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GEOG 203: EXAM 1
Name the 4 Eons |
Hadean, Archean,Proterozoic, and Phanerozoic |
Name the 3 Eras |
Palezoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic |
What amount of time does the Hadean Eon cover? |
4.56 to 4 Ba |
What amount of time does the Archean Eon cover? |
4 Ba to 2.5 Ba |
What amount of time does the Proterozoic Eon cover? |
2.5 Ba to 542 Ma |
What amount of time does the Phanerozoic Eon cover? |
542 Ma to Present |
What is the order of the geologic time scale? (G to L) |
Eon, Eras, Period, Epoch, Age |
What is Superposition? |
rocks are deposited horizontally new rocks settle upon them |
What is Lateral Continuity |
beds form horizontally, not continuous now, but were at some point
|
What is Faunal Succession? |
Once a species goes extinct, it does not come back, fossils are key to relative dating
|
What is unconformity? |
Represents gaps in the geologic record; periods of times that are not represented by rocks. |
What does cross cutting imply? |
The intrusion is younger than the bed cut.
|
What is the Coriolis effect? |
... |
When did life begin? |
3.8 Billion years ago |
What is the important event that marks the difference between Precambrian/Cambrian? |
Life explosion on earth |
What is the anthropocene? |
unofficial geological time, in which human activity has an impact in earth's processes. (1700s- Industrial Rev.) or (10 thousand years ago)
|
How many extinctions has there been on earth? |
5 |
How does Newton's Law of universal gravitation have to do with the discovery of earth's internal structure? |
Calculated the density of the earth; the core was more dense than the upper level. |
What are the 5 main layers of the Earth? |
Inner Core, Outer Core, Lower Mantle, Upper Mantle, Crust |
What is the lithosphere? |
Upper Mantle, and the Crust |
What happens in the lithosphere? |
Plate tectonics move |
Which plate is more dense? |
Oceanic |
Which plates are older? |
Continental |
What is the isostatic rebound? |
The plasticity of continental crust, when weight is added, it causes mantle to sink.
|
What are the three techniques that allow the study of earth's internal structure? |
Seismic Waves, Boreholes, Kimberlite |
Where does earth's internal heat come from? |
Primordial heat from when earth, radioactive decay, crystallization of iron.
|
At what rate does the heat flow to the surface? |
0.08 w/m^2 |
What does the first law of thermodynamics state? |
Heat goes from hot to cold to find equilibrium |
In what 3 ways does heat transfer? |
Radiation, conduction and convection |
How does energy transfer in the core? |
Conduction |
How does energy transfer in the mantle? |
Convection |
How does energy transfer in the crust? |
Conduction |
How does energy transfer from the mantle to the crust? |
Plate Tectonics |
What are the 3 types of plates? |
Converging, diverging, transform
|
What is a mid-ocean ridge? |
Mountain chain underwater where crust is created underwater.
|
What is Seafloor Spreading? |
where mid-ocean ridge pushes crust across floor toward subdued plate where it melts. |
What is a hydrothermal vent and what does it cause? |
Cracks in the fresh sea floor, water seeps in and explodes back up with dissolved minerals causing black smoke. |
What is Chemosynthesis? |
use of chemical compounds by deep sea micro-organisms that is turned into energy. |
What is the IODP? |
Internacional Ocean Discovery Program
|
What is Paleomagnetism? |
When mineral grains align with the direction of the magnetic pole.
|
What is geomagnetic reversals? |
When the poles reverse. |
What is radiogenic dating used for? |
dating rocks by their chemical compounds. |
What is a daughter product? |
The product of a chemical when it is fully decayed? |
What are the five types of volcanoes? |
Mid-Ocean ridges, Continental and Oceanic Arch, Island archs, Rifts, Hotspots |
What is a rift? |
Divergent palte boundaries in continental plates that can potentially create basins for oceans. |
What is a hotspot? |
When a heat plume heats up the crust underneath the plate. |
What is the life cycle of a hotspot? |
When lava erupts underwater, it creates an island, it then moves away from the hot spot, erosion declined, then it rejuvenates( 1 more volcanic eruption), it erodes away and goes underwater (atolls)
|
What is uniformitarianism? |
"the key to the present is the past", principle that proposes that the physical processes that are still active in earth's environment have been operating throughout earth's history. |
What is an earthquake? |
vibrations of earth's surface, following the release of energy in the crust - they happen because the rocks in earth's crust collect energy and then break.
|
What is the epicenter? |
Location on center of CRUST where earthquakes are first felt |
What is the focus? |
Point were energy is released |
What is the focal depth? |
the depth of the focal point to the surface |
What does the Richter scale measure? |
The magnitude of an earthquake
|
What does the Mercalli scale measure? |
The intensity of an earthquake; it can vary depending on distance. |
What steps cause a tsunami?
|
The onset (earthquake), then split, the amplification and the run up |
What factors control the intensity of a tsunami? |
The earthquakes magnitude, the faultier the trench, tsunami beaming and ocean depth |
What is liquefaction? |
phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking.
|
What is the earth's temperature in Kelvin and in celsius? |
288K and 15C |
Where does the energy that keeps our planet warm come from? |
radioactive decay, primordial heat, iron crystallization( 1%) and radiation from the sun (99%) |
What affects the solar constant?
|
Distance and Luminosity |
What is incoming radiant energy? |
Solar energy that hits the planet (at different angles) |
What is albedo? |
How much of the solar energy that hits earth surface is elected back into space. |
How do you calculate the greenhouse effect? |
Atmospheric temp. + GHG increment= Surface temperature |
What are the main greenhouse gases? |
Ozone, carbon, water vapor, methane, oxygen and pollution |
Where does heat go? |
to where it is cold until it finds equilibrium |
What is the Coriolis effect? |
apparent deflection of moving objects when the motion is described relative to a rotating reference frame. EX. Earth's equator moves slower than the poles. |
What is the Hadley cell and where are they located? |
Where air rises at the equator (towards the pole), located at 30 degrees, affected by the trade winds. |
What is a polar cell and where are they located? |
Where air rises at 60 degrees north and south, affected by the polar easterlies |
What is a jet stream and where do they occur? |
form when 2 air masses with different characteristics meet; subtropical jet happens at 30 degrees, polar jet happens at 60 degrees) affected by the westerlies.
|
Low pressure causes? |
precipitation |
High pressure causes? |
Dry climate |
What is the ITCZ? |
Where the 2 Hadley Cells converge- located on thermal equator. |
What is a monsoon? |
seasonal wind that brings rain
|
Where do summer monsoons cause precipitation? |
On land |
Where do winter monsoons cause precipitation |
on water |
What is the thermocline? |
transition between surface and deep water |
What is the halocline? |
relationship between salinity and density.
|
Which type of ocean water is the most dense? |
Salty Cold water. |
Why is the NADW important?Why is the NADW important? |
Carries water almost all the way to antartica |
What does the Gulf stream do? |
it carries warm water from the equator to the poles. If circulation slows, hurricanes form, and winters are more harsh in the poles |
What is the AABW? |
coldest and saltiest water( lowermost)... salty due to proximity to the ice (which takes out the salt) |
What is important about the 8.2 Ka event? |
major cooling event
|
What are gyres? |
a surface current that is circular, and is driven by surface winds. (go clockwise in N, and counterclockwise in the S) |
What is the Ekman Transport? |
When surface water transports 45 degrees away from the wind. |
What is a tropical cyclone? |
strongest storm possible on earth, it is an effective way to move hot spots in ocean to cold. |
What is the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane? |
Their location, hurricanes occur in the atlantic and typhoons occur in the pacific
|
Where do tropical cyclones begin? |
In the subtropical zone |
What is the center of the cyclone called and what is a characteristic of it? |
Eye; low pressure |
How does a hurricane develop? |
Disturbance (two air masses meet;they converge), Depression (low pressure attracts wind, creates cyclone and condensation), Hurricane (strong winds and precipitation).
|
What way does the cyclone spin in the northern hemisphere? |
counter clockwise |
Is global warming affecting hurricanes? |
Affects the intensity of them, however does not affect the amount there are. |
What is a sun spot? |
Concentrated part that em radiation
|
What is a faculae? |
the bright spot around the hotspot.
|
How long does a sunspot repeat their pattern? |
11 years. |
What are the 3 Malankovitch cycles?
|
eccentricity,obliquity, and precession |
What is eccentricity? |
The earth's orbit |
Difference between aphelion and perihelion? |
A= afar P= pretty close |
What is obliquity? |
Tilt (23.5 degrees) |
What is precession? |
Spin |
What is orogenesis? |
The formation of mountains by the deformation of earth's crust |