Inside Earth
Large pieces of Earth's lithosphere that move over the asthenosphere are known as what?
tectonic plates
What is the process used to find the exact age of a substance?
Absolute dating
The formation and recycling of rocks by geologic processes is known as what?
The Rock Cycle
The vibrations that earthquakes create are called what?
seismic waves
What are the two most abundant elements in Earth's crust?
Oxygen and silicon
Is oceanic crust or continental crust more dense? Explain how you know this.
Oceanic crust has a higher density (3.0 g/cm^3) than continental crust (2.7 g/cm^3). Evidence for this is that oceanic crust sinks to the bottom of the ocean while continental crust floats above water.
How is time divided on the geologic time scale?
Eons divided into eras, eras divided into periods
Rocks formed from cooled magma or lava are known as what types of rocks?
Igneous Rocks
Describe the difference between magma and lava.
Lava is molten rock above the surface of the Earth and magma is molten rock below Earth's surface.
What is the name of the supercontinent that was present during the Mesozoic Era?
Pangea
What is the force that helps drive tectonic plate movement?
Convection cells in the mantle
Approximately how old is the Earth?
4.6 billion years old
What two things are needed in order for a metamorphic rock to form?
Heat and pressure
What is a scale that seismologists use to measure earthquakes?
The Richter Scale
What is the name of the infamous fault that is located on the west coast of the United States?
San Andreas Fault
Name ALL of the layers of Earth starting at the inner-most layer.
Inner core, outer core, lower mantle, asthenosphere, lithosphere (which is made up of the upper mantle and the crust)
The process of putting events in the order in which they happened is know as what?
Relative dating
What are the two most abundant minerals found in Earth's crust?
Feldspar and quartz
Describe where we can find the epicenter and the focus of an earthquake.
The focus is the site of the rock break or slip and is located under the surface of the Earth. The epicenter is the point on Earth's surface directly above the focus.
On average, how far is it from the surface of the Earth to the core?
6,400 kilometers
Explain how we know that the outer core of the Earth is a liquid and the inner core of the Earth is a solid.
P-waves travel through both solids and liquids, but s-waves only travel through solid materials. We have an s-wave shadow that proves that there must be liquid in the core because we cannot detect s-waves everywhere.
Explain the Law of Superposition
Rock layers found at the bottom of a formation are the oldest, rock layers found at the top of a formation are the newest
What are the four required characteristics for a substance to be considered a mineral?
Solid, naturally occurring, inorganic/non-living, defined chemical composition
Describe the defining characteristics of shield volcanoes and composite volcanoes.
Shield Volcanoes: flatttened shape, low silica content in the magma, and has a short distance to the magma chamber
Composite Volcanoes: tall shape, high silica content in the magma, and has a long distance to the magma chamber
Will the surface of Earth always look like it does now? Explain your answer.
No, the surface of Earth will continually change. Surface processes like weathering, erosion, and man-made changes will alter what the Earth looks like. Movement of tectonic plates will change the location of continents over time. Other forces, like climate change, can impact sea levels, rainforests, etc.