found in Kuiper belt

has at least 2 moons

fastest rotating large object in the solar system

shaped like an american football

located in the Kuiper Belt

**Pluto**

located in the Kuiper Belt

used to be a planet but now a dwarf planet

Continental Drift Theory

Pangea broke apart and drifted away and formed the 7 continents

**Petrology**

a branch of geology that deals with the origin, composition, structure, and classification of **rocks**.

**Igneous Rocks**

molten magma; continental crust

**Sedimentary Rocks**

found in seas; oceanic crust; accumulation of rocks

accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface

**Metamorphic**

combination; alteration of preexisting rocks

**Stratigraphy**

the study of **rock layers** (strata) and layering (stratifications).

**Paleontology**

includes the study of **fossils** to determine how they have evolved and interacted with the environment

Geological Time Scale

* represents the **interval** of time __occupied__ by the **geologic** history of Earth
* provides meaningful time frame in which events of the geologic past are arranged

Origin of Life

* It took around 1 billion years for the Earth to cool enough for the first life forms to appear.
* There are different theories as to how life formed on Earth.

**Relative Dating**

* It is the process of identifying rocks in their **chronological** sequence or order of occurrence without knowing their actual age.
* Basic principles on the relative order of geologic events
* Fossils are mostly found in the oldest rock formation; coal comes from fossils

**Absolute dating**

* It is the process of identifying rocks in their **actual** age based on the **decay rate** of certain radioactive isotopes within fossils, rocks, and artifacts.
* age bracket

**PRECAMBRIAN EON**

eon that comprises about 88% or a total span of roughly 4.1 Ga. (Giga Annum/Billion)

**Hadean Era**

* considered the “**chaotic eon**” - a lot of volcanic eruption
* Stretched from about 4.6 to 3.8 Ga.

the surface was continually bombarded by **meteorites** and the **hot mantle** caused severe volcanism.

**Archean Era**

* Earth was probably warm (cuz of the volcanoes and water)
* The atmosphere contained mostly methane and little to no oxygen (no plants yet)
* most was covered with **ocean**
* continent formation began

**Proterozoic Era**

* stretched from 2.5 Gya to 542 Mya, lasted for 1.9 Ga.
* longest period that lasted almost half the age of the Earth.
* Time of great changes:
* oxygenation of the atmosphere, (cuz of plants)
* origin and diversification of eukaryote life,
* appearance of multicellular animal life,
* and the motion of continental drift.
* Protozoa → atmosphere mostly has oxygen

**Paleozoic Era**

* first living things are created
* **Marine** invertebrates probably lived near the shores of shallow water.
* Middle: marine life forms had developed shells.
* Land **plants** began to develop.
* Giant ferns and marsh plants provided food to land animals which increased in number.
* Clams and snails increased in number and fishes became more abundant with greater variety of form.
* Appearance of **reptiles** & **land animals**
* End: land climate changed (water cycle)
* Scientists believed that remains of plants formed the huge coal deposits in many parts of the world.
* LIVING THINGS: marine → land animals

**Mesozoic Era**

* Separation of Pangea
* Largest creatures that existed during the era are **dinosaurs**.
* Towards the end of this era, more continents broke up. (tectonic plates)
* Many reptile groups have become **extinct**.
* The only surviving reptiles today are turtles, snakes, crocodiles, and lizards.
* they can live in both land and water; some hibernated

**Cenozoic Era**

* Age of Animals
* Mountains were uplifted and new life forms started appearing
* **Warm-blooded** animals such as the marsupials and primitive mammals roamed the land.
* Development of modern horses, modern birds, deciduous trees.
* Glaciers covered the Northern hemisphere.
* **ICE AGE**
* This era showed mammals with tooth structures for specific diets, limb structures for various postures, increased brain size.
* Earliest records of **humans**: stone tools (already have the hunters)

EXTRATERRESTRIAL ORIGIN

* The hypothesis explains that life originated on **another planet** outside the Solar System. Life was then **carried** to Earth on a meteorite or asteroid and colonized Earth.
* Meteorite **carrying** life (bacteria)

PANSPERMIA

* The theory presumes that the “**seed**” of life exists all over the universe and can be propagated through space, and that life on Earth originated from those seeds.
* the seed carrying the life

DIVINE CREATION

* Many people believed that life was put on Earth by **divine forces**.
* Creation theories are common to many of the world’s religions and cultures.

ORIGIN FROM NONLIVING MATTER (ABIOGENESIS)

* Scientists believe that life arose from **inanimate** matter.
* Random events produced stable molecules that are capable of self-replication

**Fossils**

are evidence of past life; discover the past

a **remnant** or trace of organisms of a past geologic age

Geologists

* studies the eras of the geological time scale

make use of information derived from fossils to define and identify **subdivisions** of geologic time scale.

**TRUE FORM FOSSILS**

* The entire animals or plants are **trapped** and preserved in ice, tar, or other material,
* shows the **complete structure** of an organism.
* are formed by a process called **petrification** (petrified rock, animal stuck in a rock)

**MOLD FOSSILS**

* **Hollow impressions** of a living thing in a rock.
* The mold reflects only the **shape** and **surface** marking of the organism.

**CAST FOSSILS**

* Created when mold fossils get **filled** with **minerals**.
* The minerals harden and form a **replica** of the original fossil.

**TRACE FOSSILS or ICHNOFOSSILS**

* Impressions on rocks that showed **various activities**.
* are geological records of the activities and behaviors of past life.

**INDEX FOSSILS**

* only lived in a **short period** of time; only one layer or one strata
* Fossils of widely distributed organisms that lived during only one short time period.
* proposed by **William Smith**