Science

• Difference between uniformitarianism and catastrophism:

  • Uniformitarianism: belief that geological processes that happened in the past can be explained by current processes
  • Catastrophism: belief that the Earth's features were formed by sudden, short-lived, and violent events
• Difference between parent material and daughter material in radiometric decay:

  • Parent material: original unstable isotope that decays into a stable daughter isotope
  • Daughter material: stable isotope formed from the decay of the parent material
• Graph usage:

  • Identify half-lives and amount of atoms of parent and daughter isotopes
• Characteristics of crater types:

  a. Preserved: Defined rim, bowl shaped, ejecta blanket, possible central peak

  b. Destroyed: Worn away, broken rims, filled with sediment, old-aged

  c. Modified: Partially eroded, possibly smooth floor, middle-aged
• 5 physical layers of the Earth:

  • Crust: thin, solid outermost layer
  • Mantle: hot, semi-solid layer beneath the crust
  • Outer core: liquid layer of molten iron and nickel
  • Inner core: solid, dense center of the Earth
  • Lithosphere: rigid outer layer of the Earth
• Composition definition:

  • Refers to the makeup or ingredients of something
• Solid layers of the Earth:

  • Crust and inner core

  Liquid layers of the Earth:

  • Outer core and mantle
• Factors determining sinking or floating in water:

  • Density of the object compared to the density of water
• Layer of the Earth consisting of crust and upper mantle:

  • Lithosphere
• Heat source inside the Earth:

  • Radioactive decay and residual heat from planetary accretion
• Convection currents in the mantle:

  • Circular movements of rock in the mantle caused by heat from the core, leading to plate tectonics
• Types of plate boundaries:

  a. Convergent

  b. Divergent

  c. Transform
• Volcano types and explosions:

  a. Shield volcano: effusive eruption, made of oceanic crust

  b. Cinder cone volcano: explosive eruption, made of oceanic or continental crust

  c. Stratovolcano: explosive eruption, made of continental crust
• Seismic waves through solid and liquid:

  • P-waves
• Seismic waves through solids only:

  • S-waves
• Most damaging seismic waves:

  • Surface waves
• Main types of seismic waves:

  • P-waves and S-waves
• Main types of rock:

  • Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic
• Processes forming metamorphic rock:

  • Heat and pressure acting on existing rock
• Processes forming sedimentary rock:

  • Deposition, compaction, and cementation of sediments
• Processes forming igneous rock:

  • Cooling and solidification of magma or lava
• Four eras in Earth's history:

  • Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
• Longest era:

  • Precambrian
• Radiometric dating vs. relative dating:

  • Radiometric dating: uses decay of radioactive isotopes to determine age
  • Relative dating: determines age based on the position of rock layers
• 5 natural hazards/disasters:

  • Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods
• Mitigation of natural hazards:

  • Building earthquake-resistant structures
• Characteristics of crust

  Thin, solid outermost layer
• Shield volcano

  Effusive eruption, oceanic crust
• Cinder cone volcano

  Explosive eruption, and oceanic or continental crust
• Stratovolcano

  Explosive eruption, continental crust