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Earth Science Exam

Terms

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Examples of nonrenewable resources
coal, uranium
What is the passive system?
Collects and stores solar energy
What is apparent magnitude?
how bright a star appears to be to an observer on earth?
What is a water budget?
income and spending of water for a region
What is a tributary?
a stream that runs into another stream or river
What are the three galaxy types?
spiral, elliptical, irregular
What makes up the Geosphere?
Rocks, mountains, beaches, ocean basins, layers of earth
What is luminosity?
actual brightness of a star depending on size and temperature
What is an example of the passive system?
Greenhouse
What is conservation?
the protection, restoration, and management of natural resources
What is the suns rotation rate?
25+ days at equator, 34 days near poles
What is the Doppler effect?
Apparent change in radiation wavelength or sound due to movement of the source or reciever
The what is located inthe stratosphere and protects us from UV rays?
Ozone
What does the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 do?
controls pollution and encourages the conservation of energy, water and other natural resources
What is till?
Material left behind by melting glaciers consisting of all sizes
What percentage of solar energy is reflected back into space?
40%
One difference between lignite and anthracite coal
Lignite is not as compound and solid as anthracite coal
What is an example of the active system?
Solar cells in spacecraft
What causes tidal energy?
the pull of the moon on oceans
What is a firn?
burried snow recrystallizes into rough, granular ice material
What is the atmosphere?
gaseous envelope surrounding earth
What is the most efficient method of renewable energy?
hydroelectric power
What is a moraine dammed lake?
form where river valleys are blocked by glacial moraines
Renewable Resource
A resource that is replaced in nature faster than or close to the rate of its use
What is the Hydrosphere?
all the water in the Earth system
What are Cepheid variables
class of yellow super giant pulsating stars
What is an artesian well?
Well water forced upward by artesian formation
What is the absorption spectrum?
continuous spectrum crossed by dark lines
Anemometers measure what?
wind speed
What doe glaciers do to earth's materials?
Redeposit them
What is a spectroscope?
tool that uses a prism to split light
What is an example of mechanical erosion?
Niagra Falls
Define surplus
rainfall is greater than need for moisture and soil water storage is filled
What makes up the biosphere?
Plants, mammals, insects, fish, birds, bacteria, ect.
What is geothermal energy?
energy from heat within earth
What is the biosphere?
All living things on Earth
What is mechanical erosion?
lifting effect, splits rock fragments
What type of energy interferes with tv and radio reception?
Windmills (wind)
Separation can be (cheap/costly)?
costly
Earth moves W-E, how do stars move?
E-W
Example of energy cycle
Energy from the sun - plants use and store it - plants die and compact over years - forms coal - coal burned to release stored energy - electricity
A warm and moist air mass that moves into the United States is what type?
MT
What is porosity?
percent of a materials volume that is pore space
What is hydroelectric power?
water power used to produce electricity
Examples of a closed system
submarine, earth, greenhouse, space ship
Nonrenewable resource
used up faster than can be replaced or exists in a fixed amount
Where is air pressure the greatest?
deep valley
What is calving?
The process by which a block of a glacier breaks off and falls into the sea to form an iceberg
What is a pulsating star?
brightness cycle caused by star contraction
Where do valley glaciers move?
through mountain valleys
What is air pollution?
airborne gasses or particles that occur at harmful concentration
Elements in stars exist in what state?
Plasma state
What is velocity?
speed of the river (distance/time)
What are constellations?
groups of stars that form a pattern?
What is gangue?
the rest of the rock (quartz, feldspar, calcite)
Greater velocity = greater energy = ?
greater ability to transport material
Stars moving away from us wavelength's become longer
redshift
What is permeability?
rate at which water or other liquids pass through pore spaces of a rock
What is the snow line?
The lowest elecation at which there is permanent snow during the summer
What is a horn?
A pyramid shaped peak formed where three of more cirques meet.
What is a galaxy?
systems containing millions or even billions of stars?
What is deposition?
process by which materials are deposited
What is a kettle?
bowl shaped hollows where burried blocks of ice left behind melt leaving an impression
What is an arete?
A sharp divide that separates two adjoining cirques
What is sun power
Solar energy used to produce heat and electricity
What is an ice front?
farthest advance of glacier
Define Natural Leeve
Thick deposits build up alongside stream banks
What is the big bang theory?
theory that states the universe originated from the instant expansion of an extremely small amount of matter of extremely high density and temperature
What is a glacier?
Large mass of snow and ice
Dark areas on the sun surface are known as what?
sunspots
What is the shape of channel?
the path of water flow
What is a meander?
river flowing through a floodplain typically winds back and fourth broad curves
one location that a continental glacier may be found
antartica
What is discharge?
amount or volume of water that passes a certain point in a given amount
What are solar winds deflected by?
the earth's magnetic field
What is an eclipsing binary?
2 or more stars revolving around each other
What is solar energy?
Energy from the sun
Define Gradient
Steepness of the slope of the stream or riber
What are ore minerals?
valuable minerals (iron, copper)
What is a kettle lake?
kettles fill with rain watered runoff
Is earth an open or closed system?
Closed system
What is an oxbow lake?
curved body of water formed when deposits separate a meander from its river
What is a circumpolar constellation?
does not set below the horizon, seen all year long
What are cirque lakes?
cirques filled with water
What are Earth's four spheres?
Atmosphere, Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere
The outermost atmospheric layer of the sun is called the
corona
What is absolute magnitude?
brightness of a star if all stars were equal distance away
Uranium heats water, makes steam, steams turns turbine, generating what?
electricity
What kind of movements does Geothermal energy drive?
crustal movements
What are the causes of erosion?
running water, weather, gravity, glacial movement
Tidal energy is what percentage of total energy?
.002%
What is the geosphere?
physical features of the earth except water
Earth is a collection of parts that are ____ & ____ with one another
connected, interact
More bends and curves = more friction = ?
less velocity = less ability to transport
What is an ice cap?
Glacier less than 50,000 square km
These are rarely deeper than 50 meters and occur across the width of the glacier
crevasses
What is a closed system?
Energy may enter, but matter doesn't enter or leave
True or false? The sun's energy comes from nuclear fission
false
Examples of an open system
glass of water, garden, aquarium, airplane
Nuclear power plants rely on what?
nuclear fission (splitting nucleus of an atom)
What is the solar wind?
constant stream of electrically charged particles given off by the corona
What makes up the hydrosphere?
oceans, lakes, rivers, groundwater, glaciers, water vapor
Coal
The primary nonrenewable energy source used in power plants in the United States
What are the main elements in all stars?
hydrogen and helium
what is an ordinary well?
contains water up to the level of the water table
What is tidal energy?
Energy that comes from the rise and fall of the tides
What is recharge?
Soil water storage is filling
What is electromagnetic radiation?
energy that travels in waves
What causes auroras?
solar winds interacting with earth's magnetic field and the poles
Material deposited by glacial meltwater is called what?
outwash
snow lines have lower elevations near what?
poles
how does hydroelectric power work?
water moves turbines
When are most reserves estimated to be used up?
Within the next 60 years
What are three types of load?
solution, suspension, bedrock
What is capacity?
Measure of the total amount of sediment a stream can carry
Where do natural gasses usually exit?
above petroleum layer
How big are continental glaciers?
Thousands of meters thick, can cover millions of square kilometers
Define stream piracy
headward erosion brings formation of a river valley
What is suspension?
materials including clay, silt and fine sand
What is a light year?
distance light travels in one year
What are the five kinds of moraines?
lateral, medial, ground, recessional, terminal
What is an open system?
system and surroundings exchange matter and energy
Stars moving toward us wavelength's become shorter
blueshift
how is coal formed?
ferns, mosses, and trees containing C, H, D die and compress losing H &O making PEAT, then loses more H&O making Lignite, then Bituminous coal, then anthracite
discharge usually increases where?
downstream
Examples of renewable resource
oxygen, trees, food, solar energy
What is fusion?
Nuclei from lighter elements combine to form heavier elements, give off lots of energy!
CO2 increases due to
burning fossil fuels and deforestation
What is Astronomical Unit?
distance from earth to the sun
What kind of minerals are not easily separated
ore minerals
Melting blocks of ice left by glacier form what?
Kettles
____ is not created nor destroyed, only ____ from one form to another
Energy, converted
What are quasars?
very distant, extremely luminous celestial object that is actively emitting large amounts of radiation
Insolation comes what what three words?
incoming solar radiation
Which land surface will likely create low pressure in the air above it?
lake at night
What is the life cycle of a star?
Nebula - Protostar - main sequence star - Red Supergiant or Red Giant - Supernova or Planetary Nebula - Neutron Star, Black Hole or White dwarf
What makes up the Atmosphere?
gasses, ozone, weather phenomena
surface compounds can react with water to form what?
sulfuric acid
Geothermal energy is what percentage of energy that enters the earth?
.013%
burning of fossil fuels releases what?
stored energy, CO2, and other toxins
What is a nunatak?
mounatin peak above the ice
What is an aquifer?
sediment/permeable rock that can store groundwater
What is plastic flow?
pressure changes ice grain shape slip past each other to create movement - middle layer movement
What is a flash flood?
single cloud burst
Surface mining removes what?
soil
How does wind power work?
Windmills capture air, electricity generated, the power depends on wind speed, windmill blades, windmill efficiency
Solar energy is the main energy source for what?
plants
wno lines have higher elevations near what?
equator
What are five nonrenewable energy resources?
Fossil Fuels, Uranium, Petroleum/oil, coal and natural gas
What are the two types of erosion?
mechanical and chemical
What is gradient?
steepness of slope
Lines of equal pressure on a weather map are called what?
isobars
Most minerals (can/can't) be separated from surrounding rock
can
What is the continuous spectrum?
unbroken band of colors
What is competence?
measure of maximum size of particles a stream can carry
What do fossil fuels consist of?
carbon
What is the primary energy source for power plants?
coal
As a stream approaches its base level, gradient ____ and velocity ____
decreases, decreases
What causes air pollution?
natural sources (forest fires, volcanoes) and human activity
What is glacial milk?
rock flour mixes with meltwater
What is base level?
level of the larges body of water into which a stream flows
What are striations?
Long parallel scratches in rock that show the general direction of glacial movement
What did the 1987 montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer do?
treaty to reduce and eventually eliminate production of all CFC's and other ozone depleting substances by 2006
Valley glaciers exist on all continents except where?
Australia
What kind of glacier veries in size from 2-100km long and hundreds of meters thick
valley glaciers
What are the four renewable energy resources?
Water, Wind, Sun and Geothermal
What is the emission spectrum?
series of unevenly spaced lines of different colors and brightness
What is load?
eroded rock and soil transported downstream
Define Base Level
level of the largest body of water into which it flows
What is chemical erosion?
dissolving soluble minerals
What are outwash plains?
deposits made by glacial streams
What is a delta?
fan shaped deposit
What is evidence for ice ages?
till, outwash, striations, lakes and swamps, moraines
What is an active system?
Collects, stores, and distributes energy
What is suspension?
larger particles, look muddy (clay, silt)
Define deficit
need for moisture is greater than rain flow and soil water storage is gone
What is bedrock?
bed load, moving portion of bed (sand, pebbles, boulders)
Is uranium a fossil fuel?
no
What is the zone of saturation?
pores filled with ground water
Geothermal energy has a role in what cycle?
The Rock cycle
possible effects of global warming
rising sea levels, increase in storm severity, more heat waves and droughts, relocation of crop growing areas
Name a main element found in our sun
Hydrogen
What is the outer atmosphere of the sun?
Corona
Where do glaciers form?
areas always covered by snow
What is an esker?
Long winding ridges formed from meltwater tunnels flowing below the glacier
What is the zone of aeration?
capillary fringe just above water table, pores filled with air not water
what do spectroscopes determine?
what elements make up the atmosphere of stars and planets
What are long winding ridges formed from streams flowing in tunnels below the ice?
Eskers
Where do continental glaciers form?
polar regions, Greenland, antartica
What is a firn?
Partially compacted and refrozen snow which has yet to become a glacier
What is a moraine?
A deposit of till left behind when a glacier retrats.
What does the EPA do?
monitors and sets standards for drinking water and air quality
What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
Continuum showing range of electromagnetic radiation by wavelength
what is solution?
small particles, and dissolved materials (calcium, magnesium)
what is capillary action
interaction between water and the soil
Each magnitude differs by what?
2.5 times
Environment
Includes all resources, influences and conditions near Earth Surface
What kind of energy powers volcanoes, geysers and earthquakes?
Geothermal Energy
What is rock flour?
rocks become broken up to make powder
A long smooth canoe shaped hill
Drumlin
What are minerals
nonrenewable resources
What is a spring?
where water table reaches the surface such as on a mountain side
Solar energy causes rock to weather forming what?
soil
What is basal slip?
The bottom layer slip of glacier
How do glaciers move?
under the force of gravity
Acids have a PH (greater than/less than) 7?
less than
What did the clean air act of 1970 do?
Identified 6 key pollutants as indicators of air quality
What are reserves?
Deposits of mineral worth mning
Most load is carried by what?
suspension
Energy produced inside the sun equals the ?
force of gravity
What is a kame?
Small, cone shaped hills formed from meltwater at the ice front?
In mining what from mine pits can be dangerous?
runoff
How are fossil fuels formed?
from remains or organisms that lived millions of years ago
What is headward erosion?
lengthens streams or gullies. Land is worn away at head of a stream of gully
Solar energy is what percentage of energy that enters the earth?
99.985%
Some minerals can be used as they are, others have to be ____
processed
What is one theory for the cause of ice ages?
changes in the position of Earth and sun
Greater gradient = greater velocity= ?
greater ability to transport materials
What is a divide?
high land that separates one drainage basin from another
What is a variable star?
star showing regular variation of brighness over cycles of time

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