Continental Drift
Who, after noticing continents looked like puzzle pieces, published his Theory of Continental Drift?
Alfred Wegener
What is the name given to the convergent plate boundaries that circle the Pacific Ocean that see a lot of volcanic activity?
Ring of Fire
What are the 2 main types of glacier?
Continental and Mountain (Alpine)
The Law of Superposition states that the oldest rocks and fossils are found on the ________ layer.
Bottom
Aside from insects, what other type of organism has been found remarkably well-preserved in amber?
What did Wegener call his supercontinent?
Pangaea
These currents in Earth's mantle are responsible for crustal movement.
Convection currents
What type of glacier is responsible for many of the features we see in the Rocky Mountains?
If a fault line has broken through several rock layers, is that fault line older or younger than the surrounding strata?
Younger. The layers have to have been there in order for the fault to have something to break.
Are index fossils used to find the absolute or relative age of rock strata?
Relative age
Which fossil did Wegener notice appeared on the most continents?
Glossopteris
Name and describe the movement of the 3 types of plate boundaries.
1. Divergent (moving away from each other)
2. Convergent (moving towards/under each other at a subduction zone)
3. Transform (moving side to side along each other)
What kind of valley indicates that a glacier helped form it?
Bonus 100 pts: What is the other kind of valley and what formed it?
U-shaped valley
Bonus: V-shaped (or canyon) formed by river erosion
What are the 3 types of rock and how are they formed?
Sedimentary - sediments accumulate and compact together over time, deposited in layers, may contain fossils, sandstone, limestone, etc.
Metamorphic - formed by intense heat and pressure deep below Earth's surface, layered, ribbon-like appearance, may form crystals, marble, slate, etc.
Igneous - formed by hardening lava or magma, found near volcanoes or fissures, can form crystals, obsidian, basalt, granite, etc.
What are the 3 requirements that make a fossil a good index fossil?
Easily recognizable, wide geographic distribution, lived for a relatively short period of time
Why did it take decades for the scientific community to accept the Theory of Plate Tectonics?
Wegener couldn't explain how the plates moved, there wasn't yet the technology to observe and describe what was happening, etc.
Name two examples of divergent plate boundaries that exist on Earth.
Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Great Rift Valley in Africa
Describe (write or draw) the following 4 glacial features one might find in a landscape:
Terminal moraine
Erratic
Cirque
Striations
Terminal moraine - Advancing glacier pushes sediment ahead of it like a bulldozer, leaves piled ridge of debris at its furthest extent when it starts receding
Erratic - giant boulder carried by glacier and dropped far from starting point, generally doesn't match the geology of the area it ended up in
Cirque - steep headwall formed by a mountain glacier plucking sediment from a more gentle slope
Striations - gouges or scratches in rock as a glacier moves over surface like sandpaper
What is the difference between Relative and Absolute Age?
Relative Age - dating of a rock layer/fossil relative to the strata around it, can be done in the field, index fossils can help, not an exact age but an approximation
Absolute Age - dating a rock from its formation, uses radiometric dating to determine age based on radiometric decay of uranium or carbon, must be done in a lab
These are some of the oldest fossils on earth, preserving the remains of the blue-green algae that allowed for oxygenation of the atmosphere.
Stromatolites
Which North American mountain range actually extends into North Africa, the United Kingdom, and Norway?
Appalachian Mountains
What type of plate boundary was responsible for the uplift of the Rocky Mountains 55-80 million years ago?
Convergent boundary (subduction zone)
When did the most recent Ice Age end?
Trick question: we're still technically in the most recent ice age, in a period of interglaciation where ice sheets are receding.
How does the speed at which an igneous rock cools affect the size of the crystals formed within the rock?
Slow cooling - happens below earth's surface, allows large crystals to form, such as in granite
Fast cooling - happens above earth's surface, crystals don't have as much time to form, smaller crystals like in obsidian or pumice
Organisms become fossilized in many ways. Name 5 ways and describe the processes.
Petrification
Replacement/Permineralization - organic material replaced with minerals
Molds - Organic material leaves an imprint
Casts - Organism cavity gets filled in with minerals
Carbonization - Carbon film left on sediment
Resin/Amber - Organism gets stuck in tree resin which hardens to amber over time
Tar/Ice - Organism gets preserved in tar pit/glacier, organic material survives
Trace Fossils - footprints, burrows, coprolites, indirect fossils