Intro To Earth Science

Question 1

the name for all the sciences that collectively seek to understand Earth and its neighbors in
space.

Answer 1

Earth Science

Question 2

the study of the Earth, the materials of which it is made, the structure of those materials, and the processes acting upon them.

Answer 2

Geology

Question 3

examines the materials composing Earth and seeks to understand the many processes
that operate beneath and upon its surface

Answer 3

Physical Geology

Question 4

to understand the origin of Earth and the development of the planet through its 4.6-billion-year history. It strives to establish an orderly chronological arrangement of the multitude of physical and biological changes that have occurred in the geologic past.

Answer 4

Historical Geology

Question 5

the study of the composition and movements of
seawater, as well as coastal processes, seafloor topography, and marine life.

Answer 5

Oceanography

Question 6

the study of the atmosphere and the processes that produce weather and climate.

Answer 6

Meteorology

Question 7

the study of the universe

Answer 7

Astronomy

Question 8

physical phenomena caused by atmospheric, water or tectonic processes that threaten people, property or the environment. They can occur within a short or long period of time.

Answer 8

Natural Hazards

Question 9

represent another important focus
that is of great practical value to people. They include water
and soil, a great variety of metallic and nonmetallic minerals, and energy

Answer 9

Resources

Question 10

the span of time since the formation of Earth

Answer 10

Geologic time

Question 11

a tentative (or untested) explanation, and a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation

Answer 11

Hypothesis

Question 12

a carefully thought-out explanation for observations of the natural world that has been constructed using the scientific method, and which brings together many facts and hypotheses.

Answer 12

Theory

Question 13

The process just described, in which researchers gather facts through observations and formulate scientific hypotheses and theories

Answer 13

Scientific Method

Question 14

a dynamic mass of water that is continually on the move, evaporating from the oceans to the atmosphere, precipitating to the land, and running back to the ocean again.

Answer 14

Hydrosphere

Question 15

made of the layers of gases surrounding a planet or other celestial body.

Answer 15

Atmosphere

Question 16

Includes all life on Earth

Answer 16

Biosphere

Question 17

extends from the surface to the center of the planet, a depth of 6400 kilometers [4000 miles], making it by far the largest of Earth’s four spheres.

Answer 17

Geosphere

Question 18

a theory explaining the structure of the earth’s crust and many associated phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates which move slowly over the underlying mantle.

Answer 18

Plate Tectonics

Question 19

Earth’s rigid outer shell (the lithosphere) is broken into numerous slabs

Answer 19

Lithospheric Plates

Question 20

Where two plates move together one of the plates plunges beneath the
other and descends into the mantle

Answer 20

Convergent Boundaries

Question 21

Plates pull apart

Answer 21

Divergent Boundaries

Question 22

This is when plates do not push together or pull apart. Instead, they slide past one another, so that seafloor is neither created nor destroyed.

Answer 22

Transform Boundaries

Question 23

“remarkably flat features that have the appearance of plateaus protruding above sea level. The ________ average about 35 kilometers in thickness and density of 2.7 g/cm3”

Answer 23

Continent

Question 24

bowl-shaped depression in the earth, with complex topography along its deep seafloor. The basaltic rocks that comprise the oceanic
crust average only 7 kilometers (5 miles) thick and have an average density of about 3.0 g/cm3
.

Answer 24

Ocean Basin

Question 25

a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arisen from the same cause, usually an orogeny.

Answer 25

Mountain Belts

Question 26

is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere

Answer 26

Craton

Question 27

which are expansive, flat regions composed of deformed crystalline rock.

Answer 27

Shields

Question 28

Other flat areas of the stable interior exist in which highly deformed rocks, like those found in the shields, are covered by a relatively thin veneer of sedimentary rocks.

Answer 28

Stable Platforms

Question 29

is the portion of the seafloor adjacent to major landmasses. It may include the continental shelf, the continental slope, and the continental rise.

Answer 29

Continental Margins

Question 30

a gently sloping platform of material that extends seaward from the shore.

Answer 30

Continental Shelf

Question 31

boundary between the continents and the deep ocean basins and a relatively steep dropoff that extends from the outer edge of the continental shelf to the floor of the deep ocean

Answer 31

Continental Slope

Question 32

a thick accumulation of sediments that moved downslope from the continental shelf to the deep-ocean floor.

Answer 32

Continental Rise

Question 33

Between the continental margins and oceanic ridges

Answer 33

Deep-Ocean Basins

Question 34

incredibly flat features of deep-ocean basins

Answer 34

Abyssal Plains

Question 35

The ocean floor also contains extremely deep depressions that are occasionally more than 11,000 meters (36,000 feet) deep.

Answer 35

Deep-ocean Trenches

Question 36

Dotting the ocean floor are submerged volcanic structures which sometimes form long, narrow
chains.

Answer 36

Seamounts

Question 37

the most prominent feature on the ocean floor and this broad elevated feature forms a continuous belt consists of layer upon layer of igneous rock that has been fractured and uplifted.

Answer 37

Oceanic Ridges

Question 38

aims to study Earth as a system composed of numerous interacting parts, or subsystems.

Answer 38

Earth system science

Question 39

a group of interacting, or interdependent, parts that form a complex whole.

Answer 39

System

Question 40

It represents the unending circulation of Earth’s water among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and geosphere.

Answer 40

Hydrologic Cycle

Question 41

The loop that involves the processes by which one rock changes to another

Answer 41

Rock Cycle

Question 42

the idea that the continents move about the face of the planet.

Answer 42

Continental Drift