Earth's Spheres
What is Earth's system?
All of the matter, energy, and processes within Earth's boundary.
What is Weathering?
The breakdown of rock by physical and chemical processes.
What are Sediments?
Tiny grain of broken down rock (usually after weathering).
What is glacier?
A large mass of moving ice.
What are the classes of rocks?
Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic rock.
How many Spheres are there? Name them
There are 5 Main Parts.
Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Cryosphere, Atmosphere, and Biosphere.
What causes Chemical Weathering?
Reactions with Oxygen, Acid precipitation, Acid in groundwater, Acid in living things.
What is Erosion?
The process by which sediments and other materials are moved from one place to another.
What is Abrasion?
The griding and wearing down of rock surfaces by other rock or by sand particles.
What happens when magma reaches Earth's surface?
Lava will be formed.
How do Earth Spheres interact?
They interact as matter and energy and cycle between the spheres.
What causes Physical Weathering?
Temperature change, Pressure change, Animal action, Wind, Water, gravity, and plant growth.
What is Deposition?
The process by which eroded material is dropped/ stopped.
What is deflation?
The removal of fine sediment by wind.
How do Tectonic plate motions affect the rock cycle?
Tectonic plates can move rocks around in different ways.
Explain all the Spheres.
Geosphere- Rocks and soil (solid ground)
Hydrosphere- Liquid form of Water
Cryosphere- Ice
Atmosphere- invisible gases
Biosphere- Living things
What is Exfoliation?
The process by which the outer layers of rock slowly peel away due to pressure changes.
What is Discharge?
The amount of water that a stream carries in a given amount of time.
What is a Glacier drift?
The general term for all of the materials carried and deposited by a glacier.
What is the rock cycle?
The series of process in which rock changes from one type to another. For example, they can change rocks by moving rocks up and down, or by pulling apart Earth's surface.
What is the energy budget and what can change it?
In any system, input energy must equal output energy in order for the system to stay balanced. The movement of energy through Earth's Spheres forms an energy budget and melting polar ice and greenhouse gases affect it.
What is Abrasion? What can cause it?
The breaking down and wearing away of rock material by the mechanical action of other rocks. Water, wind, gravity, and ice can cause Abrasion.
What landforms can streams create?
Canyons, Valleys, Floodplains, Deltas, and Alluvial fans.
What are rockfalls, landslides, and mudflows?
-Rockfalls are when loose rocks fall down a steep slope.
-Landslides are the sudden and rapid movement of a large amount of material downslope.
-Mudflows are the rapid movement of a large mass of mud.
Name one way a rock can change to another rock.
Example:
Igneous rock can change to Metamorphic rock by a change in heat and pressure
*there are more answers*