Earth Science 1 Semester Finals Study Guide
Terms
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- atom
- tiny building blocks of matter, made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons
- atomic number
- the number of protons in a atom
- density
- a physcial property of matter that can be determined by dividing the mass of an object by its volume
- meniscus
- The curved upper surface of a liquid in a container
- mineral
- naturally occurring inorganic solid that has a definite chemical composition and an orderly internal atmoic structure
- streak
- color of a mineral when it is in powdered form
- intrusive igneous
- a rock that generally contains large crystals and forms when magma cools slowly abeneath Earth's surface
- foliated metamorphic
- rock, such as slate and gneiss, whose mineral grains flatten and line up in parallel layers
- plateau
- flat,raised landform made up of nearly horizontal rocks that have been uplifted
- contour interval
- space between contour lines: the interval between contour lines on a map, or the altitude the interval represents
- ice wedging
- mechanical weathering process that occurs when water freezes in the cracks of rocks and expands, causing the rock to break apart
- chemical weathering
- occurs when chemical reactions dissolve the minerals in rocks or change them into different minerals
- surface area
- the area of surface on an object that is exposed (to the elements)
- till
- mixture of different-sized sediments that is dropped from the base of a retreating glacier and can cover huge areas of land
- mass movement
- any type of erosion that occures as gravity moves materials down-slope
- young stream
- a stream that has recently been formed; flows quickly, is steep, carries all sizes of sediments, mostly straight
- deposition
- dropping of sediments that occurs when an agent of erosion, such has gravity, a glacier, wind, or water, loses its energy and can no longer carry its load
- lithosphere
- rigid layer of earth about 100 km thick, made of the crust and a part of the upper mantle
- convection current
- current in earth's mantle that transfers heat in earth's interior and is the driving force for plate tectonics
- subduction
- the process by which collision of the earth's plates results in one plate's being drawn down or overridden by another, along the boundary of two plates.
- focus
- in an earthquake, the point below earth's surface where energy is released in the form iof seismic waves
- secondary wave
- seismic wave that moves rock particles at right angles to the direction of the wave
- seismogram
- the paper that the earthquake measures from the seismograph are drawn on
- proton
- positively charged particle that is located in the nucleus of an atom
- atomic mass
- the mass of an atom
- mass
- how much stuff is in something
- grams
- A metric unit of mass equal to one thousandth of a kilogram.
- luster
- describes the way a mineral reflects light from its surfac; can be either metallic or nonmetallic
- cleaveage/fracture
- the way a rock breaks
- cleavage
- physical property of some minerals that causees them to break along smooth flat surfaces
- fracture
- physical property of some minerals that causes them to break with uneven, rough, or jagged surfaces
- extrusive igneous
- fine-grained rock that forms when magma cools quickly at or near the earth's surface
- detrital sedimentary
- fragments of sediments, glued and compacted together
- topographic map
- a map that shows the changes in elevation of Earth's surface and indicates such features as roads and cities
- map scale
- the relationship between distances on a map and distances on earth's surface that can be represented as a ratio or as a small bar divided into sections
- mechanical weathering
- physical process that breaks rocks apart without changing their chemical makeup; can be caused by ice wedging, animals, and plant roots
- soil profile
- vertical section of soil layers, each of which is a horizon
- gravity erosion
- the process by which surface materials are worn away and transported from one place to another by gravity
- moraine
- large ridge of rocks and soil deposited by a glacier when it stops moving forward
- loess
- windblown deposit of tightly packed, fine-grained sediments
- old stream
- a stream that has existed for a while; slow-flowing, many curves, carries little sediment, ends in sea often, little slope
- seafloor spreading
- Alfred Hess's theory that new seafloor is formed when magma is forced upward toward the surface at a mid-ocean ridge
- asthenosphere
- athe plasticlike layer of earth on which the lithospheric plates float and move around
- converging plates
- plates that are coming together against each other
- volcanoes
- opening in earth's surface that erupts sulfurous gaes, ash, and lava; can form at earth's plate boundaries, where plates move apart or together, and at hot spots
- epicenter
- point on eart'hs surface directly above an earthquake's focus
- surface wave
- seismic wave that moves rock particles up and down in a backward rolling motion and side to side rolling motion and side to side in a swaying motion
- neutron
- a particle without an electric charge in the nucleus of an atom
- isotope
- atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons
- volume
- how much space an object takes up- 3 dimensional; volume = units cubed
- milliliter
- mL; a thousandth of a liter; a measurement of volume
- hardness
- measure of how easily a mineral can be scratched, determined by the arrangement of the mineral's atoms; measured by Moh's hardness scale, 0-7+;
- rock cycle
- model that describes how rocks slowly change from one form to another through time
- basaltic
- dense, dark-colored igneous rock formed from magma; rich in magnesium and iron and poor in silica
- plain
- large,flat landform that often has thick, fertile soil and is usually found in the interior region of a continent
- contour line
- line on a map that connects points of equal elevation
- weathering
- mechanical or chemical surface processes that break rocks into smaller and smaller pieces
- sediments
- loose materials (rock fragments, mineral grains, etc.) that have been moved by wind, water, ice ,or gravity
- humus
- dark-colored, decayed organic matter that supplies nutrients to plants and is found mainly in topsoil
- glacier erosion
- glaciers eroding rocks by scraping along them and causing ice wedging
- deflation
- a type of erosion that occurs when wind blows over loose sediments, removes small particles, and leaves coarser sediments behind
- water erosion
- the process by which water wears away at surfaces
- erosion
- process in which surface materials are worn away and transported from one place to another by agents such as gravity, water, wind, and glaciers
- plate tectonics
- the theory that earth's crust and upper mantle are broken into plates that float and move around on a plasticlike layer of the mantle
- diverging plates
- plates that are moving away from each other at a plate boundary
- transform boundary
- two plates that are slipping and sliding past each other
- seismic waves
- waves generated by an earthquake
- primary wave (P-wave)
- seismic wave that moves rock particles back and forth in the same direction that the wave travels
- seismograph
- instrument used to register earthquake waves and record the time that each arrived