Download Really Important Diagrams to understand for the Earth Science

Name: _________________________
Earth Science
Date: _________
Top 10 Ways to Succeed on the Earth Science Regents… according to Mrs. DiLallo
Before the test:
1. Study with people! Set up review sessions with your friends to quiz each other or reteach each other
what you’re struggling with. Remember that many heads are better than one! Also, keep in mind that I will
be holding review sessions where you can study with your friends and ask me questions at the same time.
2. Use Castle Learning! You can quiz yourself while getting immediate feedback on why an answer is or is
not correct. If you need help deciding what topics to focus on, ask me for help!
3. Use your review book! Although you may not have used it all year, it’s still there and it’s still a great
resource. Read through the chapters you’re struggling on since it has very concise summaries and very good
practice questions. If you ever want to know what the answers are, email me the chapter and section of the
questions you’re working on and I will gladly give you the answers.
4. Actually study!! Nobody’s perfect, so you’re bound to forget a few things over the course of the year.
That means it’s crucial that you look over information from EVERY unit we’ve studied. If you can’t find all of
your notes, I’ve left up all of the PowerPoints from the year on my website under “Important Documents.”
There are also many games and visualizations to practice with on my website under “Useful Links.”
During the test:
5. Check your work! REMEMBER YOUR UNITS AND LABELS!! Please don’t lose silly points for things like
forgetting or improperly labeling units in your written answers or on graph axes. Follow ALL directions that
are given (for example, if it says put an X… put an X!), and use your ESRT for help.
6. Answer all questions! You don’t lose points for wrong answers, so it is ALWAYS better to take a guess
than to leave an answer blank. Eliminate as many choices as possible before answering a multiple choice
(just taking out one gives you a one in three chance of getting it right!). Reread part 2 questions for clues to
use in the ESRT to give your best guess.
7. Skip the questions that are giving you trouble for now! Leave it blank with a notation to go back to it until
you’ve gone through the whole test. Many times another question on the test may clarify or jog your
memory for the problematic question.
8. Read ALL parts of questions! You have plenty of time, so don’t rush through and skip words that may be
important clues to what they are really asking! Be sure to answer questions appropriately – be aware of the
differences between “state,” “explain,” “how,” “why,” etc.
9. USE YOUR REFERENCE TABLE!! Remember that best friend you’ve had around all year? Make sure you
are still acquainted! MANY answers can be found or double-checked by finding the right information in the
ESRT. If you are not sure of what a vocabulary word means, it’s very possible that if you take a look at
where it is on a reference table chart you can figure it out!
10. Have confidence in yourself! You’ve made it this far, so you can certainly make it through 3 more hours!
The test will be very similar to the tests and quizzes you’ve seen all year, so you’ve had plenty of practice.
Your first impulse is usually right, so trust yourself and remember to breathe!
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Really Important Diagrams and Concepts to
Understand for the Earth Science Regents Exam!
GEOLOGY, GEOMORPHOLOGY, & GEOGRAPHY:
Question and Diagram:
1. What landform is found at point X, where the Mississippi River enters the
Gulf of Mexico?
2. Notice the Great Lakes are not part of the Mississippi Drainage Basin, what
body of water do they drain into?
3. Since the Ohio, Missouri, and Arkansas Rivers all flow into the Mississippi,
they are considered ________________.
Answer and explanation:
Delta
Atlantic Ocean (northern)
Tributaries
The youngest rock is in the
middle (at ridge) and it gets
older on either side as you
move away in a
symmetrical pattern.
4. How does the age of the seafloor compare on either side of the ridge?
5. What do the “+” and “-” signs refer to?
Magnetic pole reversals (+
= normal, - = reversed)
Plateau (moderate elevation,
horizontal bedrock)
6. What kind of landscape region is this?
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Question and Diagram:
7. List the volcanic islands in order of increasing age.
8. What is a possible age of island B?
9. Name a chain of islands that has formed in a similar way.
Answer and explanation:
A = youngest
B
C
D = oldest
Anything less than 8 million
years old
Hawaii
Oceanic is denser than
continental
10. Compare the density of the oceanic crust to continental crust.
11. What kind of plate boundary is this?
convergent
12. Describe the relative motion of the tectonic plates here.
Come together
13. What kind of lava will be extruded from the volcanoes that form here?
(felsic, mafic, or andesitic)
14. Where in the Americas is this happening?
Felsic (coming from the
land)
West coast of USA
Southeast – contour lines
are bending in the opposite
direction of stream flow
15. Which way is Hammer Stream flowing? Explain.
Mass movement (from
gravity)
16. What is the name for this category of erosion?
17. Why is this considered erosion & not weathering?
Sediment and rocks are
being moved (not broken)
3
Question and Diagram:
18. What controls the speed of the sediment? (referring to settling rates)
Answer and explanation:
Size, Density, Shape
Diagram A: Old-Age
Diagram B: Youtful
Diagram C: Mature
19. What are the names for the stages of this streams development?
20. Compare the velocity of the stream in diagram A to Diagram B.
21. If a glacier were to advance into the valley of Diagram B, how would the
shape of the valley change?
The velocity is much lower
for A (more meanders)
Instead of a V-shape it
would be a U-shape
Ig: Solidification of magma
Sed: Cementation of
fragments of other rocks
22. What is the method (process) of formation for each type of rock?
23. If they were drawn to actual size, what is the texture of the Each rock?
Meta: Heat and/or pressure
is applied to an existing
rock
Ig: Coarse
Sed: Clastic
Meta: Foliated (banding)
24. If they were drawn actual size, is the igneous rock intrusive or extrusive?
Explain.
Intrusive – large (visible)
mineral crystals cool slowly
4.6 billion years ago
25. How long ago did the Precambrian Eon begin?
26. How many millions of years ago did the Paleozoic Era begin?
~550 million years ago
27. Approximately how long have humans been on Earth?
Less than 1.8 million years
4
Question and Diagram:
28. What event marked the boundary between the Mesozoic and the
Cenozoic?
29. List the Periods that make up the Mesozoic from most recent to most
ancient.
Answer and explanation:
Mass extinction of
dinosaurs, ammonoids, etc.
Cretaceous = recent
Jurassic
Triassic = ancient
A has rounded features and
what appears to be a river
valley. B has angular
features.
30. What evidence in the diagram suggests that “A” is a humid region & “B”
is an arid region?
No – they were originally
deposited flat and
horizontally and were then
folded.
31. Were the rock units formed in this pattern?
32. What kind of tectonic forces could produce a landscape like this?
Convergence
33. Were these rock units folded, faulted, or tilted?
Folded
The gradient of the land is
steeper (contour lines are
closer together)
34. How do you know copper creek is flowing faster between points N & M,
than between points L & K?
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Question and Diagram:
35. What is the elevation for point A?
Answer and explanation:
10 meters
36. What is the highest possible elevation for the island in the NW corner of
the map?
37. What is the distance between points D & E?
29 meters
38. Calculate the gradient between points B & C.
(50-50m)/2.5km = 0 m/km
A
•
39. Why are the sediments sorted as shown in the diagram?
40. If the size of the sediment at point “A” is 0.02 centimeters, how fast was
the current there?
2.5km
The velocity of the stream
decreased, so the biggest
particles were dropped first
and the smallest particles
dropped last.
1 cm/sec
Oldest:
8
6
5
7
•
A
4 (no contact metamorphism
on top of 7)
3
2
Youngest: 1
41. List the eight rock units in order from oldest to youngest
42. What is line A – A’ called?
unconformity
43. What kind of rock would be found at point A?
Marble (metamorphism of
limestone)
Cryptolythus
44. If layer #4 was formed during the Ordovician, which trilobite index fossil
might be found within that rock unit?
6
Question and Diagram:
Answer and explanation:
Moraine sediment:
unsorted
Outwash sediment:
sorted
45. Describe the differences in sediment between the Moraines and the
Outwash.
46. Approximately how long ago was the glaciation period that produced these ~.01 million yrs ago
moraines?
(10,000)
ASTRONOMY:
Question and Diagram:
Answer and explanation:
47. Draw what an observer would see if the moon were at
positions 3, 6, 8, & 2.
48. Which position is the new moon?
1
49. Which position is the full moon?
5
50. How long does it take for the moon to travel once around
the Earth?
27.3 days
51. How long is a complete cycle of phases?
29-30 days (lag because Earth is also
revolving around Sun)
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Question and Diagram:
Answer and explanation:
52 degrees North
52. What is the latitude of this person?
Lunar: B (Earth is blocking
sunlight)
Solar: D (Moon is blocking
sunlight)
53. In which position could a lunar eclipse occur? Solar Eclipse?
High tides are very high,
low tides are very low
(large range)  spring tide
54. Describe the tidal range for diagram 1.
55. What is the special name given for the tidal range in diagram 3?
Neap tide
56. Why does the moon have more influence on the tides than the sun?
Moon is closer
57. Approximately how much time is there between consecutive high tides?
12 hours (2 highs per day)
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Question and Diagram:
58. What is the fate of our sun?
59. What property of a star determines which path it will follow?
Answer and explanation:
It will become a red giant,
then a white dwarf, then a
black dwarf.
Mass
60. Compare the temperature of a red giant to the temperature of a white
dwarf.
61. Position #2 on the diagram represents what stage of a star’s life?
Red giant much cooler
62. What is the name of the reaction that generates light & energy in all stars?
Nuclear fusion
Main-sequence
Rotation
63. The pendulum is used to prove which motion of the earth?
64. At the north pole what would be the rate at which the pendulum appears to
change direction? At the Equator?
N. Pole:
15 degrees per hour
Equator:
0 degrees per hour
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Star is moving away (redshifted)
65. What was the relative motion of this star compared to the observer?
66. What was inferred when the same results were noticed by analyzing
spectrum from galaxies?
The universe is expanding
67. What is the name of our galaxy? What is its shape?
Name: Milky Way
Shape: Spiral
Perihelion
(closest)
Stronger
Aphelion
(farthest)
Weaker
Faster
Slower
Larger
Smaller
Gravitational
Force:
Orbital
Velocity:
68. Describe in general the gravitational force on Earth, orbital
velocity of Earth and the apparent diameter of the Sun at
perihelion & aphelion.
Apparent
Diameter of
the sun:
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SEASONS & INSOLATION:
Question and Diagram:
Answer and explanation:
A: 12/21 (N. hemisphere pointed
away from Sun)
B: 3/21 (neither axis pointed away
from Sun, going from winter to
summer)
C: 6/21 (N. hemisphere pointed
toward Sun)
69. What are the dates for each position?
D: 9/23 (neither axis pointed away
from Sun, going from summer to
winter)
70. How many complete rotations does the earth make during one
complete trip about the sun (orbit)?
71. In which position is Earth the greatest distance from the sun?
365
72. What is the approximate local time for New York City for all
four positions?
A: ~7:30am
B: ~3am
C: ~7:30pm
D: ~3pm
A: S of E
B: E
C: N of E
D: E
Date: 12/21
73. In what direction would an observer in NY have to look to see
the sunrise for all four positions?
C (distance doesn’t affect season)
Season in NY: Winter
74. What is the date represented? What season is it in NY?
75. What latitude is receiving the most direct insolation?
23.5 degrees South
76. In 3 months, how will the intensity of insolation change for NY?
(3/21) – Intensity will increase
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A: Shortest (look at how much of
the latitude line are in the nighttime
and daytime sides)
E: Middle
E•
C: Longest
77. Compare the length of day for points A, E, & C.
78. In 6 months, what will the length of day be for location E?
About 14 hours (more than half)
12/21: Lowest
9/23: Middle
6/21: Highest
79. Compare the intensity of insolation for all three sun’s paths.
80. State the direction of sunrise and sunset for all three sun’s paths.
June 21: N of E; N of W
September 23: Directly E and W
December 21: S of E; S of W
81. On which date would the observer cast the longest shadow at
solar noon?
82. Which direction would the observers shadow point just after
sunrise on December 21st?
83. If the person were to travel 10° of latitude closer to the equator,
how would the sun’s path change?
12/21 (lowest angle of insolation)
NW (Sun is in the SE)
Altitude would be higher, path
would be longer
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CLIMATE & GROUNDWATER:
Question and Diagram:
84. Compare the climatic conditions on the windward and leeward
sides of a mountain.
85. Explain why the clouds form on the windward side.
86. What is process “A”?
87. What is the name of the process for the arrow directly under
“X”?
88. What is the name of the process for the arrow connected to point
“Y”?
89. What is the name for the process that created the clouds?
90. What is the name for the arrow pointing upward from the ocean?
91. Compare the permeability of A, B, & C.
92. Compare the porosity of A, B, & C.
93. Compare the capillarity of A, B, & C.
Answer and explanation:
Windward: Cool, moist
Leeward: Hot, dry
Air is rising and cooling by
expansion (cools to dew point,
condensation occurs)
Transpiration
Infiltration
Runoff
Condensation
Evaporation
C is most permeable (large particles
= large pores) and A is least
They are all equal
A has the greatest (smallest
particles) and C has the least
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WEATHER:
Question and Diagram:
•E
94. What is the Temperature, Dew Pt, Cloud cover,
Wind direction, & Wind speed at A, B, C, & D?
Answer and explanation:
Temp
(degrees
F)
Dew Pt
(degrees
F)
Cloud
Cover
(%)
Wind
Dir
(from)
Wind
Sp.
(knots)
A
91
80
50
SW
20
B
75
65
50
NNW
20
C
70
45
0
NW
10
D
78
65
0
SE
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95. What type of front extends to the southwest of
the low pressure system?
96. What type of front extends to the southeast of
the low pressure system?
97. What was the likely source region for the air
mass over location A?
98. If the low pressure system follows a typical
path, which location will it likely move toward?
99. Make a forecast for point E.
Cold
100. State a possible atmospheric pressure for
location A.
101. Describe the general air circulation around a
Low Pressure system.
102. If the barometric pressure at Station D was
reported to be 1013.5mb, where and in what form
would that appear on the station model?
1018 mb (anything between 1020 and 1016mb)
Warm
Gulf of Mexico
D
It will experience heavy thunderstorms in a brief
time, and then it will get cooler after they pass.
Counterclockwise and toward the center
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Question and Diagram:
Answer and explanation:
Upper left: Cold (abrupt change)
Lower right: Warm (gentle slope)
103. What kind of front is in the upper left? Lower right?
104. What kind of clouds and storm type often occurs with the
passing of a cold front?
105. Why do the prevailing winds curve?
106. In which direction are the prevailing winds for NY?
107. What about the circulation of air make the equator “wet”
moisture belt?
108. What about the circulation of air makes the poles “dry”?
Cumulonimbus clouds and
thunderstorms
Rotation of the Earth (Coriolis
Effect)
From the SW (toward the NE)
Forms a counterclockwise spin and
air rises (warm, low pressure =
moisture/rain)
Forms a clockwise spin and air sinks
(cold, high pressure = dry)
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Question and Diagram:
E•
Answer and explanation:
B is on the windward side (air rising
and cooling by expansion) and A is
on the leeward (air sinking and
warming by compression)
F• G•
109. Why would the average temperatures for B be lower than A?
110. Why would E have cooler average temperatures than A, B, C,
D, F & G?
111. Why would summers at F be cooler than summers at G? And,
why would winters at F be warmer than the winters at G?
112. When would G have its greatest duration of insolation?
It’s at a much higher latitude
F is a coastal city (less extreme
temperature range)
12/21
Low:
Counterclockwise and toward the
center
High:
Clockwise and away from the center
113. Describe the general circulation of winds around low pressure
& high pressure systems in the N. Hemisphere.
Warm air rises and cold air sinks
114. Why do the clouds form on the mT side instead of the cP side?
115. What process creates clouds?
116. What is a possible source region for the cP and mT air masses?
Rising air cools by expansion,
causing water vapor to condense
cP: Canada
mT: Gulf of Mexico
117. What type of front is this?
Cold (bulge)
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