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Chapter 2 Section 2 Notes (2.2)
Name: __Key________________
FORCES SHAPING THE EARTH (P.33-39)
I. UNDERSTANDING EARTH
1. Ring of Fire: __A string of Volcanoes and Earthquakes around the rim of
the Pacific Ocean (80% of the world’s earthquakes and active volcanoes)
2.
What is the Earth made of?
a. Core: _A sphere of very hot metal at the center of the Earth
b. Mantle: _A thick, hot, rocky layer around the core
c. Crust: _The thin layer of rock and minerals that surround the
mantle ___________
d. The surface of the Earth includes: _Earth’s land areas as well as
the ocean floor (we live on the crust)
3.
Water and Air
a. __30% ______________ of Earth’s surface is land.
b. __Water______ covers more than ___70%_______ of the Earth.
c. The Atmosphere: __A layer of gases a few miles thick. It provides
life-giving Oxygen to people and Carbon dioxide to plants.
4.
Landforms: _shapes or types of land
a. Mountains: _landforms that rise more than 2,000 feet above the
land it surrounds. They rise steeply and have a narrow peak or
ridge.
b. Hills: __ are landforms with rounded tops, which rise above the
surrounding land but are less steep than mountains
c. Plateaus: _a large mostly flat area that rises above the surrounding
land, one side usually has a steep slope
d. Plains: __large areas of flat or gently rolling land
II. FORCES INSIDE EARTH
1. Heat inside the Earth is constantly _reshaping the planets surface.
a) Magma: _soft, nearly molten rock________________
b) Plates: __huge blocks of the Earth’s crust_________
2.
Volcanoes and Earthquakes
a) Where a plate of _ocean _______ crust collides with a plate of
_continental crust, the ocean crust plunges underneath and melts.
The molten rock erupts onto the surface through a
_volcano_________________.
b) When two plates push together, the crust cracks and splinters from
___the pressure_. The cracks are called _faults______. When
blocks of crust rub together they release energy in the form of
__an Earthquake______.
c) When two plates push against each other, the pressure makes the
crust bend and buckle to form __steep mountains_________.
3.
Moving Plates
a) Most geologists believe __that long ago the Earth had only one huge
continent. They call it Pangaea. They think the plates moved apart
to arrange the continents the way they are today.
III. FORCES ON THE EARTH’S SURFACE
1.
Forces that wear down and __break apart _____ the Earth’s crust.
a. Weathering: _the process that breaks rocks down into tiny pieces
Caused by: _water, ice, and living things (lichens)
Helps create: ___soil ___
b. Erosion: __removal of small pieces of rock by water, ice, and wind.
Creates ___new land______________, such as ____Plains__.