Earth Science

Intro to Earth Science

Water

Astronomy

Atmosphere

Rocks and Minerals

Plate Tectonics

Directions

Compass

Longitude

Latitude

Distance North of the Equator

Use it to know your direction

Distance East or West of the Prime Meridian

Prime Meridian goes over Greenwich, England

Elevation

Distance above or below sea level

Types of maps

Topographic

Bathymetric

Geologic

Shows elevation of different structures using contour lines

Show geologic including types of rocks

Shows elevations below sea level

Contour lines are lines between areas of equal elevations

Ways to Study...

Space

The Ocean

Remote Sampling

ROV

Echo sounder

Shows depths of ocean using sound

Sediment at ocean floor

Remotely operated vehicle

Telescopes

Rockets

Sattelites

Space Shuttles

Space Stations

Optical

Radio

Space

Reflecting

Refracting

Alfred Wegener

Evidence for Pangea

Identical rocks on both sides

Mountain ranges

Continents look like puzzle pieces

Grooves and rock deposits from glaciers on both sides

Same types of fossils on different sides of the ocean

Coral reefs where they don't belong

No mechanism for theory

Magnetic polarity

New volcanic rock points to magnetic north pole

Older rock points to a different place

Location of north pole wanders AND/OR continents move and pole is fixed

Bathymetric Evidence of Seafloor Spreading

Trenches

Abyssal plain

Mid-oceanic ridge

Continental margin

Transition from ocean to land

Magnetic Evidence of Seafloor Spreading

Mirror images on each of the mid-oceanic ridges

Stripes end abruptly at the continents

Stripes of normal and reversed polarity

Movement of plates around the surface of the Earth

Caused by convection cells

Oldest rocks are at the continents, newest at mid-oceanic ridges

Plate boundaries

Divergent

Transform

Convergent

Moving together

Moving away

Moving sideways to eachother

Intraplate activity

Activity not at a boundary

Hotspot examples

Yellowstone Volcano

Hawaiian Chain

Harold Hess developed hypothesis of seafloor spreading

New rock being made at mid-oceanic ridges and being crushed at the continents

Minerals

Qualities

Properties

Naturally occuring

Inorganic

Crystalline

Specific chemical composition

Solid

Streak

Luster

Color

Density

Cleavage

Fracture

Hardness

Color of mineral powder

Shininess

Tendency to break on planes of weakness

Pattern in which the mineral breaks

What does it scratch and what scratches it?

Formation from...

Magma

Solutions

Cools slowly inside the Earth

Heated and changed

Cools fast on Earth's surface

Small crystals

Large crystals

Metamorphism

Minerals from hot underground water

Minerals under pressure undergo change

Minerals from salt water

Rocks

Naturally formed

Collection of minerals in a solid mass

Non-living Earth materials

Types

Igneous

Metamorphic

Sedimentary

Identifying Rock Type

Texture

Some aren't made of minerals

Minerals in the Rock

Layer of air around the Earth

Regulates Temp., protects life

Early atmosphere had nitrogen and CO2, oxygen began forming 2 billion years ago via single celled organisms

Gases

Argon - .93%

Oxygen - 21%

CO2 - .03%

Nitrogen - 78%

Trace elements

Neon, helium, methane, krypton and more

Ozone layer

Life alters it by....

Photosynthesis

Respiration

Plants use CO2

Uses oxygen to create sugar into energy

Part of the water cycle

Transfers energy and sound

Allows things to fly

Density

Decreases with altitude

Thicker closer to Earth due to gravity

Pressure

Altitude changes pressure

Ears popping

Temperature

Layers are diff. temps

Warm air rises

Air pressure and density are lower in warm air

Convection occurs due to different temps.

Layers

Mesosphere

Thermosphere

Stratosphere

Exosphere

Troposphere

Protects from space rocks and solar winds

Absorbs UV rays, ionosphere helps with HAM radio

Strong winds, coldest layer

Contains ozone layer

All weather occurs here

Wind

Equator receives more sunlight

Poles receive less sunlight

Convection currents are formed

Coriolis Effect

Rotation of the Earth causes rotating wind or water to go to the right in the north and left in the south

Jet stream causes weather to move from west to east

Fronts

Warm front

Occluded front

Stationary front

Cold Front

cold air pushes warm air up

Warm air moves up on a cold front

Warm and cold fronts stay in the same place

Warm and cold fronts moving towards eachother

Where is it?

97% in oceans

3% freshwater

2% locked in glaciers, ice caps and groundwater

1% usable

Rivers

Wetlands

Atmosphere

Lakes

Stream

Parts of a Stream

Running water

Meanders

Floodplain

Headwaters

Base level

Estuary

Divide

Mouth

Separation of water basins

Continental divide - larger divide

Lowest level water can flow

Flat area around the stream that floods

Curve or bend in a river/stream

Source of the river, smaller streams

River meets the ocean

combines fresh and salt water

Widens and flows into another body of water

River

Confluence

Large stream

Tributary

Combining of rivers

Smaller of 2 rivers in a confluence

Pond

Lake

Flash flood

Sudden local flood due to heavy rain

Small body of STILL water

Body of water with an outlet

Apparent magnitude

Ocean zones

Bathypelagic

Abyssopelagic

Mesopelagic

Hadalpelagic

Epipelagic

Sun reaches here

Some light, darker

Dark

Really dark

Found in trenches

Absolute magnitude

Brightness of a star as seen from Earth

Brightness of stars at a specific distance

Parallax

Apparent movement of an object due to change in perspective

Star life cycle

Stellar nebula

Average Star

Massive Star

Becomes a star

Average sized, ex. Sun

Red Giant

Super Red Giant

Planetary nebula

White dwarf

Gets bigger after it runs out of hydrogen

Cloud of dust and gas

Small star

Supernova

Explosion from star

Neutron Star

Black hole

Big Star

Massiver massive star after it runs out of hydrogen

So dense light can't escape

Very densely packed neutrons

Galaxies

Elliptical

Irregular

Spiral

Everything circles around a certain

Oval shaped, looks smooth

Jumble, possibly from colliding galaxies

Planets

Earth

Mars

Venus

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Mercury

Neptune