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| called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, especially in the inner Solar System; they are smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids. |
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| a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit aka dirty snowball |
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| : a stony or metallic object that is the remains of a meteoroid that has reached the earth's surface |
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| a star that explodes, in doing so, becomes extremely luminous |
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| normally a colorless and odorless highly flammable diatomic gas; the simplest and lightest and most abundant element in the universe |
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| constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust |
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| constitutes 78 percent of the atmosphere by volume; a constituent of all living tissues |
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| is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state, is a trace gas being only 0.038% of the atmosphere. |
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| an abundant nonmetallic tetravalent element occurring in three allotropic forms: amorphous carbon and graphite and diamond; occurs in all organic compounds |
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| an abundant tasteless odorless multivalent nonmetallic element; best known in yellow crystals; occurs in many sulphide and sulphate minerals and even in native form (especially in volcanic regions) |
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| next to oxygen it is the most abundant element in the earth's crust; occurs in clay and feldspar and granite and quartz and sand; used as a semiconductor in transistors) |
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| a circulation of material based on its density, hotter things rise, cooler things sink see page 26 |
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| mid-ocean ridge/spreading center |
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| *when two plates are divergent (they move apart), and the lava takes its place, forming an underwater ridge e.g. discovered in the 1950s, there is a mountain chain which goes down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, similar to one that is in Africa, represents a pulling apart of the Earth, discoverers thought the Earth was expanding when it wasn’t, is divergent |
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| the earth is hot and when it cools the ground comes back together (makes volcano), is convergent |
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| Place where two plates meet and slide past each other. Also known as a sliding boundary, is convergent, see figure 2-14 in book |
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| a location on the Earth's surface that has experienced active volcanism for a long period of time. |
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| Formed when molten rock (called lava or magma) cools and hardens. e.g. granite |
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| a rock formed from the consolidation of sediment that has accumulated in layers. e.g. sandstone |
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| Any type of rock which changes in texture or composition, after it's original formation, as a result of extreme heat, pressure, or chemically active fluids. |
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| the movement of the Earth's continents relative to each other. |
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| occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. |
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| Where did the Earth's water come from? |
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1) the gases released from volcanoes contained water vapor, which created clouds and eventually rain
2) small ice comets and frozen asteroids collided with the ancient Earth, providing water for its basins |
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| how do we recognize divergent plate boundaries? |
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| are the mid-ocean ridges that launched the plate tectonics revolution - the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a classic example. Shallow earthquakes and minor lava flows characterize |
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| how do we recognize convergent plate boundaries? |
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2 types: oceanic and continental
*oceanic: (subduction zones) thin, dense, very deep ocean trench next to a high continental mountain range, large numbers of earthquakes that progress from shallow to deep, arge numbers of intermediate composition volcanoes.
*continental: When two pieces of continental crust converge, the result is a great pileup of continental material. Both pieces of crust are buoyant and are not easily subducted. Continental convergence is exemplified by the Himalayan mountain range, where the Indian plate runs into the Asian plate. Numerous shallow earthquakes occur, but there is very little volcanism. |
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| how do we recognize transform boundaries? |
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| occur in a few places to accommodate lateral motion, in which plates slide past one another. This type of boundary is very rare on continents, but they are dramatic where they do occur. For example, the San Andreas Fault in California is a continental transform boundary - frequent, shallow earthquakes occur (like the famous 1906 and 1989 San Francisco earthquakes), but there is little associated volcanism or topographic relief. The Alpine Fault in New Zealand is very similar. Most transform boundaries occur not on land, however, but in short segments along mid-ocean ridges. |
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| are earth's shorelines permanent? |
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| waves and humans most common factors in altering ____. |
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was strongly influenced by Darwin (who showed that the Earth changed over time), classified coastlines based on their age (proved that coastlines change)
•see “Darwin” diagram, page 5 of PP2, and “Davis” diagram |
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| collision coast (leading edge) |
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is youthful looking, rocky, narrow continental shelves (causing large waves), cause tsunamis, found all over the West Coast, 2 kinds:
1) 2 types of ocean crust come together
2) ocean and continent come together
*see page 6 of PP2 |
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| A small ocean basin created when sea-floor spreading occurs behind an island arc, has beaches, deltas, and marshes (see table 2.1 in book) |
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divergent plate boundary,
has barrier islands, salt marshes and estuaries, a coast coinciding with the middle of a tectonic plate and facing a spreading zone |
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| a greek god known to be the father of history, and credited with coining the term "delta" in the fifth century bc |
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| a system of secondary channels near the mouth of a river that distribute its sediment and water discharge |
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| Substances, which are required to support living plants and organisms. Major nutrients are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen and phosphorus |
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| elating or belonging to the class of chemical compounds having a carbon basis; (being or relating to or derived from or having properties )characteristic of living orgaisms) |
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| relating or belonging to the class of compounds not having a carbon basis |
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-building vertically upward
•1) floods: overflow causes the addition of material
•2) peat (vegetation): trees and other vegetation die, fall over and accumulates
•3) Crevasse Splays: aka subdelta, can occur anywhere on a channel delta
•4) meandering: spreads sand over the delta |
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•1) inertial processes: must have a fresh water body, the river comes out into an ocean depositing sand grains, gets to the edge when the slop gets deeper, and begins to fall off
•2) friction: if the river is entering a salt water body in a shallow area, the sediment slows down and forms a middle-ground bar
•3) buoyancy: is fresh water coming in to a deep area, and the fresh and salt water are separated (because the area is so deep), salt water is more dense than fresh water, therefore freshwater floats on top of the salt water |
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| made of natural sand, don’t compact, stays dry |
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| low land that is seasonally flooded; has more woody plants than a marsh and better drainage than a bog |
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| small mud particles sticking to each other when fresh water mud enters the ocean, allows mud particles to settle |
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| A horizontal layer of coarse sand and gravel deposited on top of a delta. |
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| A fine, horizontal layer of clay and silt deposited beyond the edge of a delta. |
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| An inclined layer of sand and gravel deposited along the edge of a delta. |
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| An inclined layer of sand and gravel deposited along the edge of a delta. |
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| a fan-shaped deposit associated with a delta or river floodplain. commonly formed when floodwaters breach a levee, allowing sediment to flow from the river into the adjacent lowland |
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| Partially decomposed plants and other organic material that build up in poorly drained wetland habitats. |
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| is the settling or lowering of the land surface. |
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| The concept that Earth’s crust is floating in gravitational balance upon the material of the mantle. |
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| an increase in the density of something |
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| a long narrow inlet of the sea between steep cliffs; common in Norway |
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| aka drowned river valley, the flooded mouth of a river, caused by valley enlargement during sea-level lowering and subsequent drowning of the valley |
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| is formed in estuaries when salt waters (which are heavier) move inland on and near the bottom and fresh waters (which are lighter) move toward the sound on top. A density gradient (wall) is formed and the bottom waters have no way of replenishing oxygen unless a strong wind mixes the waters together. |
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| deposited or arranged in horizontal layers |
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| a bend or curve in a river |
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| to break, interrupt or destroy |
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| Variation in the rate of erosion on different rock masses. As a result of differential erosion, resistant rocks form steep cliffs, whereas nonresistant rocks form gentle slopes. |
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| A fracture in the Earth's crust along which movement has occurred. |
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| steep sided cliff made of rock, does not provide much sediment |
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| aka thunderhole, small chambers and fissures formed in coastal cliffs by wave action and salt spray weathering |
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| form as a narrow ridge, walled by cliffs, become narrower from erosion, with a softer rock stratum under the cliff-forming stratum gradually eroding out until the rock shelters thus formed meet underneath the ridge, thus forming the arch. Natural arches commonly form where cliffs are subject to erosion from the sea, rivers or weathering (sub-aerial processes); the processes "find" weaknesses in rocks and work on them, making them bigger until they break through. |
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| A pillar-shaped bedrock pinnacle resulting from wave erosion along the ocean shore. |
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| the association of surface pebbles, rocks or boulders with stream beds or beaches, pebbles to medium sized stones, the resulting landform is often termed a shingle beach. Hydrological modeling indicates that stream armor typically persists in a flood stage environment |
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