Geology - Test1

What is the basic geometric shape of the elements in the silicate mineral group

a triangle

metallic bond

all electrons are SHARED b/w nucleii

What elements are common in light-colored silicate minerals?

aluminum, sodium, potassium

What are isotopes?

atoms with the SAME number of PROTONS but a DIFFERENT number of NEUTRONS

How are elements in the periodic table arranged?

by increasing atomic number

Why are non-silicates important

cause they still make up 10% of the crust

Why are minerals important?

economic value - useful: ex. bentonite - used in oil wells, paint, makeup environmental effects they're beautiful - diamonds

Ionic Bond

electrons are given up or take on and the element will have a change

What is the key characteristic of the half-life of an isotope that makes it so valuable for absolute dating?

half-life is constant

What are asteroids

left over material from the formation of the solar system

What are the 3 components of magma

liquid (while melting), solid (minerals forming as magma rises and cools), and gases

What material was used to establish the age of the earth?

meteorites and parent/daughter elements to come up with a rough estimate

meteorites

meteoroids that enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up

Alfred Wegner

meteorologist and geophysicist he was the first to propose the idea of a continental drift

What is polymorphism

minerals that have the same composition, but different internal arrangements of elements resulting in different properties

What criteria must satisfy to be classified as dwarf planets?

must orbit the sun be nearly spherical in shape cannot orbit another planet are not large enough to sweep their orbits clear of debris

Satellite planets

orbits that orbit other planets as well as the sun

Which two elements are dominant in the crust (upper ~30 miles below Earth's surface)

oxygen and silicon

What two elements are found in all magma

silicon and oxygen

Covalent bond

some electrons are shared between elements

Who was James Hutton

the father of modern geology

What determines atomic number?

the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom

How is the atomic weight (or mass number) determined?

the number of protons plus the number of neutrons

What are radioactivity/radioactive decay?

the process in which nuclei spontaneously break apart or decay

Daughter isotope

the result after protons and/or neutrons have been gained/lost from the Parent isotope

Half life

the time required for half of the nuclei in a sample to decay

Why do some isotopes decay radioactively

they have an unstable nucleus which means that the bonding forces in the nucleus are too weak to hold protons and neutrons together

what are meteoroids

very small asteroids

What are comets

"dirty snowballs" they're frozen gases that surround a rocky and/or metallic mineral

terrestrial planets

"the interior" planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars small, dense, made of heavier particles, more rocky, have atmosphere (except for mars' which has pretty much burned away)

How did Earth's moon form?

4.6 billion years ago a "mars sized object" hit Earth and the debris from that impact resulting in the formation of the moon

What is the suggested age of our solar system?

4.7 billion years

What is the nebular theory?

4.7 billion years ago Nebula of H, He, and stardust was pulled down by gravity and formed into a rotating disc it formed a protosun; heavier material stays closer to it and lighter material is flung farther away planetesimals form during collision of other materials hot, magma rich planets chemically differentiate and produce the earth's layer structure

What was the estimated age of the earth during the time when Catastrophism reigned

6,000 yrs old

How many planets are in the solar system?

8

What is a hypothesis? What is a theory? What is the difference between them?

A hypothesis is a "tentative explanation" or an educated guess. A theory is a hypothesis that has been tested and proven true. The difference is a hypothesis has not been tested.

What's a lightyear

A light year is the distance it takes to travel in one year 186,000 miles/second

What are the three types of decay discussed in class

Alpha Emission Beta Emission Electron capture

Who were some of the first persons to study earth processes and describe them?

Aristotle - observed fossils in rocks. Concluded natural processes tend to be slow and cannot be observed within a person's lifetime. Theophrastus - wrote the first book on minerals

Alpha Emission

Atomic Number decreased by 2 Mass Number decreased by 4

What is the goal of science and scientific studies

Because the world is consistent and predictable, the goal is to find natural explanations for natural processes; Also to be able to find patterns and predict future events.

What is Catastrophism?

Catastrophism is the belief that the Earth's landscapes had been shaped primarily by great catastrophes.

continental drift

Continental drift idea states one supercontinent that consisted of all the Earth's landmasses once existed and then began to fragment into smaller landmasses.

K-T boundary

Cretaceous-Teritary The K-T boundary marks the end of the era in which dinos and other reptiles dominated the landscape and the beginning of the era when mammals dominated the earth. It's important because ¾ of all plant and animals species died in a mass extinction.

What do elements bond

Electrons have a negative charge that offsets the positive charge of protons in the nucleus

What is meant by electron shell? How many electrons fit on each shell?

Electrons orbit the nucleus in a shell 1st shell holds 2; the 2nd and 3rd shells each hold 8

How did other elements in the periodic table form?

Fusion Hydrogen and helium further combine to create new elements Supernovas (stardusts) creates the rest of the elements

What is geology?

Geology is the study of the earth.

What did Leonardo DaVinci contribute to geology?

He noted that rivers carry material (sediment) to the ocean where the material is layed down and converted to rock (sedimentary rock) and ultimately uplifted to make mountains. Agreed with Aristotle that fossils were once living organisms that died and were preserved in rock.

What two elements formed right after the "Big Bang"?

Hydrogen and Helium

What is the "Principle of Parsimony" or "Ockham's Razor"?

If more than one hypothesis exist to explain a natural phenomenon, the one that uses the fewest assumptions is most likely correct.

What are the three main rock groups?

Igneous Metamorphic Sedimentary

What are the basic characteristics of a mineral

Inorganic solid naturally-occuring definite chemical composition that varies within very narrow limits orderly internal structure that gives distinct physical properties

What are the two kinds of igneous rocks? Where do they form?

Intrusive/plutonic (form is magma) Extrusive (forms in lava)

What kinds of meteoroids exist?

Iron, Stony (Chondrite), and Stony-Iron

Why are some important reasons to understand geology?

It's our habitat Human Resources To be aware of threats i.e. earthquakes and volcanoes Pollution

Who proposed the idea of catastrophism

James Ussher

Jovian Planets

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune large, less dense, gaseous

What is the difference between magma and lava

Lava is magma that erupts at Earth's surface

What is their order from the sun outward?

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Nachos

What catastrophic event is related to the K-T boundary

Meteorite impact 65 million years ago in the Yucatan peninsula - proposed by Luis and Walter Alvarez

What's the difference between and meteorodis and a meteorite

Meteoroids never enter Earth's atmosphere

Beta Emission

Neutron is converted to proton in the new daughter nucleus Atomic # is increased by 1 Mass number does not change

What elements are contained in the silicate mineral group

Oxygen, Silicon, Aluminum, Iron, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium

Electron capture

Proton is converted to neutron atomic # is decreased by 1 Mass number does not change

Which mineral group makes up most of the crust

Silicates

Dwarf planets

Small round bodies that orbit the sun but have not cleared the area around their orbits of other orbiting bodies

Stable vs. Unstable isotopes

Stable isotopes do not change over time; unstable isotopes and usually result in the formation of different elements

What is the "Big Bang" theory

The formation of the universe theory A big explosion created matter that led to the creation of matter that formed the galaxy and then the elements synthesized into a super nova

Uniformitarianism

Uniformitarianism is the principle that states the physical, chemical, and biological laws that operate today have also operated in the geological past. o "the present is the key to the past" o processes that happen today, have happened in the past in the same way.

How much material is left after 1 half-life, 2 half-lives, 3 half-lives

1 half-life = 50% parent; 50% daughter 2 half-lives =25% parent; 75% daughter 3 half-lives = 12.5% parent; 87.5% daughter

What are the basic steps in the Scientific Method?

1. Observation 2. Hypothesis 3. Prediction (repeat hypothesis) 4. Test 5. (IF THE TEST WORKS) becomes theory

What is the suggest age of the universe according to the Big Bang Theory

13.7 billion years

Georges Cuvier

1st to propose extinctionism

According to geologists, what is the suggested age of the solar system and Earth?

4.5 billion years

How old is the earth's moon?

4.5 billion years