Earth Science Facts

1. CFCs, chemicals used in hair sprays, reacted with ozone layer

2. Ozone layer absorbs UV rays from the sun

3. Earth system science is the study of Earth materials and processes subdivided into atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere

4. Equator divides the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

5. Prime Meridian divides the Eastern and Western Hemispheres

6. Equator is a latitude line; Prime Meridian is a longitude line

7. Topographic maps shows the topography of an area which is the natural and human made surface features

8. Lithosphere is the crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle

9. The more rigid material of lithosphere floats upon a thin, slush like layer of mantle called Astonisher

10. Parallax is the apparent shift in position

11. Element is a substance that cannot be broken into simpler substances by ordinary chemical means

12. Atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus and is equal to the number of electrons in the atom’s atomic number

13. Isotopes are atoms of an element that have different masses

14. Mass number of any isotope is sum of numbers of protons and neutrons in that isotope

15. Minerals that are compounds including silicon and oxygen are called silicates

16. Igneous rocks are formed by cooling and hardening of hot, molten rock, or magma, from inside the earth

17. Sedimentary rocks are formed by compaction and cementing of layers of sediments

18. Metamorphic rocks are formed by the effect of heat and pressure on other rocks

19. Felsic magma is thick and slow moving. It contains large amounts of silica and smaller amounts of calcium, iron, and magnesium. It hardens into light colored silicate minerals like quartz

20. Mafic magma is hotter, thinner, more fluid, contains large amounts of iron and magnesium and lower amounts of silica. Rocks are usually dark like hornblende

21. Environment includes all resources, influences, and conditions near Earth’s surface

22. Renewable resource is one that can be replaced in nature at rate close to its rate of use

23. Nonrenewable resource exists in fixed amount or is used up faster than it can be replaced in nature

24. Examples of renewable resources are sun, water, forests, and wind

25. Examples of nonrenewable resources are fossil fuels, oil, metals, and nonmetals

26. Plate tectonics is a theory that describes the formation, movement, and interactions of plates

27. Continental drift is made by Alfred Wegner, continents moved, he had proof of fossils, shapes, and climate. Couldn’t prove how they moved

28. Divergent boundary is boundary between 2 lithosphere plates that are moving apart

29. Convergent boundary is boundary between 2 plates that are moving towards each other

30. Seduction boundary is boundary when one plate goes underneath another

31. Transform boundary is when 2 plates are sliding past each other

32. Viscosity is the magmas resistance to flow

33. Pahoehoe is lava with smooth ropelike surfaces. This happens when lava is at high temp and flows quickly out of vents; AA is cooler lava that moves slowly, it has rough jagged surfaces

34. Pillow lava is mass of round lumps of lava under water

35. Shield volcanoes have broad bases and gentle sloping sides’ Cinder cones have oval base and smallest of volcanoes. Formed in group sand on sides of larger volcanoes

36. Fault is a break in lithosphere along which movement has occurred

37. Focus is the point at which the first movement occurs during an earthquake

38. Epicenter of an earthquake is point of Earth’s surface directly above the focus

39. Body waves can travel though material of Earth’s body

40. Surface waves are earthquake waves that travel along Earth’s surface

41. Seismograph detects and records waves produced by earthquakes

42. Compression is when rock layers are being squeezed inward; Tension is when rock layers are being stretched

43. Shear stress is when rock layers are being pushed in 2 diff, opposite directions

44. Normal fault is when hanging wall moves down; Reverse fault is when hanging wall moves up

45. Thrust fault is reverse fault with fault plane at 45 degrees

46. Strike slip fault is when rocks on opposite sides on fault plane moves past each other

47. Weather is breakup of rock due to exposure to process that occur at Earth’s surface

48. Frost wedging, abrasion, plants and animals, and upward expansion are mechanical weathering

49. Water and chemical weathering, oxygen and chemical weathering are chemical weathering

50. Parent material is material from which soil is formed

51. Drainage basin or watershed or a river includes all the land that it drains into the river

52. Velocity is the distance that water travels in a given amount of time

53. Gradient is steepness of slope of stream or river

54. Discharge is the amount or volume of water that passes certain point in given amount of time

55. Porosity is percent of a materials volume that is pore space

56. Permeability is rate at which water o other liquids pass through the pore space of rock

57. Aquifers are permeable layers of rock and sediments that store and carry groundwater in enough quantity to supply wells

58. Radiation is transfer of energy though space in from of light, rays, and other electromagnetic waves

59. Conduction is transfer of heat energy though objects touching each other

60. Convection is transfer of heat energy in liquid or gas through motion of liquid or gas

61. Heat is total kinetic energy of all particles of substance

62. Insolation is incoming solar radiation

63. Condensation is water vapor to liquid

64. Specific humidity is amount of water vapor in air at given time and place

65. Relative humidity tells us how near the air is to its maximum capacity for holding water vapor

66. Dew point is temp at which saturation occurs and condensation begins

67. Stratus clouds are layered, low clouds; Cumulus clouds are fluffy clouds with flat bases; Cirrus clouds are high, feathery clouds

68. Air pressure is the weight of the atmosphere as it pushes down upon Earth’s surface

69. Coriolis effect is the tendency of an objet moving freely over Earth’s surface to curve away from its path of travel

70. Jet stream is band soft swiftly moving winds

71. Intertropical convergence zone is where surface winds from 2 hemispheres come together

72. Air mass is large body of air in lower troposphere that has similar characteristics throughout

73. Cold front is boundary between advancing cold air mass and water air mass its displacing; Warm front is when warm air displaces cold air

74. Occluded front is when warm air is caught between 2 cold fronts; Stationary fronts it when the fronts are not moving

75. Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale measures tornado damage; Saffir Simpson Hurricane Scale measures hurricane’s wind speed

76. Climate is an area’s long term pattern of weather

77. When the face of the moon changes from light back to all dark its is waning; dark to light it is waxing

78. Penumbra is area of partial shadow, Umbra is area of total shadow

79. Lunar eclipse is an event during which Earth’s shadow prevents the sunlight from reaching the moon

80. Solar eclipse is when the moon comes between the sun and Earth

81. Fusion is combining of the nuclei of lighter elements to form a heavier element

82. Photosphere is visible surface of sun; Chromosphere is the inner layer of sun’s atmosphere; Corona is the thin outer atmosphere of the sun

83. Sunspots are dark spots on the photosphere

84. Solar wind are the constant stream of electrically charged particles from the corona

85. The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars

86. Outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto

87. Meteor is the light made when a meteoroid passes through Earth atmosphere

88. Meteorite is part of a large meteoroid that survives the trip through the atmosphere and strikes Earth’s surface

89. Apparent magnitude of a star is a measure of how bright a start appears to be to an observer on Earth

90. Astronomical unit or AU is 150 million km is distance between the Earth and sun

91. Light year is unit that measures distance of light in a year

92. Luminosity is the actually brightness of a star

93. Absolute magnitude is a measure of how bright the star would be if all stars were 10 parsecs from Earth

94. Types of fossils are original remains, replaced remains, molds and casts, trace fossils, and carbonaceous films

95. Relative dating is process of placing events in sequence in which they occurred

96. Correlation is the matching of rock layers from one area to another

97. Index fossils are the fossilized remains of organisms that lived and died within a particular time segment of Earth’s history and that can be used to correlate rock layers

98. Absolute time is the actual dates of events

99. Geologic time scale is summary of major events in Earth’s past that are preserved in rock record

100. Geologic time is divided into eons, eras, periods, and epoch

Spaulding , N, & Namowitz, S. (2004). Earth science. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.