Geo Unit 1

Question 1

What is the first step of the Scientific Method?

Answer 1

Form a hypothesis

Question 2

What is a Theory?

Answer 2

Hypothesis that has been repeatedly confirmed

Question 3

What is a Paradigm?

Answer 3

A comprehensive theory; pulls together seemingly unrelated things

Question 4

What is a Scientific Law?

Answer 4

A theory that survives rigorous testing over time

Question 5

Define Catastrophism

Answer 5

The idea that Earth evolved through a series of spectacular events (earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, etc.)

Question 6

Define Uniformitarianism

Answer 6

The idea that current geological processes are responsible for the rock record

Question 7

Are the rates of Uniformitarianism constant?

Answer 7

No

Question 8

Is Earth a sphere?

Answer 8

No, it is a prolate spheroid shape (slightly flattened sphere)

Question 9

What is the radius of the Earth?

Answer 9

+/- 4,000 miles

Question 10

What was the first thing to happen after the “Big Bang”?

Answer 10

Hydrogen and Helium stabilized

Question 11

What created more elements after H and He in the creation of the universe?

Answer 11

Fusion in older suns

Question 12

How did the sun form?

Answer 12

Formed from a nebula collapse

Question 13

When did Earth accrete to its present size?

Answer 13

4.6 Billion Years Ago

Question 14

Define Accretion

Answer 14

Smaller pieces being joined by gravity

Question 15

What was the homogenous body of primitive Earth made of?

Answer 15

Iron, Magnesium, Silicon, Oxygen, and gases

Question 16

Was Earth hot or cold at first?

Answer 16

Cold

Question 17

What was the “Big Thwack”?

Answer 17

An asteroid (Theia) collided with Earth, resulting in the formation of the moon.

Question 18

What was the iron catastrophe?

Answer 18

The planet differentiated, with the iron melting and sinking to form the core, and silicon and oxygen rising to form the crust (leftovers, Mg Si + O, formed the mantle)

Question 19

What is the outer layer of earth

Answer 19

The crust

Question 20

How thick is the crust

Answer 20

7 to 70 km thick

Question 21

What is the difference between continental and oceanic crust

Answer 21

The continental crust is thicker and buoyant, and the oceanic crust is thinner and more dense

Question 22

What are the characteristics of the mantle

Answer 22

It is hot and plastic, dense from pressure

Question 23

What are the two parts of the core made of

Answer 23

The outer core is liquid and the inner core is solid iron and nickel

Question 24

What is the lithosphere

Answer 24

The thin layer underneath the crust

Question 25

How far down do the tectonic plates reach?

Answer 25

The bottom of the lithosphere

Question 26

What is the Asthenosphere?

Answer 26

The top layer of the mantle (under the lithosphere)

Question 27

Geologists look at rock texture and mineralogy to...

Answer 27

determine history

Question 28

What is rock texture?

Answer 28

The arrangement, sizes, and shapes of mineral grains

Question 29

What are the three main classifications of rocks?

Answer 29

Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic

Question 30

What is Igneous rock born of?

Answer 30

Fire

Question 31

What are the two categories of Igneous rocks?

Answer 31

Intrusive and Extrusive

Question 32

What defines Intrusive Igneous rocks?

Answer 32

They are plutonic, and formed from magma

Question 33

What defines Extrusive Igneous rocks?

Answer 33

They are volcanic, and formed from lava

Question 34

What is the difference between fast cooling and slow cooling Igneous rocks?

Answer 34

Fast cooling has small grains and slow cooling has big grains

Question 35

What is the material that makes up Sedimentary rocks?

Answer 35

Older rocks that have broken down through weathering, erosion, and deposition

Question 36

What is the process that turns sediment into solid rock?

Answer 36

Lithification

Question 37

What are the three steps of Lithification?

Answer 37

Deposition, Compaction, and Cementation

Question 38

What are the three types of Sedimentary rocks?

Answer 38

Clastic, Biochemical, and Chemical

Question 39

What are Clastic Sedimentary rocks?

Answer 39

Gravel and Boulders

Question 40

What are Biochemical Sedimentary rocks?

Answer 40

Ocean Floor and Reefs

Question 41

What are Chemical Sedimentary rocks?

Answer 41

Chemicals leftover when water evaporates

Question 42

What defines Metamorphic rocks?

Answer 42

They are changed by heat and pressure without melting (solid state recrystallization)

Question 43

What are the two types of Metamorphism?

Answer 43

Regional (Heat) and Contact (pressure)

Question 44

The "all world" supercontinent

Answer 44

Pangaea

Question 45

Old evidence of Continental Drift?

Answer 45

Related rocks on different continents and Paleoclimates

Question 46

Modern evidence of Continental Drift?

Answer 46

Paleomagnetism (magnetic reversals recorded in rock) and direct measurement of plate movement

Question 47

How many big, rigid plates in the Lithosphere?

Answer 47

About a dozen

Question 48

How much do the plates move in a year?

Answer 48

1 - 10 cm a year

Question 49

Where does most geologic activity occur?

Answer 49

At and near plate boundaries

Question 50

What are the three types of plate boundaries?

Answer 50

Divergent Margins, Convergent Margins, and Transform Margins

Question 51

Define Divergent Margins

Answer 51

The plates are moving apart, with very active volcanism

Question 52

What are the two types of Divergent Margins?

Answer 52

Continental Rifts and Sea-Floor Spreading

Question 53

Define Convergent Margins

Answer 53

Plates running into each other

Question 54

What are the three types of Convergent Margins?

Answer 54

Continent to Continent (mountains, large earthquakes), Oceanic to Continent (oceanic crust subducted, volcano chain), and Oceanic to Oceanic (older crust subducted, volcanic island arcs)

Question 55

What maintains the size of Earth?

Answer 55

A balance between construction and destruction

Question 56

Define Transform Margins

Answer 56

The plates slide past each other, with major earthquakes but no volcanoes

Question 57

Define Ridge Push

Answer 57

Idea that heat forces the plates apart

Question 58

Slab Pull?

Answer 58

Strong Gravitational Forces

Question 59

Gravity Sliding?

Answer 59

Slight downhill

Question 60

Metallic Bonds?

Answer 60

Closely packed atoms with drifting electrons

Question 61

Van der Waals Bonds?

Answer 61

weak attraction

Question 62

What are the three characteristics of Minerals?

Answer 62

1. Naturally Occurring 2. Inorganic Solid 3. Ordered Atomic Structure

Question 63

What are rocks?

Answer 63

Combinations or aggregates of one or more minerals

Question 64

What are the most abundant minerals in the crust?

Answer 64

Oxygen and Silicon

Question 65

What are Silicate Minerals?

Answer 65

Minerals made with the Silica tetrahedron, make up 90+% of the crust

Question 66

What are the five types of Silicate structures?

Answer 66

Isolated Tetrahedra, Single Chain of Tetrahedra, Double Chain, Sheets, and 3D Framework

Question 67

What is made of a Double Chain Silicate?

Answer 67

Asbestos (i.e. Chrysotile(safe), Crocidolite and Amosite(bad) )

Question 68

How are the Tetrahedra held together in Silicate structures?

Answer 68

With cations

Question 69

What is the Piezoelectric Effect?

Answer 69

1. Pressure causes electrical polarity at surface of crystal | 2. Applying a charge causes crystal to vibrate regularly

Question 70

What are the Non-Silicate Minerals?

Answer 70

Carbonates, Sulfides + Sulfates, and Oxides

Question 71

Define Carbonates

Answer 71

Carbon and Oxygen, weak bonds and soft minerals

Question 72

Define Sulfides + Sulfates

Answer 72

Sulfur loses or gains electrons, bonds with wide variety of ions, especially Copper, Lead, and Zinc

Question 73

Define Oxides

Answer 73

Oxygen combines with metallic cations, very resistant and durable minerals

Question 74

What is the Mohs Hardness Scale

Answer 74

1. Talc 2. Gypsum 3. Calcite 4. Fluorite 5. Apatite 6. Orthoclase Feldspar 7. Quartz 8. Topaz 9. Corundum 10. Diamonds