Earth Life Midterm Test

CREATION MYTHS

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