Rock Cycle
What are the three main types of rocks that make up the rock cycle?
Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic
What is a mineral?
A naturally occurring, inorganic substance with a homogeneous, definite crystal structure
What is the purpose of the ozone layer and where is it located?
The ozone layer protects the Earth from much of the sun's radiation, it is located in the stratosphere
Does rising temperature make the density of ocean water go up or down?
Down
Is coal a renewable or nonrenewable resource?
Nonrenewable
How do metamorphic rocks form?
Extreme heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth
What is the least reliable physical property for identifying minerals?
Color
What are the 4 major layers of the atmosphere?
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere
What force transfers the energy from wind to water and creates waves?
Friction
What is the major cause of global climate change in the last two centuries?
Enhanced greenhouse gas emissions
What processes contribute to the formation of sediments?
Weathering and erosion
In what 3 ways can minerals form?
-Cooling and solidification of molten rock
-Precipitation
-Re-crystallization
Two of the greenhouse gasses that are responsible for a large majority of glacial ice melt are...
Carbon dioxide and methane
Are surface currents that move toward the poles warm or cold?
Warm
Why are fossil fuels so abundantly used if they are so damaging to the environment?
Economics and politics, they are cost efficient and they have a large political lobby behind them
What is a foliated rock and what rock type is usually foliated?
A rock that has layers of crystals (looks like stripes), these are usually metamorphic
What is the difference between cleavage and fracture?
-Cleavage: a mineral breaks along smooth, even surfaces
-Fracture: a mineral breaks along uneven, jagged surfaces
Define the greenhouse effect.
The natural trapping of the sun's energy by the Earth's atmosphere in order to allow for life to thrive.
What is the name for the large circular ocean surface currents?
Gyres
What level of the atmosphere does most climate change occur in?
Stratosphere
What is the difference between extrusive and intrusive igneous rock?
Extrusive - formed outside a volcano by cooling lava
Intrusive - formed inside a magma chamber
When using the Moh's Hardness Scale, a mineral that is scratched by your fingernail has a hardness of less than 2.5, what is the hardness of a mineral that can't be scratched by your fingernail, a penny, or a wire nail, but it does scratch glass?
Above 5.5
What is the heat island effect?
Urban areas have higher temperatures than rural areas since there is more concrete/asphalt/buildings/etc and these all trap heat while in rural areas the plant life does not trap heat and therefore the temperature is lower
The name for the quick change in density with depth is what?
Pycnocline
How do petroleum and natural gas form?
From the remains of living things buried eons ago under the seabed