GEL 109: Exam 1 Review Questions With Correct Detailed Answers

How is the rock cycle connected to plate tectonics? - correct answers through the process of rock formation. What types of rocks form from the melting/cooling of the mantle under the oceanic plate? - correct answers Igneous rocks The mantle rock changes phase from a solid to a liquid when ... ? What is this melted rock called? - correct answers the pressure drops but the temperature remains the same; Magma Magma is _____ dense than the solid rock? - correct answers Less the movement of the Earth's crust through convection currents that occur in the mantle. - correct answers Plate tectonics occur where hot magma rises to the surface, pushing the plates apart. - correct answers Divergent plate boundaries What are the principle subsystems of the Earth? - correct answers the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, lithosphere, mantle, and core. Approximately how long ago did the Big Bang occur? - correct answers 14 million years What is earth's outermost layer? - correct answers the crust What is the crust divided into? - correct answers continental and oceanic portions the crust and underlying solid upper mantle together are known as ...? - correct answers the lithosphere Earth's core consists of ...? - correct answers an outer liquid portion and an inner solid portion What are the three major rock groups? - correct answers igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic result from the crystallization of magma or the consolidation of volcanic ejecta - correct answers igneous rock typically formed by the consolidation of rock fragments, precipitation of mineral matter from solution, or compaction of plant or animal remains - correct answers sedimentary rock result from the alteration of other rocks, usually beneath earth's surface, by heat, pressure, and chemically active fluids. - correct answers metamorphic rock This principle holds that the laws of nature have been constant through time and that the same processes operating today operated in the past, although not necessarily at the same rates - correct answers the principle of uniformitarianism Credited with developing the hypothesis of continental drift. - correct answers Alfred Wegener long, steep-sided depressions on the seafloor near convergent plate boundaries where oceanic lithosphere is consumed by subduction - correct answers oceanic trenches the upper layer of the earth's mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur - correct answers Asthenosphere the rapid expansion of matter from a state of extremely high density and temperature that according to current cosmological theories marked the origin of the universe. - correct answers Big Bang The central or innermost portion of the Earth, lying below the mantle and probably consisting of iron and nickel. It is divided into a liquid outer portion, and a solid inner portion. - correct answers Core the remains or impression of a prehistoric organism preserved in petrified form or as a mold or cast in rock. - correct answers Fossil a system of chronological dating that relates geological strata to time. It is used to describe the timing and relationships of events that have occurred during Earth's history. - correct answers Geologic time scale the science that deals with the earth's physical structure and substance, its history, and the processes that act on it. - correct answers Geology a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation - correct answers hypothesis One of the four gas giant planets in the solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, which have very large masses and are farther from the sun than the terrestrial planets. Also called outer planet - correct answers Jovian planet the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle. - correct answers lithosphere the part of the earth between the core and the the crust; makes up nearly 80 percent of the Earth's total volume; made up of magma and rock. - correct answers mantle arise from the transformation of existing rock types - correct answers metamorphic rock he building blocks of rocks; a naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, crystalline substance which has a fixed structure and a chemical composition which is either fixed or which may vary within certain defined limits. - correct answers mineral The process by which changes in the genetic composition of populations of organisms occur in response to environmental changes. - correct answers organic evolution a massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere - correct answers plate the theory that the outer rigid layer of the earth (the lithosphere) is divided into a couple of dozen "plates" that move around across the earth's surface relative to each other, like slabs of ice on a lake. - correct answers plate tectonic theory a natural substance, a solid aggregate of one or more minerals or mineraloids. - correct answers rock an idealized cycle of processes undergone by rocks in the earth's crust, involving igneous intrusion, uplift, erosion, transportation, deposition as sedimentary rock, metamorphism, remelting, and further igneous intrusion. - correct answers rock cycle principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses. - correct answers scientific method types of rock that are formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of mineral or organic particles on the floor of oceans or other bodies of water at the Earth's surface - correct answers sedimentary rocks our Solar System formed from a giant, swirling cloud of gas & dust and that our Solar System formed out of a nebula which collapsed under its own gravity. - correct answers solar nebula theory a unit of rock layers that were laid down together within the same corresponding geological period - correct answers system Earth-like planets made up of rocks or metals with a hard surface — making them different from other planets that lack a solid surface. - correct answers terrestrial planets an underwater plain on the deep ocean floor, lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a mid-ocean ridge - correct answers Abyssal plain found on the leading edge of the continent where it is crashing into an oceanic plate. An excellent example is the west coast of South America. these are commonly the sites of tectonic activity: earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain building, and the formation of new igneous rock. - correct answers Active continental margin When two continental plates collide - correct answers continental-continental plate boundary refers to the fact that continents are not stationary, but move across the Earth's surface - correct answers continental drift the shallow water area found in proximity to continent. - correct answers continental margin an underwater feature found between the continental slope and the abyssal plain. This feature can be found all around the world, and it represents the final stage in the boundary between continents and the deepest part of the ocean. - correct answers continental rise a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water - correct answers continental shelf The sloping region between a continental shelf and a continental rise - correct answers continental slope a region of active deformation where two or more tectonic plates or fragments of the lithosphere are near the end of their life cycle. - correct answers convergent plate boundary the temperature at which certain materials lose their permanent magnetic properties, to be replaced by induced magnetism. - correct answers currie point A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving away from each other and new crust is forming from magma that rises to the Earth's surface between the two plates. - correct answers divergent plate boundary characterized by a leaf with a fairly well defined midrib and a reticulate (net-like) venation. - correct answers glossopteris flora the part of Pangaea that lies in the Southern Hemisphere. It includes most of the present-day South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica. - correct answers gondwana volcanic regions thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the surrounding mantle. - correct answers hot spot The supercontinent of the Northern Hemisphere that, according to the theory of plate tectonics, broke up into North America, Greenland, Europe, and Asia except for the Indian subcontinent. - correct answers laurasia a local variation in the Earth's magnetic field resulting from variations in the chemistry or magnetism of the rocks. - correct answers magnetic anomaly extends from the Earth's interior out into space, where it meets the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. - correct answers magnetic field A change in the Earth's magnetic field resulting in the magnetic north being aligned with the geographic south, and the magnetic south being aligned with the geographic north - correct answers magnetic reversal efers to physical phenomena arising from the force caused by magnets, objects that produce fields that attract or repel other objects. - correct answers magnetism When continental and oceanic plates collide, the thinner and more dense oceanic plate is overridden by the thicker and less dense continental plate. The oceanic plate is forced down into the mantle in a process known as "subduction." - correct answers oceanic continental plate boundary When two oceanic plates converge - correct answers oceanic oceanic plate boundary an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary. - correct answers oceanic ridge hemispheric-scale long but narrow topographic depressions of the sea floor. They also are the deepest parts of the ocean floor. - correct answers oceanic trench the study of the record of the Earth's magnetic field in rocks, sediment, or archeological materials. Certain minerals in rocks lock-in a record of the direction and intensity of the magnetic field when they form. - correct answers paleomagnetism the transition between oceanic and continental lithosphere that is not an active plate margin; forms by sedimentation above an ancient rift, now marked by transitional lithosphere. - correct answers passive continental margin a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. - correct answers seafloor spreading a fissure in a planet's surface from which geothermally heated water issues. - correct answers hydrothermal vent the phenomenon that occurs when density differences exist within a body of liquid or gas - correct answers convection cell a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal. It ends abruptly and is connected to another transform, a spreading ridge, or a subduction zone - correct answers transform fault locations where two plates slide past one another. - correct answers transform plate boundary he smallest particle of a chemical element that retains its chemical properties - correct answers atom The mass number in an atomic nucleus. - correct answers atomic mass number the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, which determines the chemical properties of an element and its place in the periodic table. - correct answers Atomic number process by which atoms combine to form compounds. - correct answers bonding when a carbonate ion combines with metal cations - correct answers carbonate mineral a type of planar rock feature that develops as a result of deformation and metamorphism. - correct answers cleavage products formed by chemical reaction between elements; is not a mixture but a new substance, having different properties from its constituent elements. - correct answers compound A chemical bond formed when electrons are shared between two atoms. - correct answers covalent bond a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a lattice that extends in all directions. - correct answers crystal what is another name for crystal - correct answers crystalline solid the mass of a substance per unit volume - correct answers density concerned with earth materials that can be used for economic and/or industrial purposes. - correct answers economic geology a stable negatively charged component of an atom; exist outside of and surrounding the atom nucleus. - correct answers electron principal energy level; may be thought of as an orbit followed by electrons around an atom's nucleus. - correct answers electron shell substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical means; is composed of atoms that have the same atomic number - correct answers element Silicate minerals containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structure. - correct answers ferromagnesian silicate A measure of the ease with which a smooth surface of a mineral can be scratched, or of its resistance to abrasion - correct answers hardness an electrically charged atom or group of atoms formed by the loss or gain of one or more electrons - correct answers ion A chemical bond formed between two ions with opposite charges; form when one atom gives up one or more electrons to another atom. - correct answers ionic bond the way li