Science Final Review
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Created by:
mjpsoccer20 on January 23, 2012
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141 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Element | a substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by ordinary chemical or physical means |
| Atomic Number | the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom |
| Compound | a substance formed by the chemical combination of two or more element in definite proportions and usually having properties different from those of its constituent elements |
| Ion | an atom or a molecule that possesses an electrical charge |
| Ionic Bond | a bond that forms between negative and positive ions |
| Covalent Bond | a bond that forms when atoms share electrons |
| Mineral | a naturally occurring, inorganic crystalline material with a unique chemical composition |
| Silicate | any one of numerous minerals that have the oxygen and silicon tetrahedron as their basic structure |
| Silicon-oxygen Tetrahedron | a structure composed of four oxygen atoms surrounding a silicon atom, which consitutes the basic building block of silicate minerals |
| Streak | the color of a mineral in powdered form |
| Luster | the apperance or quality of light reflected from the surface of a mineral |
| Crystal Form | the external appearance of a mineral as determined by its internal arrangement of atoms |
| Hardness | the resistance a mineral offers to scratching |
| Mohs Scale | a series of 10 minerals used as a standard in determining hardness |
| Cleavage | the tendency of a mineral to break along planes of weak bonding |
| Fracture | any break or rupture in rock along which no appreciable movement has taken place |
| Rock | a consolidated mixture of minerals |
| Igneous Rock | a rock formed by the crystallization of molten magma |
| Sedimentary Rock | rock formed from weathered products of preexisting rocks that have been transported, deposited, compacted, and cemented |
| Metamorphic Rock | rock formed by the alteration of preexisting rock deep within earth (but still in the solid state) by heat, pressure, and/or chemically active fluids |
| Rock Cycle | a model that illustrates the origin of the three basic rock types and the interrelatedness of Earth materials and processes |
| Magma | a body of molten rock found at depth including any dissolved gases and crystals |
| Lava | magma that reaches Earth's surface |
| Weathering | the disintegration and decomposition of rock at or near Earth's surface |
| Sediments | loose particles created by the weathering and erosion of rock, by chemical precipitation from solution in water, or from the secretions of organisms and transported by water, wind, or glaciares |
| Intrusive Igneous Rock | igneous rock that formed below Earths surface |
| Extrusive Igneous Rock | igneous rock that has formed on earths surface |
| Porphyritic Texture | the volcanic rock ejected during an eruption, inclyding ash, bombs, and blocks |
| Ultramafic | igneous rock composed mainly of iron and magnesium- rich minerals |
| Erosion | the incorporation and transportation of material by a mobile agent, such as water, wind, or ice |
| Deposition | the process by which an agent of eroison loses energy and drops the sediment it is carrying; also the process by which water vapor is changed directly to a solid without passing through the liquid state |
| Clastic Sedimentary Rock | a sedimentary rock of broken fragments of preexisting rock |
| Chemical Sedimentary Rock | sedimentary rock consisting of material that was precipitated from water by either inorganic or organic means |
| Metamorphism | the changes in mineral composition and texture of a rock subjected to high temperature and pressure within earth |
| Foliated Metamorphic Rock | a metamorphich rock with a texture that gives the rock a layered appearance |
| Nonfoliated Metamorphic Rock | metamorphic rock that does not exhibit a banded or layered appearance |
| Uniformitarianism | the concept that processes that have shaped earth in the past are essentially the same as those operating today |
| Relative dating | process by which rocks are placed in their proper sequence or order; Only chronological order of events is determined |
| Law of Superposition | States that in an underformed sequence of sedimentary rocks, each layer is older than the one above it and yonger that the one below |
| Principle of original horizontality | states that layers of sediment are generally deposited in a horizontal position |
| Principle of cross-cutting relationships | states that when a fault cuts through rock layers, or when magma intrudes other rocks and hardens then fault or intrustion is young than the rocks around it |
| Unconformity | a surface that represent a break in the rock record, caused by erosin or lack of deposition |
| Correlation | establishing the equivalence of rocks of similar age in different areas |
| Extinct | term used to descibe a type of organism that no longer exists anywhere on earth |
| Fossil | the remains or traces of an organism that no longer exists anywhere on earth |
| Principle of fossil succession | states that fossil organisms succed one another in a definite and determinable order |
| Theory of Evolution | states that life forms have changed over time, or evolved, from simpler to more complex forms |
| Natural Selection | process by which characteristics that make an individual better suited to its environment become more common in a species |
| Adaptation | a trait that helps an organism survive and reproduce |
| Index fossil | a fossil that is associated with a particular span of geologic time |
| Geologic Time Scale (GTS) | the division of earth history into blocksof time-eons, eras, periods, and epochs; this time scale was created using relative dating principles |
| Eon | the largest time unit on the geologic time scale, next in order of magnitude above era |
| Precambrian time | the long time span from earths formation to the beginning of the cambrian period; made up of hadean, archaean, and proterozoic |
| Era | a major division on the geologic time scale; eras are divided into shorter units called periods |
| Period | a basic unit of the geoloic time scale that is a subdivision of an era; periods may e divided into smaller units called epochs |
| Epoch | a unit of geologic time scale that is a subdivision of a period |
| Crust | the thin, rocky outer layer of earth, is divided into oceanic and continental crust |
| Mantle | a solid, rocky shell that extends to depth of 2890 kilometer |
| lithosphere | earths outermost layer consists of the crust and uppermost mantle and forms a relatively cool, ridgid shell |
| Asthenosphere | beneath the lithosphere |
| Outer Core | a liquid layer 2260 kilometers thick |
| Inner Core | is a sphere having a radius of 1220 kilometers |
| Moho | the boundary separates the crust from the underlying mantle |
| Continental Drift | a hypothesis that originally proposed that the continents had once been joined to form a single supercontinet the supercontinet broken into peices which drifted into their present-day positioins |
| Pangaea | the proposed supercontinet that 200 million years ago egan to break apart to form the present land mass |
| Mid Ocean Ridge | a continuous elevated zone on varying in width from 1000 to 4000 kilometers; divergent plate boundaries |
| Rift Valley | deep faulted structure found along the axes of divergent late boundaries; rift valleys can develop on the seafoor or on land |
| Sea Floor Spreading | the process by which plate tectonics produces new oceanic lithosphere at ocean ridges |
| Subduction | the process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a trench and back into the mantle at a colliding plate boundary |
| Paleomagnetism | the study of changes in earths magnetic feild as shown in patterns of magnetism in rocks that have formed oiver time |
| Plate | one of numerous rigid sections of the lithosphere that moves as a unit over the material of the asthenosphere |
| Plate Tectonics | the theory that proposes that earths outer shell consists of individual plates that interact in various ways and thereby produce earthquakes volcanoes mountains and the crust itself |
| Divergent Boundary | a region where the rigid plates are moving apart, typified by the oceanic ridges |
| Convergent Boundary | a boundary in which two plates move together |
| Transform Fault Boundary | a boundary in which two plates slide past each other without creating or destroying lithosphere |
| Continental Volcanic Arc | mountains formed in part by volcanic activity caused by the subduction of oceanic lithosphere beneath a continent |
| Volcanic Island Arc | a chain of volcanic islands generally located a few hundred kilometers from a trench where subduction of one oceanic slab beneath another is occurring |
| Convection Current | the motion of matter resulting from changes in temperature; this convection flow of material in the mantle is due to earths unequal heating and causes the tectonic plates to move |
| Earthquake | the vibration of earth produced by the rapid release of energy |
| Fault | a fracture in earth along which movement has occurred |
| Focus | the point within earth where an earthquake originates |
| Seismic Waves | vibrations that travel through earth carrying the energy released during an earthquake |
| Epicenter | the location on earths surface directly above the focus, or orgin, of an earthquake |
| Elastic rebound | tendency for deformed rock along a fault to spring back to its original shape after an earthquake |
| Aftershock | a small earthquake that follows the main earthquake |
| P-wave | earthquake wave that pushes and pulls rocks in the direction of the wave; also known as a compression wave |
| S-wave | a seismic wave that shakes particles perpendicular to the direction the wave is traveling |
| Surface wave | a seismic wave that travels along the surface of earth |
| Seismograph | an instrument that records seismic waves |
| Seismogram | the record made by a seismograph |
| Tsunami | the Japanese word for seismic sea waves |
| decompression melting | melting due to a drop in confining pressure that occurs as rock rises |
| Ring of Fire | volcano belt that rims the pacific ocean |
| intraplate volcanism | igneous activity that occurs within a tectonic plate away from plate boundaries |
| hot spot | a concentration of heat in the mantle capable of producing magma, which rises to earths surface |
| viscosity | a meausre of fluids resistance to flow |
| vent | an opening in the surface of earth thorugh which molten rock and gases are released |
| pyroclastic material | the volcanic rock ejected during an eruption, including ash,bombs, and blocks |
| volcano | a mountain formed of lava and/ or phyroclastic material |
| crater | the depression at the summit of a volcano or that which is produced by a meteorite impact |
| shield volcano | a broad, hently sloping volcano built rom fluid basaltic lavas |
| cinder cone | a small volcano built primarily of phyroclastic material ejected from a single vent |
| composite cone | a colcano composed of both lava flows and pyroclastic material |
| caldera | a large depression typically caused by collapse or ejection of the summit area of a volcano |
| volcanic neck | hardened magma in a volcano's pipe |
| lava plateau | landform produced by repeated eruptions of fluid basaltic magma that builds up in thick layers |
| lahar | mudflow made up of water-soaked volcanic ash and rock |
| pluton | an instrucsice igneous structure that results from the cooling and hardening of magma beneath the surface of earth |
| sill | a tabular igneous body formed with magma is injected along sedimentary bedding surfaces |
| laccolith | a massive igneous body intruded between pre existing strata |
| dike | a tabular-shaped intrusive igneous feature that occurs when magma is injected into fractures in the surrounding rock, cutting across preexisting rock layers |
| batholith | a large mass of igneous rock that formed when magma intruded at depth, became crystallized, and subsequently was exposed by erosion; batholiths have surce exposure greater than 100 square kilometers |
| renewable resource | a resource that is virtually inexhaustible or that can be replenished over relatively short time spans |
| nonrenewable resource | resource that takes millions of years to form |
| fossil fuel | general term for any hydrocarbon that may be used as a fuel, including coal, oil, and natural gas |
| ore | a material form which a useful mineral or minerals can be mined at a profit |
| solar energy | radiant energy admitted by the sun |
| nuclear energy | energy created by nuclear substances |
| wind energy | energy produced by wind |
| hydroelectric power | the power generated by falling water |
| geothermal energy | energy that can be extracted from earths internal heat, for example, natural steam used for power generation |
| tidal power | power produced by waves |
| point source pollution | water pollution that comes from a known a specific location |
| nonpoint source pollution | water pollution that does not have a specific point of orgin |
| runoff | water that flows over the land surface rather than seeping into the ground |
| global warming | the increase in average temperatures of Earth and the atmosphere due in part to increased carbon dioxide levels |
| conservation | the careful use of resources |
| compost | partly decomposed organic material that is used as a fertilizer |
| recycling | the collecting and processing of used items so they can be made into new products |
| mechanical weathering | the physical disintegration of rock, resulting in smaller gragments |
| frost wedging | the mechanical breakup of rock caused by the expansion of freezing water in cracks and crevices |
| talus | an accumulation of rock debris at the base of a cliff |
| exfoliation | type of weathering caused by reducing pressure on a rock surface, allowing slabs of outer rock to break off in layers |
| chemical weathering | the process by which the internal structure of a mineral is alteredby the removal and/ or addition of elements |
| regolith | the layer of rock and mineral fragments that nearly eyerwhere covers earths surface |
| water cycle | the constant movement of water among the oceans the atmosphere geosphere and the biosphere |
| infiltration | the movement of surface water into rock or soil through cracks and pore spaces |
| tributary | a form of limestone that is deposited by hot springs or as a cave deposit |
| Eye Wall | the doughnut-shaped area of intense cumulonimbus development and very strong winds that surrounds the eye of a hurricane |
| Eye | a zone of scattered clouds and clam averaging about 20 kilometers in diameter at the center of a hurricane |
| Storm Surge | the abnormal rise of the sea along a shore as a result of strong winds |
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