Building our Planet
Approximately how long ago did the Big Bang take place?
10-15 billion years ago
Solids that do not possess an orderly 3-D arrangement of atoms are called_____.
amorphous
The coarse grained equivalent of a basalt is a ____
gabbro
Aa rock formed from clay minerals
Shale
What type of metamorphism is caused by high temperature and high pressure imposed over a large volume of crust?
regional
Under intense pressure and high temperature, hydrogen atoms combine to form helium. This process is called____
nuclear fusion
The splitting of a mineral along planar surfaces
Cleavage
What type of magma forms at mid-ocean ridges?
basaltic
WIth time, sediment transported by a fluvial system ___________.
become rounded and smaller
Marble is a metamorphic rock that forms from a ___________ parent .
limestone
What are the two most abundant elements in nebula (gas clouds) in the universe?
hydrogen and helium
Diamond is an example of what type of bonding?
covalent
What type of silicate minerals on the discontinuous side of the reaction series crystallize at the highest temperatures?
olivine
The tendency for variations in current velocity to segregate sediments on the basis of particle size is called _____.
sorting
The parallel alignment of mica in a metamorphic rock is an example of ______.
foliation
What drives the Earth's internal heat engine?
radioactivity
Chemical substances that have exactly the same chemical formula. but different crystal structures are called ____
polymorphs
What is the approximate silica content of a granite?
70%
An example of a shoreline/transitional environment
Deltas
During metamorphism, changes in the bulk composition of a rock occur primarily as a result of __________?
reaction with hydrothermal fluids
What caused dust and condensing material to accrete into planetesimals?
gravitational attraction and collisions
The two most abundant elements in the Earth's crust are _
oxygen and silicon
Compared to felsic magmas, mafic magmas are relatively enriched in _____
Ca, Fe, Mg
Ripples occur:
on sand beneath the waves at beaches
on underwater sandbars in streams
on the surface of windswept dunes
Which mineral is responsible for the strong foliation in a schist?
mica