Earth Science - Dynamic Structure of Earth

1) Atmosphere 2) Lithosphere 3) Hydrosphere 4) Biosphere

1) A layer of mixed gases surrounding Earth 2) The solid, crustal layer of Earth 3) All water (gas, solid, liquid) of Earth 4) The sphere of Earth that includes all living things

1) Asthenosphere 2) Continental crust 3) Convection 4) Lithosphere 5) Oceanic crust 6) Plate tectonics

1) The outer layer of the mantle; made up of plastic or semi-molten rock 2) The part of Earth's crust that forms landmasses 3) Process of heat transfer by the circulation or movement of a gas, liquid, or plastic material 4) Earth's crust and rigid portion of uppermost mantle 5) The part of Earth's crust located beneath the oceans and seas 6) The theory that the lithosphere is broken into pieces that float on the asthenosphere

Trace the flow of energy by numbering the following events from start to finish.

1) The sun emits energy. 2) Plants absorb energy from the sun and use it for photosynthesis. 3) A rabbit eats the plants and uses the energy for growth and respiration. 4) A fox eats the rabbit and uses the energy for growth and respiration. 5) The fox dies and is decomposed.

What would Earth lack if Earth didn't have a liquid outer core?

Its magnetic field

Which layer of Earth acts as a very effective "insulator," because it's made of rock?

Mantle

_____ converts ammonium into nitrates, while _____ converts nitrates into nitrogen gas.

Nitrification denitrification

The supercontinent that existed about 200 million years ago was named _____.

Pangaea

What's the name of the "super continent" that broke up about 225 million years ago?

Pangea

The hydrologic, rock, and tectonic cycles are powered by two main energy sources. They are the _____.

Sun and interior of Earth (core)

The type of tectonic plate boundary that occurs when two plates are colliding into each other is known as a

convergent boundary

The Mid-Atlantic Ocean Ridge is an example of a _____.

divergent boundary

Wegener named the supercontinent Pangaea, which means _____.

"all lands"

1) Carbon 2) Tectonic 3) Nitrogen 4) Rock 5) Phosphorus 6) Hydrologic

1) A biogeochemical cycle that cycles material by photosynthesis, respiration, and the food chain 2) A geochemical cycle that cycles material by mantle convection, subduction, and seafloor spreading 3) A biogeochemical cycle that cycles material by fixation, assimilation, ammonification, nitrification, denitrification, and the food chain 4) A geochemical cycle that cycles material by weathering, erosion, deposition, cementation, and metamorphism 5) A biogeochemical cycle that cycles material by weathering, erosion, tectonic activity, and the food chain 6) A biogeochemical cycle that cycles material by evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and transpiration

1) Continental drift 2) Glossopteris 3) Mesosaurus 4) Pangaea 5) Panthalassa 6) Seafloor spreading

1) Theory proposed by Alfred Wegener that the continents once formed a single supercontinent that broke up and drifted apart 2) Ancient, extinct plant species found on the continents of South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica 3) Small, extinct land reptile whose fossil remains have been found in western Africa and eastern South America 4) Meaning "all lands"; name of the supercontinent that is theorized to have contained all of the current continents in a single landmass 5) Meaning "all seas"; name of the single, large ocean that surrounded Pangaea 6) Process by which the Earth's lithospheric plates pull apart from each other, creating gaps that are filled with magma from the asthenosphere

After millions of years, sedimentary rock containing phosphorus is uplifted from plate tectonic activity. Follow the phosphorus molecules found in the rock through the whole phosphorus cycle, by numbering the steps that would follow.

1) Weathering and erosion of the rock deposits the phosphorus into water. 2) Aquatic plants absorb and assimilate the dissolved phosphorus. 3) A fish eats aquatic plants. 4) The fish is caught and eaten by a bear. 5) The bear, after a fruitful life, dies from old age. 6) Decomposition of the dead bear releases phosphorus into the soil. 7) Soil washes into a lake, where it sinks to the bottom to become sedimentary rock.

During spring, when Earl's crops were plentiful, he noticed an increased number of rabbits. At night, he also heard an increased number of howls from the coyotes. What do you think will happen when winter comes around and the crops die out?

Both the rabbit and coyote population could decrease because the original food supply decreased.

All fossil fuels contain this element.

Carbon

Identify the fossil fuel.

Coal

The Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States appear to be a part of the same mountain range that continues in _____.

Great Britain and Scandinavia

______ converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonium, which plants absorb. The plants, by ______, incorporate the ammonium into proteins.

Nitrogen fixation assimilation

Which of the following was confirmation that Wegener's hypothesis was correct?

Seafloor spreading

Which type of geoscientist interprets data from certain instruments to help detect earthquakes and identify fault lines?

Seismologist

A plant absorbs energy from the sun. Where does the energy go from there?

Some of the energy is stored in the plant's tissues and the rest is released as heat energy.

_____ occurs at convergent boundaries, where one layer of crust sinks into the asthenosphere when it collides with another layer of crust.

Subduction

Which of the following is an example of energy changing from one form to another?

a fire

The area where one plate sinks into the asthenosphere underneath another plate is known as _____.

a subduction zone

The type of plate boundary that causes tremors and earthquakes in California is _____.

a transform boundary

The layer of the earth where mantle convection occurs and on which the earth's crust rests is the _____.

asthenosphere

The study of underwater depth of lake or ocean floors is called _____.

bathymetry

Which sphere is dependent on all the other spheres in order to exist?

biosphere

When an animal dies and decomposes, its nutrients are absorbed into the soil. Plants use these nutrients to live and grow. This is an example of _____.

biosphere and lithosphere interaction

A shear wave (S wave) is a type of seismic _____ that shakes the ground back and forth perpendicular to the direction the wave is moving.

body wave

The scientist's hypothesis that all of the continents were previously one large continent until something caused them to move apart is called _____.

continental drift

Which of the following convergent boundaries would most likely create a non-volcanic mountain range?

continental/continental

The process of heat transfer thought to be responsible for the movement of the lithospheric plates on the surface of the earth is _____.

convection

Mantle convection is a circulation of the heat emitted by the earth's _____.

core

In summary, the first and second laws of thermodynamics state that energy can't be _____ or destroyed, it just changes forms. When energy changes forms, some energy becomes unusable _____ energy.

created heat

The hydrologic, rock, and tectonic cycles are all interconnected. In the rock cycle, water moves regolith during _____, and the tectonic cycle resurfaces rock through _____.

erosion uplifting

The hydrologic cycle maintains a balance of Earth's water because _____.

evaporation of water is equal to precipitation of water

In the hydrologic cycle, water evaporates into the atmosphere. It then condenses and falls to the ground as precipitation. How can the water return to the atmosphere?

evaporation or transpiration

Mr. Jones, the science teacher, tells his students that energy cannot be created; it must be captured from the environment. He is talking about the _____.

first law of thermodynamics

Besides plants and animals, wood and _____ can be _____ to release carbon into the air.

fossil fuels burned

A transform boundary occurs where two tectonic plates _____.

grind along each other

This sphere is home to the largest portion of animal life on Earth.

hydrosphere

You live on the beach, which always seems to be humid, especially on hot, sunny days. But, that's because when the ocean heats up, some of its water evaporates into water vapor, making the air thick and slightly "wet." This interaction is an example of _____.

hydrosphere and atmosphere interaction

Colossal Cave was formed years ago by underground running water. Today, it is the home to many animals, like bats. These interactions are an example of _____.

hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere interaction

The hottest layer of the earth is the _____.

inner core

Geologists theorize that the Earth's center consists of predominantly which metal?

iron

The person holding the bow and arrow has now let go. The arrow shoots forward toward its target. What type of energy is being described?

kinetic

Carl is on an expedition to the bottom of the ocean. As the submersible sets down on the ocean floor, it is resting on what layer of the earth?

lithosphere

The availability of phosphorus is different that that of carbon and nitrogen because it is found mostly in the _____.

lithosphere

The layer of the earth that forms the earth's plates is the _____.

lithosphere

The layer of the earth that is composed of large plates that interlock and move over time is the _____.

lithosphere

As subduction occurs, the oceanic crust moves from the _____ toward a _____.

mid-ocean ridge deep-ocean trench

Earth's mantle experiences convection currents that cause plates to move. Which of the following are the result(s) of the movements?

mountain ranges volcanoes deep-ocean trenches

Although nitrogen gas makes up 78% of the atmosphere, we can't use it because _____.

nitrogen atoms must be broken apart first

Glossopteris is an ancient, extinct species of _____ found in South America, Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica.

plant

The ability of solid rock to flow is called _____.

plasticity

Picture a person standing with a drawn bow and arrow. He is aiming it at a bull's eye target. What type of energy is being described?

potential

Scientific models must be able to generate _____.

predictions

Living organisms that are able to make their own food are _____.

producers

According to the second law of thermodynamics, heat energy released by an organism is _____.

released into the environment and unusable

At a mid-ocean ridge, a crack forms along the oceanic crust causing _____.

seafloor spreading

The process by which lithospheric plates move apart creating spaces that are filled with hot magma is called _____.

seafloor spreading

The tectonic cycle describes the movement of Earth's crust. Recycled "new" oceanic crust is formed by _____ at divergent boundaries.

seafloor spreading

The flow of energy in an ecosystem starts with _____ and then follows the food chain and ends with the _____ consumer.

sunlight tertiary

Earth's outermost layer is separated into a dozen or more large and small slabs, called _____.

tectonic plates

You are a _____ consumer if you feed on secondary consumers.

tertiary

Most energy in an ecosystem comes originally from _____.

the Sun

What is the definition of energy?

the ability to do work

Fault lines are _____.

the crust of the lithosphere that has fractured along plate boundaries and ridges

Ecosystems usually become balanced by natural controls, including natural selection. A balanced ecosystem is one in which _____.

the first organism on the food chain must outnumber the subsequent organisms on the food chain.

A food chain or food web can provide good information like _____.

the flow of energy in an ecosystem the eating patterns of organisms

All spheres of Earth are interrelated or interdependent. This means _____.

they all depend on each other to function; an impact to one sphere usually affects another

Plants are able to release water back into the atmosphere by a process called _____.

transpiration

During the process of a subduction, the older oceanic crust is pulled by gravity down beneath the _____ and back into the _____.

trench mantle

An area where the earth's crust would be expected to be thin would be _____.

under the Pacific Ocean

When two oceanic plates collide, it creates _____.

volcanoes

The discovery of tropical plant and animal fossils in Antarctica support the idea that at one time this continent supported a _____ climate.

warmer

The tectonic and rock cycles recycle the lithosphere. The tectonic cycle includes the processes of seafloor spreading, subduction, and mantle convection. The rock cycle includes the processes of _____.

weathering, erosion, sedimentation, and metamorphism

The best example of how neighboring continents seem to fit together like jigsaw puzzle pieces is _____.

Africa and South America

The person who suggested that the continents were once a supercontinent, called Pangaea, that slowly drifted apart was _____.

Alfred Wegener

The scientist who proposed the idea of continental drift was _____.

Alfred Wegener

The geosphere refers to the _____.

Crust, mantle, and core, at the same time.

_____ are essential to recycling life materials because without them matter would pile up rather than recycle.

Decomposers

The main consequence of the many cycles of Earth, such as the life cycle, biogeochemical , and geochemical cycles is _____.

maintaining a balace or equilibrium on earth

1) Convection 2) Plate tectonics 3) Lithosphere 4) Mantle 5) Asthenosphere 6) Bathymetry 7) Mid-ocean ridge

1) The transfer of heat through a fluid; a circular motion that occurs when warmer (less dense) air or liquid rises, while the cooler air or liquid sinks. 2) Theory that states that the Earth's outermost layer is broken into a dozen or more slabs of varying sizes or tectonic plates, that are moving comparably to each other as they move a top of hotter mantle material (called the asthenosphere). 3) The solid-rock outer section of Earth, which includes Earth's crust and the cool, dense, and rigid upper mantle. 4) The layer of Earth's interior that is mostly solid located between the core and crust. It makes up a whopping 84% of Earth's total volume. 5) A layer of the mantle beneath the lithosphere composed of denser semi-solid rock. 6) The study of underwater depth of lake or ocean floors 7) Chains of underwater (submarine) volcanoes and rift valleys formed when molten rocks (magma) come into contact with seawater. It is also known as the Oceanic Spreading Ridge or spreading centers.

The amount of energy that is transferred at each level of the food chain is about _____.

10%

About how much energy is transferred between a producer and primary consumer?

10% of the plant's energy is transferred

The plate tectonic theory can best be described as _____.

earth's natural process by which its lithospheric plates slowly move about because of movement in the asthenosphere

1) Plate Tectonic Model 2) Biological Evolutionary Model 3) Geoscientists 4) Primary wave 5) Secondary (or shear) wave 6) Seismograph 7) Seismograms

1) A model that explains how the continents used to fit together like jigsaw pieces. This is the origin of many earthquakes and volcanoes and explains the global distribution of some living things. 2) A model that explains how existing species arise from earlier species through the mechanism of natural selection. 3) Scientists who study the composition, structure, and other physical aspects of the Earth, as well as Earth's geologic history and present by using specific instruments to examine the composition of Earth, rock, and water. They use the principles of physics, mathematics, and chemistry to study not only the Earth's surface, but also its internal composition, ground and surface waters, oceans, atmosphere, and magnetic, electrical, and gravitational forces. 4) The fastest kind of seismic wave, and consequently, the first to arrive at a seismic station. Primary waves can move through solid rock and fluids. 5) A seismic 'body wave' that shakes the ground back and forth perpendicular to the direction the wave is moving. Secondary waves are slower than the primary waves and arrive after the primary waves from the epicenter. 6) A machine which tells us about the strength and speed of seismic waves. 7) Recordings made by a seismograph

Think about a carbon atom that is released into the atmosphere from burning wood in a campfire. If it were to go through the whole carbon cycle, number the steps that would follow.

1) A tree absorbs the carbon from the atmosphere into its leaves for photosynthesis. 2) A caterpillar gets the carbon by eating the tree's leaves. 3) A bird gets the carbon by eating the caterpillar. 4) The bird flies into a building and dies instantly. It falls to the ground. 5) The bird decomposes and the carbon returns to the atmosphere.

1) Convergent boundary 2) Divergent boundary 3) Fault line 4) Subduction zone 5) Transform boundary

1) Area where tectonic plates meet and push against each other 2) Area where tectonic plates are moving away from each other 3) Area along plate boundaries and ridges where the crust of the lithosphere is fractured 4) Area where an oceanic plate sinks into the asthenosphere under another plate 5) Area where tectonic plates slide sideways past each other

1) Decomposers 2) Food Chain 3) Food Web 4) Kinetic 5) Potential 6) Primary Consumer 7) Secondary Consumer

1) Bacteria and fungi that break down dead matter 2) Line of plants and animals that shows the order in which organisms are eaten 3) A diagram that shows the connections among food chains in an ecosystem 4) Related to or possessing motion 5) Something possible; ability to go into action or perform work 6) Organisms that eat producers 7) Organisms that eat primary consumers

Think about a drop of water in the ocean. If it were to go through the whole hydrologic cycle, number the steps that would follow.

1) Evaporation would change the drop of water to water vapor, a gas, which would rise into the atmosphere. 2) The atmosphere is cooler, so the drop of water would change from a gas back to a liquid through condensation. 3) As more water vapor condenses into liquid, the drop of water will eventually drop to Earth's surface as precipitation. 4) The drop of water falls to the ground as rain and is absorbed as groundwater. 5) The groundwater flows into a river which empties back into the ocean.

1) Inner core 2) Outer core 3) Lower mantle 4) Upper mantle 5) Crust

1) Innermost region of the earth; composed of solid iron 2) Layer immediately outside the inner core; composed of liquid iron and sulfur 3) Innermost layer of the two mantle layers; composed of rock and cooler than the core 4) Outermost layer of the two mantle layers; includes the asthenosphere and lower lithosphere 5) The outermost layer that forms the surface of the earth

1) Ammonification 2) Assimilation 3) Denitrification 4) Nitrification 5) Nitrogen fixation 6) Photosynthesis 7) Respiration

1) Process by which certain bacteria convert organic nitrogen into ammonia and ammonium salts during decomposition 2) Process by which plants or animals convert nutrients into usable organic compounds, such as proteins 3) Process by which certain bacteria convert nitrates into nitrogen gas 4) Process by which certain bacteria convert ammonium into nitrates 5) Process by which certain bacteria in the soil convert nitrogen gas into ammonia and ammonium 6) Process by which green plants convert carbon dioxide, water, and energy from the Sun into sugars 7) Process by which living cells produce usable energy from food

1) Deposition 2) Equilibrium 3) Hydrologic Cycle 4) Metamorphism 5) Rock Cycle 6) Transpiration 7) Weathering

1) Process by which sediment flows into a reservoir 2) Two opposing forces in balance or when two opposite processes occur at equal rates 3) A natural and continuous cycle of Earth that recycles and distributes Earth's water; often called the water cycle 4) Process of intense heat and pressure which changes igneous or sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock 5) Natural and continuous cycle of Earth that recycles Earth's minerals 6) The process by which plants give off water vapor 7) Process that breaks down rock through physical and chemical changes

Think about an igneous rock at the top of a mountain. If this rock went through the whole rock cycle, number the steps that would follow.

1) Rock is broken down into regolith by weathering. 2) Regolith is transported or eroded by rain or wind. 3) Regolith is dumped into some type of reservoir, usually water, by deposition. 4) Layers deposited begin to compact and cement together to form sedimentary rock. 5) Sedimentary rock is buried deeper into the earth's crust. The intense heat and pressure begins metamorphism and the rock turns into metamorphic rock. 6) Metamorphic rock begins to melt back into magma. 7) Magma is resurfaced from volcanic activity, cools, and becomes igneous rock.

1) Asthenosphere 2) Core 3) Crust 4) Geosphere 5) Inner core 6) Lithosphere 7) Lower mantle

1) The layer immediately surrounding the lower mantle; composed of molten rock 2) Innermost layer of the earth; divided into an inner and outer core 3) The outermost layer that forms the surface of the earth; upper part of the lithosphere 4) All of the layers of Earth's interior and crust 5) Innermost region of the earth; composed of solid iron 6) The cool, rigid shell that includes the crust and uppermost mantle; composed of plates that move around on the underlying, plastic asthenosphere 7) Innermost layer of the two mantle layers; composed of rock and cooler than the core