Chapter 3

Question 1

A violent upheaval of change in the earth’s crust

Answer 1

Cataclysm

Question 2

Those who believed in an old earth developing over billions of years tried to explain that the surface of the earth was gradually shaped by observable natural processes over cast spans of time

Answer 2

Uniformitarianism

Question 3

What most professional geologists call themselves today

Answer 3

Neocatastrophists

Question 4

The outer “skin” of the earth

Answer 4

Crust

Question 5

The layer of hot, plastic material that is after the Crust

Answer 5

Mantle

Question 6

What the surface of the earth is divided into

Answer 6

Continents

Question 7

The variation in the landscape

Answer 7

Landform

Question 8

The three types of landforms

Answer 8

Mountains, Plains, Plateaus

Question 9

The formation where several mountains appear together

Answer 9

Mountain Range

Question 10

Wide areas of level land

Answer 10

Plains

Question 11

Wide areas of relatively flat land but they rise abruptly above surrounding lands

Answer 11

Plateaus

Question 12

Deposits of sediment

Answer 12

Alluvium

Question 13

The covering of air that surrounds our planet

Answer 13

Atmosphere

Question 14

The solid part of the earth

Answer 14

Lithosphere

Question 15

The water on the earth’s surface

Answer 15

Hydrosphere

Question 16

The system where all the oceans flow into each other

Answer 16

World Ocean

Question 17

Rivers that “feed” other rivers

Answer 17

Tributaries

Question 18

The main river and all its tributaries

Answer 18

River System

Question 19

What features determine the “greatest” river systems

Answer 19

Length, Discharge, Drainage Area

Question 20

Arms of the ocean partially enclosed by land

Answer 20

Seas

Question 21

The theory that the plates crash into and pull apart from one another, releasing energy from the earth’s interior and causing earthquakes and volcanoes

Answer 21

Plate Tectonics Theory

Question 22

Deep cracks in the earth’s surface where two pieces of land have moved in different directions

Answer 22

Faults

Question 23

The latitude zone that lies between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer (Northern Hemisphere) and the Tropic of Capricorn (Southern Hemisphere)

Answer 23

Low Latitudes

Question 24

The latitude zone that lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Ocean (Northern Hemisphere) and between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle (Southern Hemisphere)

Answer 24

Middle Latitudes

Question 25

The latitude zone that lies between. the Arctic Circle and the North Pole (Northern Hemisphere) and between the Antarctic Circle and the South Pole (Southern Hemisphere)

Answer 25

High Latitudes

Question 26

Another name for low latitudes

Answer 26

Tropics

Question 27

Another name for middle latitudes

Answer 27

Temperate Zone

Question 28

Another name for high latitudes

Answer 28

Polar Regions

Question 29

Warm air holding a lot of water vapor

Answer 29

Humidity

Question 30

The point at which water vapor begins condensation

Answer 30

Dew Point

Question 31

When the temperature drops, the water vapor loses energy, condensation occurs, and water falls to the earth

Answer 31

Precipitation

Question 32

The process of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation

Answer 32

Hydrologic Cycle

Question 33

When a warm mass of humid air passes over a mountainous area, the air moves upward and cools rapidly. Water vapor condenses into droplets, clouds form, and precipitation quickly follows

Answer 33

Orographic

Question 34

The land beyond the mountains that is usually very dry because little water vapor survives passage over the mountains.

Answer 34

Rainshadow

Question 35

Water that seeps through the soil and forms slow-moving rivers under the ground

Answer 35

Ground Water

Question 36

The line where two air masses meet

Answer 36

Front

Question 37

The rise of warm air over a hot surface

Answer 37

Convection

Question 38

The typical weather in a region over a long period of time

Answer 38

Climate

Question 39

The atmospheric conditions of a location at a specific moment in time

Answer 39

Weather

Question 40

The five climates of the world

Answer 40

Tropical Rainy, Dry, Moderate, Cold, Other

Question 41

The rate the temperature drops that happens at higher elevation

Answer 41

Lapse Rate

Question 42

Any large region where distinct populations of plants and animals are found living together

Answer 42

Biome

Question 43

The three main types of biomes

Answer 43

Forests, Grasslands, Wastelands

Question 44

Trees that produce their seeds in a cone

Answer 44

Conifers

Question 45

Trees that lose their leaves during a particular season of the year

Answer 45

Deciduous

Question 46

Soil that remains frozen year-round

Answer 46

Permafrost