Geo Flashcards
(28 cards)
What are the layers that make up the earth called
Crust, mantle, inner core and outer core
What is each layer made up of?
Crust= rocks, and minerals
Mantle= Melted rock
Outer core = liquid, iron and nickel
Inner core= Solid, iron, and nickel
Do any of them have a more technical name?
Crust is also known as a lithosphere
Where would you put the hydrosphere layer that is the oceans and lakes of the world?
Hydrosphere is on the surface of the lithosphere or crust
Considering that we cannot get into the centre of the Earth, how do we know that there is liquid rock under the crust
Volcanos can show us what is under the crust
How do we know that the inner core is solid
Earthquake never go directly through the earth from where they are so there must be something solid in the center of the earth blocking the waves
Where does the heat in the core come from
Radioactive decay from elements in the core
What would happen to the rest of the earth if the inner core cooled down and stopped giving off so much heat
There would no longer be any movement like earthquakes volcanoes and mountains built and over time the weathering and erosion would wear the surface flat
Name the 4 different types of plate boundaries
Converging collision, converging subduction, diverging, transform fault
For each one list the landforms or impacts that happen along this boundary fault
Collision creates mountains (any mountain-Himalayan is the most well known)
Subduction creates volcanoes (pacific ring of fire)
Diverging creates ridges and trenches (mid-Atlantic ridges or Iceland
Transform fault causes earthquakes (san Andreas fault-most well known
List what can cause an earthquake.
Plate movement, meteorite impact, sediment relocation or isostatic rebound
The earthquakes we sometimes feel in southern Ontario can be caused by 2 different things, not related to a fault line. What are they and how do they work?
Sediment relocation happens along the St. Lawrence River when large amounts of sediment are moved, and the plate is destabilized. Can cause a minimal earthquake.
Isostatic Rebound happens in areas where glaciers once were. The land is slowly rebounding or pulling up out of the mantle, sometimes jerking free causing an Earthquake
How does an earthquake create a tsunami?
The slipping creates a void in the ocean that waves fill (like a ripple in a pond) OR an onshore earthquake can trigger a landslide along the coastline that displaces water
What warning sign is there that a tsunami is coming and what should you do?
The water will drain away from the coastline - get to higher ground immediately.
Why was Alfred Wegener’s Theory of Continental Drift hard to believe?
He suggested that entire continents had moved but had no idea what caused the movement
What was his first clue that the continents may have been connected at an early point in time
Coastlines of South America and Africa look like a puzzle piece
What did he do to try to prove the theory? (give at least 2 different pieces of evidence, not including volcanoes, earthquakes and satellite markers)
puzzle piece fit, rock age and type, the fossil record, past climates and where fossil fuels are found today, striations from glaciers
What was finally found to be the force able to move the massive tectonic plates?
Convection currents from the heat deep in the inner core causing the mantle to move
What is the difference between weathering and erosion?
Weathering is the breakdown of material by water, wind, ice or chemicals
Erosion is the movement of the broken-down pieces (sediment) to a new location
What type of rocks would you find fossils in? Why can they not be found in the other 2 types of rocks?
Fossils are found in sedimentary rock. Igneous rock is too hot for the skeletal remains to survive and metamorphic rocks are formed from immense heat and pressure — that would also crush the fossils
What are the 5 components that make up soil? (MOMMA)
Minerals, Organic Material, Microorganisms, Moisture, Air
What is Clorpt and how does each affect the creation of soil?
Climate - hot and wet areas have more soil made as things break down faster
Organic material - more material adds to soil
Relief - flat or low-lying areas have better soil than mountain tops
Parent Material - sedimentary rocks break down easier to form the mineral component of soils
Time - the more time to form, the more soil is created
Name the 3 Highland regions for Canada. What makes each of them different from the other? (for example, how could you tell the 2 pointed mountain regions apart?)
Innuitian Mountains - icy peaked mountains - no trees
Western Cordillera - peaked mountains with vegetation
Appalachian Mountains - rounded mountains
Name the 3 Lowland regions for Canada. What major force was responsible for flattening these areas?
Interior Plains, Arctic and Hudson Bay lowlands, Great Lakes -St. Lawrence Lowlands = glaciers were responsible for making these areas flat
