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Final Exam reviewee
Chapter 1-17
Question | Answer |
---|---|
What are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars composed of? | Solid materials such as rock, nickel, and iron |
What are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune composed of? | Gases such as methane, hydrogen and ammonia |
How were the most complex atoms formed when there were only hydrogen and helium after the Big Bang? | They were formed when stars become supernovas |
What is the driving force that caused the formation of stars, planets, and galaxies? | Gravitational attraction between objects |
What is causing the universe to continue to expand? | Momentum from the Big Bang |
We compare the earth and the moon. The moon has many more craters than the earth. Does this mean the moon has been hit more frequently? Why or why not? | The earth has been hit just as frequently as the moon. We just can not see the craters becase they have been hidden by weathering, erosion, or they are in the ocean |
What is a comet? | dirty snowball" made up of mostly ice and gravel |
How are size and frequency of objects hitting the earth related? | Smaller objects hit the earth more frequently than bigger objects |
What would be the effect of an asteroid 150 miles in diameter hitting the earth? | Most life as we know it would be destroyed. This would be at least as bad as what killed off the dinosaurs |
Wegner proposed several pieces of evidence to support his hypothesis of continental drift. Why was his hypothesis not accepted for a long time? In other words, what was Wegner unable to provide? | Some mechanism or force that could cause the continents to move |
A cephied variable star is... | A kind of star that changes its brightness in a consistent manner and we can compare it to other similar stars |
A testable explanation that can be verified or falsified is a(n): | Hypothesis |
What helped disprove the geocentric theory of the earth's location in the universe? | Copernicus suggesting the irregularites in the planet's motions against the stars & Galileo's observation of the phases of Venus through a telescope |
The Earth is.. | A complex system made up of several separate components which interact with each other |
What does the "Doppler Effect" tell us about the universe? | It is expanding |
Which is the best description of a scientific study? | A scientific study involves making hypotheses, collecting data, and performing experiments or testing claims, to reach a conclusion supported by evidence. |
The "Geosphere" is the part of the earth system that involves: | Solid materials such as rock, nickel, and iron |
A measurement or other piece of data gathered by using our senses is a(n): | Observation |
statement about what will happen under agiven set of circumstances is a(n): | Prediction |
After a hypothesis is supported by many repeated tests,it can get "promoted" to the staus of a(n): | Theory |
What was the early theory explaining how mountains and ocean basins formed? | Contraction of the Earth due to cooling |
What was the Wegener's theory explaining how mountains and ocean basins formed? | Plate Tectonics |
How do we explain the magnetic reversals or "stripes" observed on the sea floor on each side of an oceanic ridge? | The earth's magnetic poles would occasionally reverse and the earth remained constant on its axis |
What did the observation of younger rocks being found near the oceanic ridges on the sea floor suggest? | New rocks were being formed at the oceanic ridge |
Why does Earth have a magnetic field? | Due to the proximity to the sun |
The Lithosphere and Asthenosphere are used to describe the parts of the earth based on... | physical properties (brittle, solid, plastic, viscous liquid, etc) |
Which plate boundary is formed when two plates are moving apart from each other? | Divergent |
Which plate boundary involves the destruction or recycling of crustal material? | COnvergent |
Which type of convergent boundary does not have an oceanic trench? | Continental/Continental |
What can we do to a rock to cause it to melt? | Increase temperature, Reduce pressure & Add water |
What is the name of the point on the surface of the earth directly above the place on the fault where motion begins during an earthquake? | Epicenter |
Which scale is used to directly measure earthquakes by intensity or ground motion (not destruction of buildings) | Richter |
What type of fault would you expect to be most common at a convergent boundary? | Reverse |
What plate boundary tends to have the deepest earthquakes? | Convergent |
How are the intensity of earthquakes related to the recurrence interval? | Longer recurrence intervals usually mean stronger earthquakes |
Which term refers to the geographic location along a fault line where there have not been any recent earthquakes? | Seismic Gap |
How do we know there have been much stronger earthquakes and tsunamis on the west coast of the United States than we had previously thought? | Ghost forests similar to those in Alaska and Tsunami deposits similar to those in Chile |
What would you conclude about a fault where there have been no earthquakes in the last 200 years? | Pressure is building up and the next earthquake will be very big |
How do we tell how far away an earthquake is from a seismic station or seismograph? | The difference in time between the arrival times of the P and S waves |
Love and Rayleigh waves: | Travel only on the earth's surface and more destructive than P and S waves |
Which system gives a sequence of events in which rocks were deposited but not an age in years? | Relative age dating |
Which geologic time principle states that younger geologic units cut across older geologic units? | Principle of cross cutting relations |
Which kinds of rocks can absolute age dating be effectively applied to? | Igneous |
Which kinds of rocks can relative age dating be effectively applied to? | Igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic |
What is a potential limitation with radiometric dating? | It gives us the age of the stuff that makes up sedimentary rocks and not the age of the rocks themselves |
Which form of weathering results in smaller pieces of rock that have the same chemical properties as the original rock? | Physical/mechanical weathering |
Which form of weathering results material with different chemical properties than the original rock? | Chemical weathering |
Frost wedging is an example of... | Physical/mechanical weathering |
Soil formation involves which of the following parts of the earth system? | Hydrosphere, Biosphere & Geosphere / atmosphere |
Which process usually takes more time? | Soil formation |