Exam 1: An Introduction to Geology

What property of the crust allowed it to form as the exterior of Earth?

List three cycles that recycle material repeatedly and are part of the Earth system.

The ________ is a flooded margin of the continent.

Changes in one part of the Earth system can influence processes in other parts of the system.Sometimes these changes can be minor, but sometimes they can be severe.How might a change in the hydrosphere affect the geosphere and the biosphere?

Which of the following is not one of the roles of the atmosphere?

Express the definition of the Earth system in your own words.What spheres or subsystems are involved?

The debris from the Big Bang was made almost entirely of ________.

If the age of a mountain range is inversely proportional to its height, in what two regions are the youngest mountain ranges found today?

Illustrate how soil can be considered a part of all four of Earth's spheres.

What is the definition of planetary differentiation?

________ is the concept that describes how the Earth was shaped by sudden, violent events over a short period of time.

The majority of water in the hydrosphere is found in which feature?

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the doctrine of catastrophism was used to describe how the Earth had been shaped quickly by fast, violent catastrophes and was therefore very young.In the eighteenth century, James Hutton developed the principle of uniformitarianism, which stated that the Earth was shaped by small, gradual changes occurring over a long period of time, making the Earth much older.Which view (if either)is correct, and why?

Which layer of the Earth is the thickest?

What is the scientifically accepted age of the formation of the universe?

Which characteristics are used to determine the processes that created a rock?

What is a scientific theory? Explain how a scientific theory differs from the way most nonscientists use the word theory in everyday language.

Because the early Earth was a large sphere of magma, the earliest rocks that formed here were recycled into the mantle long ago.What is the age of the oldest radiometrically dated rocks discovered on the planet? (Or, what is the age of the oldest remaining rocks on Earth?)

Which layer of the Earth is the thinnest?

________ describes Earth's origins and its development through time.