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Geosystems - Earth
Flashcards for my Geosystems course.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Endogenic (internal) vs. exogenic (external) systems. | Endogenic systems create landforms and exogenic systems wear them down. |
| What fuels the geologic cycle? | Insolation and the planet’s internal heat. |
| Describe the geologic cycle. | Three main cycles: hydrologic, rock, and tectonic. Hydrologic erodes, transports, deposits with ice, water, wind. Rock=metamorphic, igneous, sedimentary. Tectonic brings heat, energy, new material to surface, creating movement. |
| Define a mineral. | An element or combination of elements that forms an inorganic natural compound. |
| Define a rock. | An assemblage of minerals bound together. |
| Describe igneous rocks. | Rocks that solidify and crystallize from a molten state, or from magma. Plutons are intrusive and cool slowly in the crust. |
| Describe sedimentary rocks. | Created from other rocks or other organic material, when sediments are moved and redeposited, sometimes in layers. |
| What is lithification? | The process of cementation, compaction, and hardening of sediments into sedimentary rocks. |
| What are evaporites? | Chemical sediments formed when water evaporates and leaves behind a residue of salts. |
| Describe metamorphic rocks. | Any rock transformed by physical and/or chemical changes under pressure and temperature. Formed when rocks are compressed by tectonics, stressed along faults, sediments create enough pressure to smash bottom layer. |
| What is a foliated rock? | A metamorphic rock with a specific mineral alignment. Nonfoliated rock occurs when the parent rock is already well-mixed. |
| What is the history of the plate tectonics theory? | 1912, Alfred Wegener presented idea that continents migrate (continental drift). Pangaea 225 mil years ago. |
| What is sea-floor spreading? | Upwelling flows of magma create ridges along seafloor, which moves seafloor away. |
| What is subduction of crust? | Basaltic ocean crust is denser than continental crust – it dives below it. Descending subduction zone dragged down into the mantle, melted. |
| About how many plates are there? | 14 – half are major, half minor, in terms of area. |
| What creates sea-surface dips and bumps? | Ocean floor mountains have high gravitational field and attract water to themselves. |
| What are the three types of plate boundaries? | Divergent boundaries=moving away. Convergent=moving together. Transform=sliding by eachother. |
| What causes earthquakes? | When two plates are moving by each other and catch, creating tension, until they lurch by eachother suddenly. |
| What is elastic-rebound theory? | When two plates are caught in tension, until they suddenly move into a place of less stress, causing an earthquake. |
| What does a seismograph do? | It records vibrations in the Earth’s crust. |
| Define the epicenter and the focus. | The focus is the subsurface area along the fault plane where the motion of seismic waves is initiated. The epicenter is the surface point above the focus. |
| What are tectonic plates? | Parts of the lithosphere that move around over the asthenosphere because the lithosphere is stronger and lighter. Movement is driven by heat dissipation from the mantle. |
| Where does volcanic activity occur? | Subduction boundaries, along converging planes ocean-ocean or ocean-continent. Sea-floor spreading centers, rift zones in continents, hot spots. |
| • How do ocean basins form? | Seafloor spreading is the result of magma upwelling along the bottom of the ocean, which splits the crust and moves it away from the upwell. The magma cools and creates the mid-ocean ridge. |
| Where do oceanic trenches occur? | Since they’re the result of subducting ocean plates under continental plates, along continent boundaries. If they’re further out to see, often volcanic islands will form. |
| Why are the coastlines of South America and Africa roughly parallel? | Because at one point they fit together. |
| How long ago did Pangaea fit together? | 225 million years ago. |
| • Why do earthquakes and volcanoes usually occur in the same regions? | They are the results of tectonic activity, and occur along plate boundaries. |
| • How did the islands of Hawai’i form, and what is their geologic relationship to the Emperor Seamounts? | Hawaii is formed over a hot spot in the ocean. The Hawaiian islands are the youngest islands in the chain of Emperor Seamounts, which all are the result of the same hot spot. |
| What is a hot spot? | A narrow stream of hot mantle (“mantle plume”) moves up under a moving plate, which can cause islands or geothermal activity on a continent. |
| What are the three types of faults? | Normal or tension fault=Rocks pull apart, hanging wall shifts down, footwall block shifts up. Reverse or thrust fault=rocks push together, footwall shifts down and hanging wall shifts up. Strike-slip fault=Movement is horizontal, can form rifts. |
| • What kinds of faults you can expect at different plate boundaries? | Normal or tension=diverging, reverse=converging, strike-slip=transform. |
| Describe the San Andreas Fault. | Series of faults that are transform, strike-slip, and right-lateral (one side moving to the right relative to the other side. |
| What is orogenesis? | The creation of mountains. |
| What causes the southern California earthquakes? | The 1992 Landers, Big Bear, and 1994 Northridge, and 1999 Hector Mine earthquakes happened because they’re along the San Andreas Fault system. |
| • What areas of the world are susceptible to earthquake damage, and why? | Areas along transform, subduction, and divergent plates. |
| What is the chemical make-up of oil? | Mixture of different hydrocarbons – large molecules made up of hydrogen atoms attached to a backbone of carbon. |
| • How do oil and gas form? | Tiny plants & anims, like plankton (plankton blooms from upwells of nutrient-rich h2o – dinoflagellates=red), die & form org soup at bottom of sea. If enough O2, eaten by other animals. If not, soup accumulates and if sed.>5% org., forms black shale. |
| What is the “Cooking” process of hydrocarbon molecules to form oil and gas? | As black shale gets deeper, it heats. Changed first to kerogen, solid form of hydrocarbon. Around 90C, changed into liquid, which is oil. At 150C, changes to gas. |
| What is a source rock? | A rock that produces oil and gas through the cooking process of hydrocarbons. |
| Describe the Migration and trapping of oil and gas. | Hot oil & gas less dense than rock around it, migrate upwards like air bubbles in water. Gets trapped in reservoirs, like an impermeable dome (anticlime) or reverse fault. |
| How do we find oil and gas underground? | Seismic surveys locate likely reservoirs. Shock waves are fired ino the ground that bounce of layers of rock and reveal any domes. |
| How is the oil extracted? | Hole is drilled in top of trap. Another hole is drilled adjacent to well and steam is forced down to force oil up the well. |
| What are oil refining processes? | Transported, usually by pipes or tankers, to refinery. Hydrocarbons seperated in dif. ways to produce dif. products. (least=road tar, most=car fuel.) |
| What percentage of crude oil is refined into fuel? | 84%. |
| What is crude oil used to make? | Fuel, Cds and dVDs, plastic, fertilizers and pesticides, food additives, synthetic fibers, dyes, detergents. |
| What percentage of oil does the US use? | 24%. |
| In what year did Hubbert predict that oil production would peak? | 2000. |
| How many barrels/day do we consume worldwide? | About 85 mil (according to CIA factbooks). |
| What is the Relationship between oil price and approaches to oil extraction? | When prices for oil rise due to rise in demand, they have to increase production. Usually they can increase it at existing locations but the higher prices make it fiscally possible to try out unconventional methods of extraction, which are often env. unf |
| Why are mineral resources considered non_renewable? | They take billions of years to form, and we harvest them far too fast for them to regenerate at a sustainable rate. |
| Where does plastic come from? | Petroleum (oil). |
| Where do metals and minerals come from? | Deposits in the ground. |
| How are metals and minerals formed magmatically? | Silicate liquid, temp drops, ingreds combine to form minerals. As they grow, there is less liquid. |
| How are metals and minerals formed through hydrothermal (continental) processes? | Groundwater heated by magma, water with cooling or cooled igne. rox is rich in minerals or metals (gold, silver). |
| How are metals and minerals formed through Hydrothermal (oceanic) processes? | seawater is sucked down and refiltered thru diverging oceanic plates (lead, sulfur). |
| How are metals and minerals formed through Sedimentary processes? | resource itself (limestone, marble, slate). Erosion and deposition concentrate valuable minerals (gold), creating deposit. Sediment basins force water movement, which picks up minerals on clay surfaces and concentrates them (lead, zinc). |
| How are metals and minerals formed through surficial processes? | Weathering removes other elements, leaving deposits of valuable minerals (aluminum). Groundwater movement carries metals to a palce with dif. Conditions, when they stop being a dissolved load and turn into a bedload (uranium, copper). |
| What are some other ways through which metals and minerals are formed? | Marine organisms die, phosphate is created. Banded iron formation in ancient rocks from photosynthetic cyanobacteria in oceans combining with dissolved iron in the water, which made iron deposits in the mud. Manganese nodules are found on the ocean floor |
| Where does glass come from, naturally and manufactured? | Most kinds mostly silica. Natural=fulgurite (lightning), obsidian (volcanic activity), tektite (meteor). Manufactured=Sand, taken from different places according to use. |
| • How do economic mineral deposits form? | During the formation process, atoms have odd sizes, liquid becomes rich in unusual atoms -> last to form, form in veins. |
| How are metal and minerals processed to make them useful or desirable? | Extracted, ore seperated from gangue, smelted (extracting metal from its ore thru heat and melting), converted to product, disposal of waste. |
| How is glass processed to make it useful or desirable? | Sand is melted with sodium bicarbonate added to lower its melting point and lime added to help control the water content b/c the soda makes the glass water soluble. Homogenized, refined (no bubbles) |
| What are some Mining industry waste issues? | Generates largest quantities of toxic waste; low mineral/gangue ratio (lots of gangue waste), toxic chemicals used in smelting, lots of water used in extraction process, huge amts of overburden, tailings, and other waste with sulfides, which, once distur |
| Explain AMD. | Acid mine drainage is the outflow of acidic water due to mining processes, especially coal mining or mining of metals high in sulfides. Acid dissolves heavy metals. Groundwater and surface water contaminated with acid and heavy metals, soil and agricultu |
| What is the material that there is most of in waste before recycling? | Paper. |
| What category of waste has the largest amount? | Containers and packaging. |
| What percentage of waste is recycled in our area of Puget Sound? | 61-70%. |
| What are some physical solutions to mining issues? | Reduce mineral extraction, install physical barriers for waste movement, pump & treat contaminated wastes. |
| What are some chemical solutions to mining issues? | Inhibit movement of metals. sulfur is released when it comes into contact with oxygen – prevent that. Keep pH at a moderate level to immobilize aluminum. |
| What are some biological solutions to mining issues? | Microbials (Sulfate reducing bacteria in H20. Wetlands - filter suspended & colloidal material, take contaminants in plants, adsorb/exchange contaminants. Bacteria: neutralized & precipitated, destroyed/precipitated in anaerobic/aerobic zone |
| What are some Critical specific observations related to Puget Sound_area geology? | Earthquakes are shallow fault or deep (subduction), or at the subduction zone. and there’s breakage between Juan de Fuca and N.A. Topography= Toe Jam Hill, Restoration Point, Blakely and Eagle Harbors: R. Point is sandy, whereas the rest of the island is |
| What are some Important patterns in observations about Puget Sound area geology? | Unusual features all in the same region. |
| What are some interpretations of the observations about Puget Sound Geology? | Area of high seismic potential! |
| What are some implications of interpretations for Puget Sound_area geological hazards, including potential effects on specific places in our area? | Tsunami (larger risk with NS fault), liquefaction (Beacon Hill/Rainier Beach, Duwamish), landslides (assoc. with liqu), Duw. delta collapse into Elliott Bay. |
| Describe the geological setting of the West Coast and Pacific Northwest. | When Pangaea broke up about 225 million years ago, the Farallon plate began subducting underneath the N.A. plate. The Pacific plate, moving NW, pushes S end of Juan de Fuca so it turns into the NA plate at a clockwise movement, which affects fault lines |
| Define soil. | A dynamic natural material composed of fine particles in which plants grow, and contains organic and mineral material. |
| What is a pedon? | Basic sampling unit used in soil surveys. A soil profile, stretching from the surface to the lowest point of vegetation roots, where regolith or bedrock can be found. It is a hexagonal column from 1 to 12 meters squared in surface areas. |
| What is a soil horizon? | A layer in the pedon, characteristically visually different from the horizons above and below it. From top to bottom, horizons are O, A, E, B, C, R |
| Explain the usual characteristics of the horizons. | O=20-30% more more organic, humus, lots of plant matter, dark, imp. B/c of water absorbtion & nutrients. A=Humus & clay, imp b/c provide necessary nutrients for plants, dark. E=coarse sand, silt, resistent materials. Clays & oxides of aluminum carried do |
| What is eluviation? | The process of water rinsing fine particles and minerals from upper horizons in a pedon. This gives horizon E its name. |
| What is illuviation? | Deposition of fine particles and minerals from upper horizons. |
| What is the solum? | The A, E, and B horizons, combined through processes of eluviation and illuviation. |
| What are the 6 observable soil properties? | Color (org, mineral content), texture (size: sand, clay, loam), structure (arrangement: shape soil breaks away from itself), porosity (how much water lets thru), consistence (how wet, how sticks to fingers, how crumbly), moisture (field capacity, wilting |
| What can improve soil porosity? | Human & animal activity, plants roots. |
| How do you calculate a soil-water budget? | By calculating total precipitation input and total water output. |
| What is the wilting point of soil? | The point at which the only moisture left in soil is unextractable, bound to soil particles, and not accessible to plants. |
| What is the soil moisture called that is available to plants? | Capillary water. |
| What is field capacity? | The available water remaining after water has drained from large pore spaces. Fluctuates by area, can be determined by soil surveys. |
| What is gravitational water? | Surplus water after soil saturation by snowmelt or rain, is pulled downward to join groundwater. |
| What is geothermal energy? | Energy produced thru naturally-occurring energy in the earth. |
| Describe a flash steam plant. | Most common. Hot water pumped to surface into pressurized tank, steam occurs, moves through turbine. Is returned to source afterwards. |
| Describe a dry steam plant. | Production well brings up hot water, steam goes through turbine, returned to earth. |
| Describe a geothermal binary cycle. | A secondary fluid with a lower boiling point is heated by hot water from earth, vapor is moved through turbine. |
| Describe how we get power from nuclear sources. | Uranium 235 is mined, turned into uranium oxide, enriched, moved into fuel rods, moved into reactor, heats water, steam is moved thru turbines. |
| Describe how we get energy from biomass sources. | Wood, rubbish, alcohol fuels, crops, landfill gas, turned into methane and burned. |
| What is the availability and productivity of geothermal energy? | We can get heat from the earth nearly anywhere. Some say it’s not renewable b/c it takes a few hundred years for the heat to come back after we’ve used it all. Very productive – cheaper than coal. They’re not terribly efficient. Drilling costs are high. |
| What are the three types of mineral extraction? | Deep mining, surface mining (dig pit, take out ore, separate ore from gangue using acid, later lake forms), injection mining (uranium). |
| What is the availability and productivity of nuclear energy? | Available, clean, 1 ton of uranium 235 creates as much energy as 20,000 tons of coal. |
| What is nuclear fission? | When the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts. |
| What is the difference between first, second, and third generation biofuel? | 1st gen is stuff like biodiesel, bioalcohols, vegetable oils. 2nd gen is from non-food crops. 3rd is algal fuel. |
| What kind of geologic activity is associated with convergent, transform, and subduction boundaries? | Convergent=Shallow, light earthquakes (falling downhill or melting), transform=shallow, big earthquakes (no molten lubricant), subduction=progressively deeper quakes, lots of volcanic activity |
| In 2007, what was the average pounds per person per day of garbage disposed of? | 4.5 pounds. |
| In 2007, what were the trends in recycling? | Most people recycled auto batteries, about half recycled paper, yard trimmings, steel cans, aluminum soda and beer cans, and not too many people recycled tires, white transluscent bottles, glass, and PET containers. |
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