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Environmental Geology 101
Exam 1 Chapters 1-2
47
Geology
Undergraduate 1
09/20/2010

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Cards

Term
Yellowstone national park lies atop what?
Definition
Hotspot
Term
What two things make up Pangaea?
Definition
Laurasia and Gondwana
Term
Loihi
Definition
youngest volcano in the Hawaiian chain (active)
Term
Curie Point
Definition
critical temperature at which rock becomes manetized
Term
T/F Transform boundaries do not generate earthquakes.
Definition
False
Term
A new oceanic lithosphere is generated at mid oceanic ridges. T/F
Definition
True
Term
The Hawaiian islands are not a volcanic arc. T/F
Definition
FALSE
Term
Sea floor spreading is this ideas support by magnetic polarity strips?
Definition
Continental Drift
Term
Time intervals on magnetic field reversals?
Definition
300,000- 1 million years
Term
Where to find a submarine trench?
Definition
At the convergence of two tectonic plates
Term
Is crust consumed off transform boundaries?
Definition
Yes
Term
Do we see recycling of any type of crust at a transform boundary?
Definition
yes
Term
What did Alfred Wegener propose?
Definition
The idea of Continental Drift
Term
The lithosphere is stronger than the____?
Definition
Asthenosphere
Term
Rocks at the core are ____ than crustle rocks.
Definition
Denser
Term
When did Pangaea start to break up?
Definition
200 million years ago
Term
how fast do Tectonic plates move?
Definition
About as fast as fingernails grow
Term
How do we keep up with hot spots?
Definition
Volcano chains
Term
How do seismologists know that the inner core is liquid?
Definition
Because S waves are not able to travel through liquid.
Term
Why did no one believe Wegener?
Definition
He could not say HOW things were moving
Term
How did sea floor spreading justify Wegener?
Definition
It showed that the sea floor is not a static piece and the existence of mid oceanic ridges.
Term
At a convergent boundary which things sink?
Definition
Denser
Term
How are transform plate boundaries marked?
Definition
linear valleys and steam beds
Term
How do magnetic strips show that the sea floor is actually spreading?
Definition
Magnetic field recorded by iron-bearing igneous rocks, striking symmetrical magnetic anomaly stripes.
Term
What happened to Easter Island?
Definition
Overpopulations, deforestation, soil erosion, loss of agricultural base, further conflicts and wars, geographic isolations, and geologic limitations.
Term
Uniformitarianism
Definition
The present is the key to the past
Term
Population increase is becoming a catastrophe, why?
Definition
Resource strain, people are living in places that are not necessarily habitable (California)
Term
Moho discontinuity
Definition
The boundary between the mantle and the crust
Term
Difference between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere?
Definition
The lithosphere is the cool, strong outermost layer of the Earth, more rigid, while the Asthenosphere is a hot and slowly flowing layer of relatively weak rock.
Term
Fastest earth quake wave?
Definition
P-Wave
Term
Gaia hypothesis.
Definition
Earth is a living organism.
Term
Open system
Definition
A type of system where there is a constant flow of energy and matter across the borders of the system (i.e. River)
Term
A scientific method begins as a _______.
Definition
hypothesis
Term
Doubling time for population is ______ .
Definition
increasing
Term
A closed system is always open for scrutiny. T/F
Definition
TRUE
Term
Ducktown TN
Definition
Man made desert caused by extensive Copper mining and deforestation. Extreme pollution caused by acid rain and massive plant death.
Term
Aral sea
Definition
once the 4th largest inland sea, now disappearing because it's main sources were diverted for irrigation. Contaminates and toxic substance have been found in the soil of the dried up lake bed.
Term
Land Ethics
Definition
responsible for the entire environment, not just humans
Term
Theory
Definition
a set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena
Term
Hypothesis
Definition
a tentative explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested for further investigation
Term
Principle
Definition
a basic truth, law, or assumption
Term
Open system v Closed system
Definition
an open system takes matter in and out of other systems (ie river) while a closed system doesn't get or give matter from or to any other system (i.e. Earth)
Term
Average residence time
Definition
measure of the time it takes for the total stock or supply of the material to be cycled through a system. T = S/F
Term
What is Earth System Science?
Definition
Seeks to integrate various fields of academic study to understand the Earth as a system.
Term
Why is human population growth a problem?
Definition
More waste, resource strain
Term
Exponential Growth
Definition
(G) Growth rate measured as a percentage, Doubling time (D): D = 70/G
Term
Sustainability
Definition
A resources ability to be replenished and renewed (i.e. forests)
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