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Chapter 12: Earth's Evolution through Geologic Time
Chapter 12 run through
12
Environmental Studies
Undergraduate 1
02/11/2011

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Cards

Term
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Definition
ATMOSPHERE
Term
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Definition
BIOSPHERE
Term
[image]
Definition
GEOSPHERE
Term
[image]
Definition
HYDROSPHERE
Term
GLOBAL OCEAN
Definition
COVERS 71% OF EARTH'S SURFACE
Term

BIG BANG THEORY

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Definition
About 13.7 billion years ago a cataclysmic explosion created all matter and space almost instantaneously
Term

 

 

BIRTH OF THE MAGMA OCEAN

Definition
Continual bombardment by planetesimals and the decay of radioactive elements produces magma "ocean".
Term
SUPERNOVA
Definition

 

An exploding star produces all of the elements heavier than iron and spews them into interstellar space.

Term
SOLAR NEBULA
Definition

- Formed Earth + the rest of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.

- A large rotating cloud of interstellar dust and gas

- Its contraction led to the formation of the protosun

-Matter gradually formed clumps that collided and stuck together to form planetesimals

Term
OUTGASSING
Definition
Gases trapped in planest interior are released.
Term
BANDED IRON FORMATIONS[image]
Definition

-Early iron deposits that consist of alternating layers of iron-rich rocks and chert and formed on the seafloor as sediment

- Iron oxide (iron has a high affinity for oxygen)

- Laid down in the Precambrian between 3.5 and 2 billion years ago

Term
EVOLUTION OF THE OCEANS
Definition
-4 BILLION YEARS AGO 90% OF THE CURRENT VOLUME OF SEAWATER WAS CONTAINED IN THE OCEAN BASINS
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