Rocks & Minerals
This mineral ranks 1 on the Mohs Hardness Scale. It can be scratched by almost anything, including a fingernail.
Talc
This ancient supercontinent, proposed by Alfred Wegener, once consisted of all major landmasses joined together
Pangaea
This term is defined as the length of time needed for half of the atoms of a parent radioactive isotope to decay into a daughter product
Half life
Name of the major plate boundary where most earthquakes occur - circles the Pacific Ocean
Ring of Fire
Define greenhouse gases
An atmospheric gas that traps heat radiating from the surface of Earth
Highest grade of foliated metamorphic rock - consists of visible bands of alternating felsic and mafic minerals produced by mineral segregation during intense metamorphism
Gneiss
A curved chain of landmasses formed above subducting slabs due to dehydration of the descending plate, which lowers the melting point of the overlying mantle wedge
Volcanic arc
Scientists use the ratio of these two types of isotopes (one stable, one unstable) within a sample to calculate its age
Parent and daughter isotopes
What is the difference between stress and strain?
Stress: Force applied to an object (typically dealing with forces within the Earth)
Strain: the RESULT of stress (deformation)
This greenhouse gas has a global warming potential about 25 times higher than CO2 over a 100-year period; largely produced from agriculture and fossil fuel extraction
Methane (CH4)
List the 5 properties of a mineral
1. Inorganic
2. Solid
3. Naturally Occuring
4. Definite Crystalline Structure
5. Definite Chemical Composition
In an oceanic-continental subduction zone, which plate will sink? What is squeezed out of the sinking plate that is responsible partial melting and therefore volanism?
Oceanic plate will subduct; water is squeezed out of pore spaces causing partial melting, volcanism
This period of the Paleozoic Eon is known for a rapid diversification of life, where most major animal groups first appear in the fossil record
The Cambrian Period
This phenomenon, which causes water saturated sediments to behave like a liquid during strong shaking, contributed to major damage during the 1964 Alaska earthquake
Soil liquefaction
Name two major proxy isotopes used in climate research
Oxygen & Carbon
Name the three different rock types. Give TWO examples of each.
Igneous: Obsidian, Granite, Rhyolite, Basalt, Gabbro, Andesite, Diorite
Sedimentary: Limestone, Sandstone, Shale, Coquina, Coals
Metamorphic: Slate, Phyllite, Schist, Gneiss
Name the evidences that Alfred Wegener described for the theory of continental drift.
1. "Jigsaw Puzzle" fit
2. Fossils/mountains (similar across oceans)
3. Paleoclimatology (ferns at poles, glacial striations in temperate zones)
4. Activity at boundary zones (volcanoes & earthquakes)
Later: Paleomagnetism!
Which Geologic Period is the "coal bearing" period? How did it get this name?
Carboniferous Period; High oxygen levels & plant matter prevalent; dying plants fossilize into coal beds.
P (primary) waves: Longitudinal; fastest; arrive first; can pass through solids, liquids, gases
S (secondary waves): Shearing/Transverse; slower than P waves; arrive second; can only pass through solids
L (surface waves): Transverse waves perpendicular to S waves; slowest waves; arrive last; most destructive waves due to powerful lateral motion
Name three main types of fossil fuels. What is their state of matter, and where do they come from?
Coal (solid): plant materials
Oil (liquid): marine organisms
Gas (vapor): marine organisms
There are many different characteristics of minerals that we use to identify them. Name at least SIX of them.
1. Luster
2. Hardness
3. Cleavage
4. Fracture
5. Streak
6. Specific Gravity
7. Color
8. Crystal Form
Also: Magnetism, Fluorescence, Translucency
Name the PHYSICAL layers of the Earth.
Crust (Lithosphere)
Asthenosphere
Mesosphere
Outer Core
Inner Core
Alpha (lowest)
Beta
Gamma (highest)
What are the three types of strain? Give one example of each.
1. Brittle: (e.g., wooden meter stick) Crustal breaking (faulting & fracturing)
2. Ductile: (e.g., taffy) Crustal folding (bending - anticlines & synclines)
3. Elastic: (e.g., rubber band) Reversible after stress is released (uplift of a land surface after fault movement or unloading of water such as formation or melting of glaciers)
Name the negative effects of ocean warming & acidification
Weakening of coral reef skeletons and calcium carbonate shells built by marine organisms (plankton & molluscs) - disruption and potential destruction of marine food webs