Plate Tectonics
What are the four different types of plate boundaries?
Divergent, Convergent, Subduction, Transform
Define earthquake
Vibrations made by the movement of rock along a fault
Name the four major subdivisions of geologic time
Eons, eras, periods, and epochs
What is the name of the imaginary vertical line around which the Earth spins?
Earth’s axis
List the inner planets from the Sun
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
How would you describe the convection current cycle?
It is the transfer of heat inside the Earth that provides energy to move the plates. Convection is the heating, rising, cooling, sinking cycle that is happening within the Earth’s mantle.
Which seismic waves cause the most destruction when an earthquake is happening?
Surface seismic waves
Discuss how fossils contribute to the geologic time scale
The appearance, change in numbers, complete disappearance, and the diversity of fossils can help to subdivide the geologic time scale
How would you illustrate a New Moon?
Moon is between Earth and the Sun where the lighted half of the Moon is facing the Sun and the dark side faces the Earth.
Compare the composition of the inner planets versus the outer planets
Inner planets are small and rocky and the outer planets are huge and gaseous
Explain how volcanoes are formed.
When two plates collide or by a convergent boundary
How would you make a structure safer to withstand an earthquake?
Move heavy objects to lower levels, install reinforcements and shock absorbers
There was an animal species whose main food source is leaves on trees and some of the species have long necks and some have short necks. What would happen if the climate changed and became dry? Who would survive and why?
The long necks would survive because they can reach the higher leaves on the trees. This is due to natural selection.
How would you determine whether the Moon in the night sky is waxing or waning?
Waxing means that more of the illuminated half of the Moon is seen, light comes from the right and waning means that you see less of the moon’s illuminated half, light comes from the left
If you had to evacuate Earth, what other planet could most likely host humans and why?
Mars, the conditions are not as extreme compared to the other planets
Compare a divergent boundary to a transform boundary.
Divergent boundary is when plates are moving apart and a transform boundary is when plates are sliding passed each other.
If you were to build a cinder cone out of clay, what would the model look like?
A smaller dome like cone with steep sides
How could plate tectonics be related to extinction?
Changes in the Earth’s surface could cause habitats to change and organisms without the proper traits to fit that new environment could go extinct
If there is more gravity on Earth than the Moon, then why are there most likely more craters on the far side of the Moon than on the side facing the Earth?
Objects are more likely drawn towards the Earth because of the stronger gravity.
Why do Mar’s two moons look like asteroids?
Most likely captured asteroids because Mar’s orbit lies near the asteroid belt
Why doesn’t the Earth’s surface expand as new crust is being added?
This is due to subduction. A continental plate and an oceanic plate converge where the oceanic plate sinks under the continental plate.
Compare a shield volcano to a composite volcano.
Shield volcanoes are broad with gently sloping sides that are formed from a buildup of basaltic layers. Composite volcanoes are steep-sided mountains made up of alternating layers of lava and tephra.
Why do most paleontologists think that dinosaurs are warm-blooded?
Some dinosaurs have bones that have similar structures to present mammal bones.
If you were in space, do you think you would be able to observe the Moon’s phases?
If the Moon was between the person in space and the Sun, then phases would be seen. Depending on the positioning of the person, the Moon and the Sun would determine what phase could be seen.
What is an astronomical unit? In what ways is it useful?
It is a unit of distance that is equal to the mean distance between the Sun and the Earth. It is a way of measuring that does not require a person to use high numbers