The Solar System
Meteorites
Volcanism & Plate Tectonics
Earth's Water & Atmosphere
Craters & The Moon
100

This is the age of our solar system.

~4.6 billion years ago

100

These are the three types of meteorites

Stony, Iron, & Stony-Iron

100

This is what drives plate tectonics

Convection in the Mantle

100

This term describes the breaking down and moving of rocks.

Erosion

100

These are the three types of impact craters

Simple (Bowl-shaped), Complex (Hill), and Multi-Ring

200

This is the term for the gradual piece-by-piece build up of a planetary body.

Accretion

200

Some stony meteorites are undifferentiated, meaning this

They have not undergone any process, like melting, that segregates elements because of their chemical properties

200

These are major contributors of the water vapor in Earth's atmosphere.

Volcanoes

200

These are the steps of the hydrologic cycle and what drives the cycle.

Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation, Transpiration, & Runoff. The Sun!

200

These are the two major regions of the surface of the moon & their characteristics.

Maria (Seas): the relatively low, smooth, dark areas and Highlands/Terrae (Land): the densely cratered, rugged highlands

300

These are the major differences in the inner and outer planets (overall name, size, and composition).

Inner terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are small and mostly made of silicate rocks & metals. The outer gaseous planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are large and consist of gaseous hydrogen, helium, and ice

300

Most meteorites are derived from these.

Asteroids.

300

These are the types of plate boundaries and activities associated with them

Divergent, Convergent (Subduction), and Transform. Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Mantle Plumes

300

This is why Earth's present atmosphere is different in composition than those of the other inner planets.

The present atmosphere contrasts sharply with those around other inner planets because it is poor in carbon dioxide, but rich in nitrogen and oxygen.

300

This is the composition of the Moon's Maria

Basaltic Lava

400

These are small icy bodies formed in the outer solar system. If their orbits become changed they may enter the inner solar system for a short time before they vaporize and break up

Comets

400

This is what meteorites are, therefore revealing information about the age and composition of solar system bodies.

Samples of a variety of bodies in the inner solar system. Many meteorites have been relatively unaltered since the earliest stages of the solar system, and they preserve the chemical and mineralogic characteristics of such ancient materials and of the processes that shaped them

400

This is how size of a planet impacts its heat.

Larger planets stay volcanically active for longer than small ones do, since they retain their internal heat.

400

This is where maximum sediment load occurs

In large rivers that drain a mountainous topography (fast moving) in a humid climate

400

These are factors that control the size of an impact crater.

Velocity, mass, density, gravity of impact planet

500

This is the reason some planets have atmospheres, while others do not.

Volcanic outgassing from a warm planet's interior allows the planet to gravitationally capture these gases into an atmosphere. Planets that cooled faster no longer have volcanic activity. Planet size, composition, and nature of internal and external heat sources impact this.

500

Over 95% of meteorites seen to have fallen onto Earth are these. 

Stony Meteorites

500

These are all of Earth's interior layers, with their state of matter and composition.

Iron-rich core (solid inner core, liquid outer core), a thick mantle of iron- and magnesium-rich silicates (with a ductile/elastic layer), and a rigid crust of silica-rich rocks

500

This is how the number of tributaries connects to climate.

Networks of tributaries are expressions of the fact that the main source of water in Earth's rivers is from rain and surface runoff. In wetter climates, there are more tributaries.

500

This is the giant impact hypothesis.

Earth collided with a Mars-sized protoplanet about 4.5 billion years ago and some of the ejected debris from the impact event re-accreted to form the Moon.