Geology

• Earth systems


  Interacting systems that make up the Earth
• Hydrosphere


  Part of the Earth containing water
• Largest part of Earth's fresh water is not located in the hydrosphere
• Salt water is the largest part of Earth's water
• Approximately 1% of Earth's water is available for human use
• Lithosphere


  Part of the Earth layers that make up the solid outer shell
• Plate boundaries


  • Convergent
  • Divergent
  • Transform
• Pangaea


  Supercontinent that existed in the past
• Wegener's theory of continental drift was rejected
• Studying the ages of rocks on either side of the Mid Oceanic Ridge
• Landforms associated with plate collision


  • Mountains
  • Island Arcs
  • Trench
  • Subduction zone
• Ring of Fire


  Region of high volcanic and seismic activity around the Pacific Ocean
• The Himalayas Mountain is associated with a convergent plate boundary
• Mineral


  Naturally occurring inorganic solid with a defined chemical composition and crystal structure
• Characteristics of minerals


  • Cleavage
  • Luster
  • Hardness
  • Specific gravity
• Some minerals react with acid
• Types of rocks


  • Igneous
  • Sedimentary
  • Metamorphic
• Formation of igneous rocks

  Cooling of molten magma
• Silicate minerals


  Minerals with a main composition of silicon and oxygen
• Rock cycle


  Transformation of rocks between igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic states
• Types of igneous rocks


  • Extrusive
  • Intrusive
• Lava


  Molten rock that reaches the Earth's surface
• Magma


  Molten rock beneath the Earth's surface
• Extrusive igneous rocks


  Have smaller grain sizes
• Intrusive igneous rocks


  Have larger grain sizes
• Sediment smaller than silt is clay
• Fossils are found in shales because they are fine-grained sedimentary rocks that can preserve delicate fossils
• Evaporites


  Sedimentary rocks formed by the evaporation of water, such as halite and gypsum
• Clastic sedimentary rock


  Sedimentary rock composed of fragments of pre-existing rocks
• Breccia


  Clastic sedimentary rock with angular fragments
• Conglomerate


  Clastic sedimentary rock with rounded fragments
• Lithification


  The process of compaction and cementation that turns sediment into sedimentary rock
• Higher-grade metamorphic rocks


  Have undergone more exposure to heat and pressure
• Parent and daughter relationship in metamorphic rocks


  Limestone is the parent to marble
• Regional metamorphism is generally caused by tectonic activity
• Types of metamorphic rocks


  • Foliated
  • Non-foliated
• Contact metamorphism


  Metamorphism caused by the heat of an igneous intrusion
• Fault types


  • Normal
  • Reverse
• Folding


  Deformation of rock layers into folds
• Anticline


  A fold where the oldest rocks are in the center