Exam 1 Flashcards
(178 cards)
1
Q
astronomical unit
A
earth-moon distance
2
Q
Nebula
A
interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other gasses
3
Q
Nebular Theory
A
How galaxies are formed, explains why the solar system is spinning in a direction that makes sense and in a plane, and the observed distrobution of elements
4
Q
accretionary disk
A
central ball of matter surrounded by rings, early galaxy
5
Q
protostar
A
when the ball in the accretionary disk gets hot enough to glow
6
Q
star
A
when nuclear fusion happens in a protostar, making it an element factory
7
Q
volatile elements
A
elements with a low melting point
8
Q
white dwarf
A
when a star runs out of hydrogen
9
Q
supernova
A
when a star is massive enoug to combine electrons and protons into neutrons, causing it to collapse in on itself and explode, creating leements heavier than iron, and forms a nebula
10
Q
oort cloud
A
inner edge of weak gravitaional pull from the sun
11
Q
kuiper belt
A
diffuse ring of icy objects and comets
12
Q
heliosphere
A
furthest reach of solar wind particles
13
Q
refractory elements
A
condense at a relatively low temperature
14
Q
planet
A
must orbit a star, be roughly spherical in shape, clear its neighborhood of other objects
15
Q
terrestrial planets
A
rocky plannets with silicates around an iron core
16
Q
gas giants
A
made of hydrogen and its compounds
17
Q
Asteroid belt
A
failed planet from jupiters gravity
18
Q
asteroids
A
rocky or metallic objects that orbit the sun
19
Q
meteorites
A
stony, iron, stony-iron asteroids
20
Q
chondrules
A
rounded pieces of rock, first solid material to condense within the solar nebula and have remained unchanged
21
Q
carbonaceous chondrites
A
rapidly melted and cooled rock in space with black organic matter. Aliens?
22
Q
comet
A
has a tail and a head, is a rock flying in space
23
Q
anorthosites
A
bright highland areas on the moon
24
Q
maria
A
smooth dark areas of basalt lava on the moon
25
Big bang theory
the universe is expanding (remember the doppler effect)
26
interplanetary vs interstellar space
interplanetary is denser
27
Solar wind
protons and electrons emitted from the sun
28
earths dipole magnet
protects the earth from solar wind
29
magnetosphere
area inside earths magnetic shield
30
Van allen Belts
belts of solar wind particles and cosmic rays that protect earth from solar wind via magnetism
31
aurorae
when particles that penetrate van allen belts are channeled along magnetic field lines and interact with gas atoms of upper atmosphere and make it glow
32
earths atmosphere is mostly
nitrogen
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troposphere
where weather occurrs becuase of cold air sinking , dense air replacing warm
34
stratosphere
above the troposphere, no convection mixing occurs, where the ozone is, temperature is increasing
35
mesosphere
above the stratosphere, temperatures steadily decrease
36
thermosphere
outermost layer
37
atmosphere
gaseous envelope of the earth
38
hydrosphere
all liquid water on earth
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cryosphere
all ice and snow on earth
40
biosphere
all living organisms on earth
41
lithosphere
the solid earth (rocks), crust and uppermost mantle
42
Earth System
combination of atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere, lithosphere
43
habitable zone
earths distance from the sun that allows there to be liquid water on earth
44
hypsometric curve
plots surface elevation against the percent of the earths surface it takes up (most of earths area is not high elevation mountains, its mostly undersea abysmal plains)
45
composition of solid earth
mostly iron, oxygen, silicon, and magnesium
46
organic chemicals
chemicals that have carbon in them and occur in living organisms or have characteristics that resemble those in living organisms
47
minerals
solid, naturally occurring substance in which the atoms are arranged in an orderly manner
48
crystal
mineral with a smooth flat face
49
grain
crystal fragment
50
glass
solid in which atoms are arranged randomlyo
51
rocks
aggregates of minerals, crystals, or grains (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic)
52
metals
earth solids composed of metal atoms that allow electrons to flow freely
53
melt
molten material
54
magma
liquid rock and dissolved gasses
55
lava
liquid rock without the dissolved gas
56
silicate minerals
contain solicon and oxygen
57
geothermal gradient
temperature increases as you go down to the core, heat is from kinetic energy and radioactive decay
58
Earths crust composition
mostly silicon and oxygen
59
moho
the discontinuity where seismic waves abruptly change velocity due to a change in density between crust and upper mantle
60
liquid outer core
s waves do not travel through this region, is responsible for earths magnetic field
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solid inner core
is the hottest but solid due to intense pressure
62
evidence for continental drift
locations of past glaicers, fit of continents
63
terminal moraine
line of a big glaicer that once connected the continents, paleoclimatic belts, similarity of fossils, matching rock units,
64
plate tectonics
earths lithospheric plates
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paleoclimatic belts
where certain climates used to be in the past, supports the idea of moving tectonic plates
66
paleomagnetism
magnetic igneous rocks crystallize and align with magnetic field at time of crystalization, tells us where the rock was, and where the magnetic field was pointing at the time
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wandering north pole
it moves!
68
magnetic inclination
when the compace points in the z direction from the magnetic field
69
magnetic declination
the compass pointing to a different north relative to true geographic north
70
passive margins
tectonic plate margins that are geologically quiet with no major earthquackes or volcanoes
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abyssal plain
flat seafloor in deep water beyond the continental slope (flattest place on earth
72
pelagic sediment
settles slowly through the ocean water and is made up of fine grained clay and skeletons of microorganisms
73
mid ocean ridge
submarine mountain range where new mantle is pumped out, creating new earth!
74
deep ocean trenches
lie at margins of oceans bordering volcanic arcs
75
subduction zones
where two tectonic plates meet and the denser one descends into the mantle
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seamount chains
mountain ranges created by hotspots in the ocean
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oceanic crust composition
basalt and gabbro
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location of earthquakes
mid ocean ridges and margins of ocean basins
79
benioff zone
where the earthquakes are, caused by a subducting plate frictioning with the plate that won
80
fracture zone
places where mid ocean ridges are moving in the same direction even though theyre split
81
transform faults
places where the mid ocean ridge is split but the two pieces are moving in opposite directions, causing friction earthquackes
82
magnetic anomaly
paleomagnetic way of seeing where new crust is created ( the mid ocean ridges) bc the expected magnetic reading differs from the actual one, showing a change in where the pole was
83
speed of mid ocean ridge growth
1cm/year
84
Harry hess
proposed seafloor spreading and subduction
85
alfred wegener
proposed continental drift
86
asthenosphere
soft and a little flowy, under the lithosphere
87
divergent plate oundary
mid ocean ridge with active volcanism and shallow earthquackes (where plates are diverging) Pillow bassalt accumulates from the new laval cooling in the ocean, have
88
sheeted dikes
places where melt cools in a quick way and it splits into polygons
89
black smoker
chemical soup spewing in the oceans
90
convergent plate boundary
two tectonic plates crashing together
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volcanic arc
the volcanoes that happen right next to active tectonic plate boundaries because of subduction that causes friction melting more of the mantle that rises into a volcano
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accretionary prism
piling up of sediment scraped off the downgoin plate
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transform plate boundary
when ridge segments split orthogonal to the ridge
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triple junction
when three plates are coming together (related to transform plate boundaries
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hot spots
its a hot spot it makes volcanoes like hawaii and hot springs
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rifting
continential rifting creates new tectonic plates
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biogenic mineralization
minerals formed by living organisms like clams
98
Crystal structure
the way the atoms are arranged in a chrystal
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bond direction
if bonds form more easily in one direction, the crystal will grow faster in that direction
100
ways crystals are formed
solidification of melt, precipitation, biomineralization, diffusion
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ore
minerals extracted for economic reasons
102
euhedral crystals
good nice crystal faces
103
anhedral crystals
when crystals are so crowded they dont have pretty faces
104
mineral identifiers
color, streak, luster, hardness, specific gravity, crystal habit, cleaage, reaction to acid, fracture tendency
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mohs hardness scale
a measure of hardness
106
habit
the general shape of a crystal
107
chonchoidal fractures
means no cleavage
108
striations
little lines on the side of a mineral
109
gemstone
rare mineral of value
110
gem
a cut gemstone
111
decompression melting
happens at mantle plumes, continental rifts, and divergent plate boundaries
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flux melting
in a subduction zone volatiles subducting help create a melt
113
felsic melts
high silica content, melt first/easily
114
mafic melts
high magnesium and iron oxide content, less viscouous
115
assimilation
when molten rock mixes with the rock on the sides of the chamber it melts
116
interlocking texture
slower cooling because it found the time to make crystals
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phaneritic
coarse grains tahat can be seen with the naked eye
118
aphanitic
fine frained (need a hand lens or microscope to see the grains)
119
fragmental
welded/cemented volcanic fragments
120
porphyritic
big and little chuncksmelt that cooled in tw ways- slow then fast
121
pyroclastic flow
avalanche of superheated volcanic ash and debris from silica rich eruptions
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sill
cooled laval chambers that are horizontal
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dike
a vertical sill
124
laccolith
maga that cannot spread laterally so it accumulates into a lil blister
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plutons
blob shaped intrusions that solidify into magma chambers
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batholith
group of plutons that covers a large area
127
basaltic lavas
runny (low viscosity
128
felsic lavas
high viscosity lavaa
129
andesite la
intermediately viscuous laval
130
conduit
lava tubes of basaltic lava
131
pahoehoe
basalt flows with glassy ropy texture
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a'a
basalt that solidifies with a jagged sharp texture
133
columnar jointing
when rocks cool and break a part in vertical polygonal columns
134
pillow basalts1
shes blobby
135
andesitic lava flows
its blocky and viscuous lava
136
rhyolitic lava flows
lava plugs up the lava hole and makes a dome
137
rhyolitic eruption
explosive because of how viscuous it is with all the volatiles in it
138
plinian explosion
eruption with a huge explosion of pyroclastic debris into the atmosphere, often so explosive they destroy a part of the stratovolcano that created them
139
basaltic eruption
yields dramatic lava fountains that spew tons of released gases, ejecting clot of molten magma that solidify into bombs, hair, and blocks
140
tephra
pyroclastic debris of any size
141
tuff
lithified ash
142
ignimbrite
tuff that is deposited while still hot
143
lahar
water rich debris flows carrying ash and large blocks
144
vesicles
gas bubbles in rocks
145
crater
the blip at the top of the volcano
146
caldera
huge ass crater after a giant fissuring eruption
147
shield volcanoes
broad and slightly dome shaped volcano
148
cinder cone
cone shaped piles of ejected lapilli sized fragments
149
stratovolcanoes/composite volcanoes
cone shaped volcanoes with steep slopes made of alternating layers of felsic lava, tephra, and debris
150
effusive eruption
when there is rivers of lava
151
explosive eruption
when high gas pressures are released catastrophically
152
strombolian
regular burps of magma
153
vulcanian
moderate sized explosive eruption
154
surtseyan eruption
a vent that erupts in shallow water
155
olympus mons
biggset volcano ever on mars
156
clastic rocks
rocks whose grains are held together by a cement
157
stone
rock used as a construction material
158
lithification
pieces of minerals coming together with cement or pressure to become rocks, filling in the space between grains
159
outcrops
bedrock exposed at the surface in situ
160
igneuous rocks
formed by solidification of maga
161
sedimentary rocks
formed by the cementing together of fragments of pre-existing rocks or precipitation of crystals out of water
162
metamorphic rocks
formed by transformation in the solid state of pre-existing rocks by a change in temp or pressure
163
equant
crystal grains that are vaguely circular
164
inequant
crystal grains that are long and skinny
165
intrusive igneous rocks
cools slowly because the magma crystallizes below the surface
166
extrustive igneous rocks
cool very quickly, so it has lots of tiny crystals
167
erosion
happens because of wind, ice, gravity and water
168
joints
cracks in rock due to removal of over burden or due to cooling
169
exfoliation
pressure release caused by unroofing of deep seated rocks by erosion
170
O soil horizon
layer of soil with organic materials
171
A soil horizon
layer of soil that groundwater percolates down and removes soluables
172
E soil horizon
transition between a and b horizons
173
B horizon
zone of accumulation of materaial leached down from A
174
C horizon
mixture of soil and bedrock
175
aridisol
soil found in the desert, is dry
176
alfisol
soil found in temperate climates
177
oxisol
soil found in tropical climates
178
hardpan
layer of soil in deserts that is difficult to drill through,
