EARTH SCIENCE

• I. Earth Science


  • Layers of the Earth
  • Rocks and Minerals
  • Land Formations and Water Formations
  • Stratigraphy
  • Fossils
  • Plate Tectonics, Volcanoes, Earthquakes
  • Atmosphere, Weather, Climate
• I. LAYERS OF THE EARTH

  • Interior of the Earth
  • Discontinuities in the layers of the earth
  • Layers of the Earth: Position, Density, and Composition
• Crust


  Outermost layer; thinnest under the ocean, thickest under continents; crust and top of mantle called the lithosphere
• Mantle


  Middle layer, thickest layer; top portion called the asthenosphere
• Core


  Inner layer, consists of two parts - outer core and inner core
• II. ROCKS AND MINERALS

  • Rocks
  • Rock Cycle
  • Minerals
• Igneous Rocks


  Formed by cooling of magma (intrusive/plutonic rocks) or lava (extrusive/volcanic rocks)
• Sedimentary Rocks


  Formed by breaking down of existing rocks into sediments (erosion, weathering, dissolution) followed by formation of a new rock out of the sediments (precipitation and lithification)
• Metamorphic Rocks


  Formed when existing when minerals in an existing rock are changed by heat of pressure
• Rock Cycle


  Web of processes that outlines how each of the three major rock types—igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary—form and break down based on the different applications of heat and pressure over time
• Characteristics of Minerals


  • Naturally occurring
  • Inorganic.
  • S
  • Definite chemical structure and Ordered internal structure and solidefinite chemical structure and Ordered internal structure and solid
• Properties of Minerals


  • Luster
  • Hardness
  • Streak
  • Cleavage
  • Specific Gravity (SG)
  • Color
• Classification of Minerals


  • Silicates
  • Non-silicates (carbonates, halides, oxides, sulfides)
  • Native elements
• III. LAND AND WATER FORMATIONS

  • Landforms
  • Waterforms / Waterway
• Major Types of Landforms

  • Mountains
  • Hills
  • Plateaus
  • Plains
  • Buttes
  • Canyons
  • Valleys
  • Basins
• Major Types of Waterforms

  • Ocean
  • Sea
  • Strait
  • Gulf
  • Bay
  • Lake
  • River
  • Tributary
  • Spring
  • Lagoon
  • Waterfall
• IV. STRATIGRAPHY


  • Catastrophism
  • Uniformitarianism
  • Steno's Laws of Stratigraphy
  • Faunal Succession
• Catastrophism


  Major catastrophes shaped Earth's natural landscapes
• Uniformitarianism


  Continuous natural processes seen today shaped Earth's landscapes
• Steno's Laws of Stratigraphy

  • Law of Superposition
  • Law of Lateral Continuity
  • Law of Original Horizontality
  • Law of Cross-Cutting Relations
• Faunal Succession was proposed by William Smith
• Younger fossils are found above older fossils
• V. FOSSILS


  • Geologic Time
  • Absolute Dating
  • Relative Dating
• 530 MYA: Cambrian explosion (sudden appearance of new animals in the fossil record)
• 11.8 KYA - Present: Holocene; current epoch
• Absolute Dating


  Gives numerical age (e.g. 200 ± 3 million years)
• Relative Dating


  Arranges objects/organisms/events in time (which one is older/younger)
• VI. PLATE TECTONICS, VOLCANOES, & EARTHQUAKES

  • Theory of Plate Tectonics
  • Plate Boundaries
  • Volcanoes

  
• Theory of Plate Tectonics


  Earth's crust and rigid upper mantle are broken into enormous slabs called tectonic plates that interact at their boundaries
• Plate Boundaries

  • Divergent boundary
  • Convergent boundary (oceanic–oceanic, oceanic–continental, continental–continental)
  • Transform boundary
• Volcanoes


  Fueled by magma
• Plate tectonics


  Earth's crust and rigid upper mantle are broken into enormous slabs called tectonic plates that interact at their boundaries
• Convection currents


  Cause plates to move
• Divergent boundary


  • Plates move apart

  
• Convergent boundary


  • Plates come together
  • Oceanic-oceanic
  • Oceanic-continental
  • Continental-continental

  
• Transform boundary


  • Plates slide horizontally past each other

  
• Magma


  A slushy mixture of molten rock, mineral crystals, and gases
• Lava


  Magma that reaches the Earth's surface
• Most of Earth's active volcanoes are located along plate boundaries

  
• Shield volcanoes


  • Largest of the three types
  • Long, gentle slopes
  • Composed of layers of solidified basaltic lava
  • Quiet eruptions