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