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planet earth
final
20
Geology
Undergraduate 1
05/04/2010

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Cards

Term
two means by which earth grew
Definition
gravitational attraction & collision
Term
earth's circumference
Definition
40,066 km
Term
earth's radius
Definition
6,378 km
Term
earth's density
Definition
5.5 gm/cc
Term
earth's absolute age
Definition
4.6 billion years
Term
earth's modern age
Definition
2.5 ga
Term
% of land
Definition
29%
Term
% of water
Definition
71%
Term
products of plate boundary
Definition
continental drift, mts, open/close oceans
Term
compositional layers
Definition
crust, mantle, core
Term
behavioral layers
Definition
lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere
Term
relative age
Definition
position in sequence
Term
absolute age
Definition
time before present; numerical
Term
radioactive decay
Definition
spontaneous emission of particles from the nucleus at an exponential rate
Term
half-life
Definition
time for 1/2 remaining parents to change into stable daughters
Term
emission of alpha particles
Definition
2N+2P; atomic # goes down by 2; mass goes down by 4
Term
emission of beta particles
Definition
loss of an electron from 'splitting' a neutron; atomic goes up by 1; atomic mass remains the same
Term
calculating age
Definition
determine # of half-lives that have passed from the parent:daughter ratio, multiply by length of half-life
Term
carbon 14
Definition
produced from N14 in upper atmosphere; captured neutrons produced by cosmic rays; found in living tissue; used to determine age
Term
short half-life
Definition
5,730 years to date geologically recent events
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