Unit 2 Ms Roughley Flashcards
(27 cards)
When did each era exist?
Precambrian - 4600-570 million years
Paleozoic -570-245
Mesozoic - 245-66
Cenozoic - 66- present day
Name the 4 geological eras
Precambrian
Paleozoic
Mesozoic
Cenozoic
What was the Precambrian era the age of?
Single/multi celled organisms
What was Paleozoic the age of?
Plants and Amphibians
What was the Mesozoic the era of?
Dinosaurs
What was the Cenozoic the age of?
Mammals
Who developed the continental drift theory?
Alfred Wegener (1915)
What four pieces of evidence proves the continental drift theory?
Jigsaw fit between South America and Africa
Fossils of plants and flightless animal species on both continents
Appalachians have similar age and rock as the mountains in the northern British isles
Ice sheets covered very southern continents
Who developed the plate tectonics theory?
J. Tuzo Wilson (1968)
Explain the plate tectonics theory
The earths outer shell is made is made up of approximately 20 plates that moves over a weak layer of hot rock several hundred kilometres below the earths surface which flows like slow moving plastic
Explain converging plates
Converging plates gradually come together they either hit eachother directly on pushing land up and forming a mountain or one goes under the other and one does not have a continent it forms a ocean trench
Explain diverging plates
Diverging plates spread apart and magma comes to the surface as the new material is added it hardens, therefore the plates are harder
How do played cause earthquakes and volcanoes?
When plate tectonics move they shake causing earthquakes on the earths surface and when the played converge they push magma up from underneath resulting in the making of volcanoes
What is the scale that measures earthquakes
Ritcher scale
What are the two types of glaciers?
Alpine glacier and continental glaciers
How is each glacier formed?
When snow builds up in the winter and passes through the melting season the snow compresses into firm quantities and the lower lagers then into solid ice under the weight
How many landform regions are in Canada
7
What region do we live in?
Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence lowlands
What region is the largest?
Canadian Shield
What characteristics make each region famous?
Canadian Shield - saucer shape Canadian storehouse of metallic minerals
Interior plains - breadbasket deep enriched soils 3 levels of elevation
Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence lowlands - rolling landscapes with flat plains broken by glacial hills
Hudson Bay and arctic lowlands - flat terrain covered by swampy forest
Appalachians - stretches from the southern USA to northern Newfoundland oldest highland region in Canada
Innuition Mountains - mainly sedimentary rock harsh climates makes them barren and covered in snow
Western cordillera - located along Canada’s west coast contains the only remaining glaciers in Canada
What’s the youngest mountain range?
Innuitation mountain
What’s the oldest mountain range?
Appalachians
What are the three major rock types?
Metamorphic
Sedimentary
Igneous
What’s the percentage of the Precambrian era?
87.6%
