GEOLOGY 105 EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE
Geology - Answers :The study of Earth and surrounding planets
Earth's four spheres - Answers :atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere
Atmosphere
Earth's 4 spheres - Answers :atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere
Atmosphere - Answers :Layers of air and gases surrounding the earth.
Biosphere - Answers :Consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life
exists, including land, water, and the atmosphere.
Lithosphere - Answers :the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper
mantle.
Hydrosphere - Answers :All of the water on and near Earth's surface
Structure of Earth's system - Answers :Earth system is powered by the sun
Nature of Scientific Inquiry (3 parts) - Answers :-natural world is consistent and
predictable
-goal of science is to discover patterns in nature and use knowledge to make
predictions
-scientists collect facts through observation and measurments
The Big Bang Theory - Answers :a dense, hot state was followed by expansion and
cooling to create the universe
Solar Nebula Theory - Answers :a huge rotating cloud of gas contracts and flattens to
form a disk of gas and dust with the sun forming in the center and eddies gathering up
material to form plants
Alfred Wegener - Answers :German meteorologist that suggested continental drift and
Pangea
2 types of Lithosphere - Answers :Oceanic and continental
Oceanic Lithosphere - Answers :oceanic crust, exists in the ocean basins
Continental Lithosphere - Answers :lithosphere topped by continental crust
Evidence for Continental Drift - Answers :1) continents fit together like a puzzle. 2) rock
formations that split up from Atlantic 3) fossils of plants found on opposite sides of
Atlantic.
, Criticisms of Continental Drift - Answers :Wegener couldn't explain how or why the
continents moved
Paleomagnetism - Answers :The study of the alignment of magnetic minerals in rocks
Seafloor Spreading - Answers :The process that creates new sea floor as plates move
away from each other at the mid-ocean ridges
Pangea - Answers :All the present continents were joined, into one single continent
3 types of plate boundaries - Answers :divergent, convergent, transform
Divergent plate boundaries - Answers :The boundary between two plates that move
away from each other
Convergent plate boundaries - Answers :The boundary between two plates that move
toward each other
Transform plate boundaries - Answers :The boundary between two plates that slide past
each other
Hot spots - Answers :areas of volcanic activities that result from plumes of hot solid
material that have risen from deep inside earths mantle
Convection - Answers :The slow movement of material below the earth's crust. Drives
plate motion through the heating and cooling of water
Mineral - Answers :Naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a crystalline structure and a
definite chemical composition
3 types of bonds - Answers :Ionic, Covalent, and Metallic
Ionic Bonding - Answers :the attraction between oppositely charged ions
Covalent Bonding - Answers :a type of bonding in which atoms share electrons
Metallic Bonding - Answers :Bond formed by the attraction between positively charged
metal ions and the electrons around them.
Polymorphs - Answers :Minerals with the same composition but different crystalline
structure (ex. Diamond and Graphite: Diamond=hardest mineral, graphite= softest
mineral)
Physical Properties of Minerals (7) - Answers :luster, color, streak, hardness, cleavage,
fracture, specific gravity
Geology - Answers :The study of Earth and surrounding planets
Earth's four spheres - Answers :atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere
Atmosphere
Earth's 4 spheres - Answers :atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere
Atmosphere - Answers :Layers of air and gases surrounding the earth.
Biosphere - Answers :Consists of all life on Earth and all parts of the Earth in which life
exists, including land, water, and the atmosphere.
Lithosphere - Answers :the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper
mantle.
Hydrosphere - Answers :All of the water on and near Earth's surface
Structure of Earth's system - Answers :Earth system is powered by the sun
Nature of Scientific Inquiry (3 parts) - Answers :-natural world is consistent and
predictable
-goal of science is to discover patterns in nature and use knowledge to make
predictions
-scientists collect facts through observation and measurments
The Big Bang Theory - Answers :a dense, hot state was followed by expansion and
cooling to create the universe
Solar Nebula Theory - Answers :a huge rotating cloud of gas contracts and flattens to
form a disk of gas and dust with the sun forming in the center and eddies gathering up
material to form plants
Alfred Wegener - Answers :German meteorologist that suggested continental drift and
Pangea
2 types of Lithosphere - Answers :Oceanic and continental
Oceanic Lithosphere - Answers :oceanic crust, exists in the ocean basins
Continental Lithosphere - Answers :lithosphere topped by continental crust
Evidence for Continental Drift - Answers :1) continents fit together like a puzzle. 2) rock
formations that split up from Atlantic 3) fossils of plants found on opposite sides of
Atlantic.
, Criticisms of Continental Drift - Answers :Wegener couldn't explain how or why the
continents moved
Paleomagnetism - Answers :The study of the alignment of magnetic minerals in rocks
Seafloor Spreading - Answers :The process that creates new sea floor as plates move
away from each other at the mid-ocean ridges
Pangea - Answers :All the present continents were joined, into one single continent
3 types of plate boundaries - Answers :divergent, convergent, transform
Divergent plate boundaries - Answers :The boundary between two plates that move
away from each other
Convergent plate boundaries - Answers :The boundary between two plates that move
toward each other
Transform plate boundaries - Answers :The boundary between two plates that slide past
each other
Hot spots - Answers :areas of volcanic activities that result from plumes of hot solid
material that have risen from deep inside earths mantle
Convection - Answers :The slow movement of material below the earth's crust. Drives
plate motion through the heating and cooling of water
Mineral - Answers :Naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a crystalline structure and a
definite chemical composition
3 types of bonds - Answers :Ionic, Covalent, and Metallic
Ionic Bonding - Answers :the attraction between oppositely charged ions
Covalent Bonding - Answers :a type of bonding in which atoms share electrons
Metallic Bonding - Answers :Bond formed by the attraction between positively charged
metal ions and the electrons around them.
Polymorphs - Answers :Minerals with the same composition but different crystalline
structure (ex. Diamond and Graphite: Diamond=hardest mineral, graphite= softest
mineral)
Physical Properties of Minerals (7) - Answers :luster, color, streak, hardness, cleavage,
fracture, specific gravity
