Geosphere - Plate Tectonics
This is the thin, outermost solid layer of Earth where we live.
What is the crust?
Minerals must be naturally occurring, solid, inorganic, have a fixed chemical composition, and have this organized internal structure.
What is a crystal structure?
These energy sources form from ancient organic matter and include coal, oil, and natural gas.
What are fossil fuels?
This process allows water to move from the surface into the ground.
What is infiltration?
This zone of the ocean receives enough sunlight for photosynthesis.
What is the euphotic zone?
These boundaries occur where two plates move apart, often forming mid-ocean ridges.
What are divergent boundaries?
This mineral property describes how a mineral reflects light, such as metallic, glassy, or dull.
What is luster?
This energy source uses photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight directly into electricity.
What is solar energy?
This underground layer stores water in the pores and spaces of permeable rock or sediment.
What is an aquifer?
This type of pollution comes from many spread-out sources, such as fertilizer washing off farmland.
What is nonpoint-source pollution?
This type of boundary can create earthquakes because plates slide past each other horizontally.
What is a transform boundary?
This mineral property is easy to notice but is often unreliable because the same mineral can appear in different shades.
What is color?
This nonrenewable energy source produces radioactive waste but very little greenhouse gas during electricity generation.
What is nuclear energy?
This water property helps stabilize temperatures because water takes a lot of energy to heat up or cool down.
What is high specific heat?
Fertilizer runoff can cause algal blooms, which eventually increase decomposition and lower this important water-quality factor.
What is dissolved oxygen?
This process occurs when a denser oceanic plate sinks beneath another plate.
What is subduction?
This mineral property is tested by rubbing a mineral across an unglazed porcelain plate.
What is streak?
These two renewable energy sources can be unreliable because they depend on weather or time of day.
What are wind and solar energy?
This type of aquifer is trapped between less permeable layers and usually recharges more slowly.
What is a confined aquifer?
These persistent chemicals build up in organisms over time and become more concentrated at higher trophic levels.
What are POPs, or persistent organic pollutants?
At this type of boundary, plates collide and can form mountains, trenches, volcanoes, and earthquakes depending on the plates involved.
What is a convergent boundary?
A mineral that scratches glass but cannot scratch quartz would have a hardness between these two materials on Mohs scale.
What is between 5.5 and 7?
Fossil fuels remain widely used partly because they are energy-dense, already have infrastructure built around them, and can provide consistent power. This is one reason they are difficult to replace quickly.
Why are fossil fuels still a major energy source?
When many farmers pump from the same aquifer for personal benefit, the shared water supply can be depleted for everyone.
What is the tragedy of the commons?
This ocean process brings cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface and can increase marine productivity.
What is upwelling?