Is it Warm in Here?
These gases help warm the planet.
Greenhouse gases
Alfred Wegener proposed the existence of this supercontinent.
Pangaea
This term refers to the preserved remains of ancient life found in rocks.
Fossils
Most of Earth’s water is stored here.
Ocean
This is the term for the geomorphic process that transports sediment via wind.
Aeolian
This imaginary line running around the Earth at 0° latitude receives the most direct sunlight year-round.
Equator
This type of rock forms from the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
Igneous
This type of dating allows scientists to determine the numerical age of a rock or other feature.
Absolute dating
This term refers to water stored beneath Earth’s surface in soil and rock layers.
Groundwater
Horns, eskers, and tarns are all examples of landforms formed by this geomorphic agent.
Glaciers
This type of pressure zone causes air to warm and dry as it sinks.
High-pressure zone
This type of boundary exists where two tectonic plates are moving apart.
Divergent
This field studies past climates using evidence such as ice cores, tree rings, and sediment records.
Paleoclimatology
This biome, the wettest on Earth, is characterized by high precipitation and humidity.
Tropical rainforest
This specific type of weathering occurs when rocks break apart in layers due to temperature changes from day to night.
Exfoliation
In this month, the Northern Hemisphere receives its maximum solar radiation.
June
This is the coldest and thinnest part of Earth’s structure.
Lithosphere (Crust)
The Earth is approximately this old.
4.54 billion years old
Driven by sunlight, this process converts carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen in plants.
Photosynthesis
This mass wasting term refers to the slow, downhill movement of material.
Creep
Earth’s energy balance depends on this reflectivity factor, which determines how much solar radiation is bounced back into space.
Albedo
The word clastic could be used to describe this type of rock.
Sedimentary
This soil order is reserved for soils that are very young in age.
Entisols
This global ocean circulation pattern, driven by temperature and salinity, helps regulate Earth’s climate.
Thermohaline circulation
The concept describing how natural systems maintain balance despite disturbances is known as this.
Dynamic Equilibrium