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SCIENCE > Earth and Space > Flashcards

Earth and Space Flashcards

1
Q

a hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium, 4.5 billion-year-old yellow dwarf star, and center of the solar system

A

Sun

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2
Q

stream of high-energy particles sent into space; causes the light display of aurora borealis and aurora australis

A

Solar wind

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3
Q

Where is aurora borealis located?

A

Northern Hemisphere

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4
Q

Where is aurora australis located?

A

Southern Hemisphere

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5
Q

storms that look like huge arches; lasts for several days

A

Prominences

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6
Q

more intense than prominences; lasts for 15 minutes

A

Solar flares

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7
Q

cool black storm areas

A

sunspots

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8
Q

Layers of the sun from inside to outside

A

Core, Radiation Zone, Convection Zone, Photosphere, Chromosphere, Corona

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9
Q

smallest and closest planet to the sun; no atmosphere

A

Mercury

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10
Q

has a core of molten iron, hottest planet in the solar system, and rotates the slowest among the planets

A

Venus

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11
Q

only planet in the universe known to harbor life

A

Earth

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12
Q

Red planet; covered with iron-rich dust

A

Mars

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13
Q

biggest planet; has the great red spot

A

Jupiter

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14
Q

planet that has prominent rings

A

Saturn

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15
Q

ice giant; orbits on its side unlike other planets

A

Uranus

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16
Q

windiest planet

A

Neptune

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17
Q

the galaxy that includes our solar system

A

Milky Way

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18
Q

“dirty snowballs,” with tails of dust and gases, forced from the head by solar radiation; tail always points away from the sun

A

Comets

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19
Q

a meteoriod as it burns up in the atmosphere; “shooting star”

A

Meteor

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20
Q

a meteoriod that does not completely burn up

A

Meteorite

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21
Q

Earth’s only natural satellite

A

Moon

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22
Q

collapsed stars that resulted to huge gravitational forces where even light cannot escape

A

Black Holes

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23
Q

massive, remote celestial objects emitting remarkably large amounts of energy

A

Quasars

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24
Q

These are intermittent radio signals emitted by dying stars (nuetron stars)

A

Radio Pulsars

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25
Q

Where is the asteroid belt located?

A

between Mars and Jupiter

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26
Q

What are the moon phases?

A

full moon, waxing gibbous, first quarter, waxing crescent, new moon, waning crescent, last quarter, waning gibbous

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27
Q

the regular rise and fall of sea levels

A

tides

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28
Q

What causes the tides?

A

gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun

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29
Q

strongest tides; when the sun, Earth, and moon are on the straight line; sun’s and moon’s gravities add up

A

Spring tides

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30
Q

weakest tides; when the sun, Earth, and moon form a right angle; the sun’s and the moon’s gravities cancel out one another

A

Neap tides

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31
Q

North star; tip of Little Dipper’s “handle”

A

Polaris

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32
Q

brightest star in the night sky; “Dog star”

A

Sirius

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33
Q

closest star to Earth but is too small to br seen in the night sky

A

Proxima Centauri

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34
Q

closest star to Earth that is visible in the night sky

A

Alpha Centauri

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35
Q

Big bear; contains the Big Dipper

A

Ursa Major

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36
Q

Little bear; contains the Little Dipper

A

Ursa Minor

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37
Q

Big dog; contains Sirius

A

Canis Major

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38
Q

Little dog

A

Canis Minor

39
Q

The Hunter

A

Orion

40
Q

The Winged Horse

A

Pegasus

41
Q

Layer of the Earth from the crust down to the rigid upper mantle

A

Lithosphere

42
Q

Layer of the Earth; the plastic-like upper mantle where rock can easily move

A

Asthenosphere

43
Q

lowest layer of the atmosphere; nearly all weather occurs and clouds appear

A

Troposphere

44
Q

Layer of the atmosphere where ozone layer is located

A

Stratosphere

45
Q

Layer of the atmosphere where most meteors burn up

A

Mesosphere

46
Q

layer of the atmosphere; series of regions in parts of the mesosphere and thermosphere

A

Ionosphere

47
Q

layer of the atmosphere; the “final frontier” of Earth’s gaseous envelope

A

Exosphere

48
Q

Composition of the Atmosphere

A

Nitrogen - 78%
Oxygen - 21%
Argon - 0.9%
All other gases - 0.06%
Carbon Dioxide - 0.04%

49
Q

measures air pressure

A

Barometer

50
Q

measures wind speed

A

Anemometer

51
Q

measures humidity

A

Hygrometer

52
Q

measures wind direction

A

Wind Vane

53
Q

measures the amount of rainfall

A

Rain Gauge

54
Q

clouds become electrically charged, producing lightning and thunder

A

Thunderstorms

55
Q

up to 63 km/hr winds

A

Topical depression

56
Q

63-117 km/hr winds

A

Tropical storm

57
Q

Pacific Ocean origin (120-350 km/hr winds)

A

Typhoons

58
Q

Atlantic Ocean origin (120-350 km/hr winds)

A

Hurricane

59
Q

Indian Ocean origin (120-350 km/hr winds)

A

Cyclone

60
Q

small but about 500 km/hr

A

Tornadoes

61
Q

movement of water through the soil itself

A

Percolation

62
Q

process that changes liquid water to gaseous water (water vapor)

A

Evaporation

63
Q

water vapor turning back into liquid water

A

Condensation

64
Q

all liquid and solid water particles that fall from clouds and reach the ground

A

Precipitation

65
Q

water vapor being released from plants and soil

A

Transpiration

66
Q

process that releases energy in the prescence of oxygen

A

Respiration

67
Q

when plants and animals die, they decay; this process uses up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide into the air

A

Decomposing

68
Q

also called oxidation; this process causes metals to rust; uses up oxygen

A

Rusting

69
Q

the process by which fire is generated, requires oxygen along with heat and fuel; uses up oxygen and releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

A

Combustion

70
Q

six main processes of carbon cycle

A

photosynthesis, respiration, exchange, sedimentation, extraction, and combustion

71
Q

developed by Alfred Wegener in 1912; the theory of the movement of the continents relative to each other

A

Theory of Continental Drift

72
Q

evidences of continental drift

A

fossils in Africa and South America, positions of mountain ranges, glacial striations, tillites

73
Q

scratches in rock caused by movement of glaciers

A

Glacial striations

74
Q

glacial sediments burried in rock

A

Tillites

75
Q

the “supercontinent” existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras

A

Pangea

76
Q

What are the names of the two continents Pangea broke into during Mesozoic era?

A

Laurasia (North) & Gondwanaland (South)

77
Q

Laurasia broke up into these continents during Mesozoic Era

A

Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and South America

78
Q

type of plate boundary where plates slide side-by-side against one another, causing earthquakes

A

Transform

79
Q

type of plate boundary where plates move away from one another, forming mid-ocean ridges, creating young crust on the ocean floor

A

Divergent

80
Q

type of plate boundaries where plates move toward each other

A

Convergent

81
Q

type of convergent plate boundary where one of the two oceanic plates is subducted into the mantle, magma rises, forming volcanoes; also creates trenches

A

oceanic-oceanic

82
Q

type of convergent plate boundary where the oceanic plate is subducted into the mantle, magma rises, forming mountain ranges usually containing volcanoes

A

oceanic-continental

83
Q

type of convergent plate boundary where neither plate is fully subducted; the plates are forced into one another, forming tall mountains

A

continental-continental

84
Q

“size” of an earthquake, or energy released; measured using Richer scale or Moment Magnitude scale

A

Magnitude

85
Q

used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake; 1-10, wherein 2 is 10x stronger than magnitude 1, and so on

A

Richer scale

86
Q

used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake where it is commonly used because of higher precision

A

Moment Magnitude scale

87
Q

amount of damage of an earthquake; measured using Mecalli scale (1-12)

A

Intensity

88
Q

used to measure the amount of damage caused by earthquakes

A

Mercalli scale

89
Q

an earthquake’s point of origin

A

focus

90
Q

the point on the earth’s surfacr directly above the focus of an earthquake

A

Epicenter

91
Q

type of rock from lava (e.g. granite, basalt, magma)

A

Igneous

92
Q

type of rock formed from other rocks that were changed due to intense heat and pressure (e.g. marble, slate)

A

Metamorphic

93
Q

type of rock formed from sediments which were eroded to lower places; forms fossils (e.g. sandstone, shale, calcite)

A

Sedimentary

SCIENCE (3 decks)

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