Download Earth science SOL Review

Earth Science Facts you need to know
We have 2 high tides and 2 low tides every 24 hours.
Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Earth and the Moon.
Currents move from cold to warm areas.
Upwelling brings cold, nutrient rich water from the bottom of ocean to the surface. This is rich in
biological activity.
5. Estuaries are areas where salt water mixes with fresh water. Ex. Chesapeake Bay
6. Sea level rises when ice caps melt.
7. Cyanobacteria were responsible for the first oxygen on Earth. Presently Blue Green algae is an
important source of oxygen.
8. The ocean is the largest reservoir of heat at the Earth’s surface. It drives the weather of the Earth.
9. The continental shelf is closest to the land, followed by the continental slope, and continental rise.
10. The flat part of the ocean is called the abyssal plain.
11. Trenches are very deep cracks in the bottom of the ocean
12. Seamounts are underwater mountains or volcanoes.
13. Turbidity currents are underwater avalanches.
14. Ocean water contains many salts and has not changed for billions of years.
15. The thermocline is the area of the ocean that temperature decreases rapidly.
16. The Earth rotates W to E once in 24 hours.
17. The Earth revolves CCW around the sun once in 365.25 days.
18. The Earth is the 3rd planet from the sun.
19. The moon has phases because of reflected sunlight and the angle at which we view it.
20. Foucault’s pendulum and Coriolis Effect prove the Earth rotates.
21. Parallax and seasonal constellations prove the Earth’s revolution.
22. Two types of planets-inner are rocky and outer are gaseous.
23. Comet’s tail is the result of the solar wind and points away from the sun.
24. Comets are known as dirty snowballs in space and originate in the Oort Cloud.
25. Asteroids are rocky or metallic iron objects with origins between Mars and Jupiter.
26. AU= distance of Earth to Sun. We measure planet distances in AU’s.
27. Light years is the distance light travels in a year. We measure star an galaxy distances with light
years.
28. Apollo 11 was the 1st manned landing on the moon. Neil Armstrong was the 1st man on the moon.
29. The Big-Bang explains the origin of the universe. The Universe began as a dense sphere that
expanded and condensed into galaxies.
30. The Solar Nebula Theory explains that the planets formed from the condensing of our sun or solar
nebulae.
31. Our Sun’s Life Cycle is Nebulae, protostar, Yellow Main Sequence star, Red Giant, white dwarf,
and black dwarf.
32. Black holes are the death stage of stars.
33. We are located in the Milky Way Galaxy which is a spiral galaxy.
34. The 3 types of galaxies are spiral, elliptical, and irregular.
35. The Hubble Space telescope has improved our knowledge and understanding of the Universe.
36. Red Shifts indicate the universe is expanding outward. This is used to support the Big Bang
Theory.
37. Blue Shift indicates movement toward the Earth.
38. The early atmosphere was mostly CO2 and very little O2.
39. The Earth’s atmosphere is 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen, and 1% trace gases.
40. Human activities such as burning fossil fuels have increased CO2 levels.
41. High CO2 levels produce the Greenhouse effect.
42. CFC’s are decreasing the ozone levels of the upper atmosphere.
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43. Areas near the equator receive the most direct sunlight.
44. Clouds form when air is at or below its dew point and condensation nuclei are present.
45. Coriolis Effect causes deflections of the atmosphere and oceans due to rotation of the Earth.
46. A psychrometer (hygrometer) measures humidity in the air. A barometer measures air pressure.
47. Highs are warm and dry; Lows are cool and wet.
48. Wind is due to the unequal cooling that causes air pressure differences.
49. Wind blow from high to low.
50. Cold fronts move quickly and produce rain at the front.
51. Warm fronts move slowly and produce miles and miles of clouds.
52. The highest pressure is found at sea level.
53. High pressure moves clock wise and outward.
54. Low pressure moves counter clock wise and inward.
55. U.S. weather is dominated by prevailing westerlies. Weather moves west to east.
56. Summer solstice is June 21st (longest day). Winter solstice is December 21st (shortest day).
57. Solstice is when the sun is at is most Northern or Southern point.
58. Equinoxes is when the sun is directly over the equator. Spring March 21st and Fall September 21st.
59. Density = the mass/volume. Units for density are grams/cm3 or g/ml.
60. Volume for irregular objects is found by water displacement.
61. Warm (air, water, magma) rises because it is less dense. Cold sinks.
62. As pressure increases so does density.
63. Water is the densest as a liquid. Density = 1 g/ml.
64. The same substance has the same density. As mass increases so does the volume.
65. A hypothesis is a prediction about a problem that can be tested.
66. A variable is a changeable factor in an experiment.
67. Constants are factors that are the same. Independent variable is the only thing tested and the
dependent variable responds to the independent variable.
68. Any valid scientific theory has passed tests designed to invalidate it. It is based on observations.
Scientific law is based on facts.
69. There can be more that one explanation for any phenomena.
70. The altitude of Polaris equals your latitude.
71. Latitude lines go from east to west.
72. Longitude lines for from north to south.
73. The closer the contour lines, the steeper the slope.
74. The Earth is divided into 24 time zones each 15 degrees. The time gets 1 hour earlier every time
zone west.
75. The Earth consists of a solid inner core (Fe and NI), a liquid outer core (Fe and Ni), a plastic-like
mantle (Si, O, Fe, Ni), and a thin rocky crust (Si, O).
76. The lithosphere is the crust and upper mantle.
77. Ocean crust is thinner, younger, and denser than continental crust. It is made of basalt.
78. Convection currents move tectonic plates. Hot material rises, cools, becomes more dense, and
sinks.
79. Convergent boundaries are colliding plates which cause folded or thrust faulted mountains,
subduction zones, (volcanic and trenches) and reverse faults.
80. Divergent boundaries are dividing plates and cause sea-floor spreading, mid-ocean ridges, rift
valleys, and volcanoes. Normal faults are produced from this movement.
81. Transform boundaries slid past each other and strike slip faults and earthquakes are produced.
82. Earthquakes can result with any plate movement.
83. Hot spots are not related to plate movement.
84. A fault is a break or crack in the Earth’s crust where movement has occurred.
85. Appalachian mountains are folded mountains.
86. Volcanic activity is associated with subduction, rifting, or seafloor spreading.
87. An ocean plate will always sink under a continental plate because it is more dense.
88. 3 seismic stations are always needed to find the epicenter of an earthquake.
89. P waves travel the fastest and reach the seismic station first. P waves travel through solids and
liquids. P waves slow down and bend when they hit the liquid outer core.
90. S waves do not travel through liquids.
91. L waves, surface waves cause the most damage.
92. Most volcanoes and earthquakes occur in the “Ring of Fire”.
93. The San Andreas Fault is responsible for the earthquakes in California.
94. The North American Plate is traveling in a westward course.
95. The Pacific Plate is traveling in a northwestern course.
96. There are 3 kinds of volcanoes, shield, composite, and cone.
97. Magma is found underground and lava is above ground.
98. A mineral is found in nature, inorganic, solid, with a definite chemical composition and structure.
(crystalline)
99. Mineral properties depend on their atomic structure.
100. Ores are useful and profitable.
101. Minerals are determined by their streak, cleavage or fracture, color, luster, and special
properties.
102. Igneous rocks are classified by their composition and texture.
103.
Igneous rocks are produced by the cooling of magma or lava.
104. Fast cooling = extrusive, small crystals. Slow cooling = intrusive, larger crystals.
105. extrusive small grains, glassy, air holes present (obsidian, pumice, basalt
106. intrusive large grained, granite
107. Metamorphic formed by heat and pressure
108. Metamorphic classified as foliated (banded) or non foliated
109. Foliated rocks are slate, schist, gneiss. Non-foliated include marble and quartzite
110. Limestone morphs into marble. Sandstone morphs into quartzite
111.
Sedimentary rocks are formed from rock fragments, organic material, or chemical
precipitation
112. Sedimentary are found in flat layers or strata. Fossils are found in these layers.
113. Sedimentary are classified as clastic, organic, and chemical
114.
Limestone is formed both chemically and organically
115.
Clastic rocks are made of fragments –conglomerate, sandstone, shale
116. Chemical weathering occurs in warm, humid climates
117.
Mechanical weathering occurs in cold climates- ice wedging
118.
Erosion is the process of materials being transported by moving water, ice, or wind which
gravity causes all
119.
Streams and moving water are the major agents of erosion
120.
Deposition is the dropping or settling out of sediments
121. High erosion= high relief areas, high deposition= low relief areas
122.
Large particles settle out first, sediment size from largest to smallest- breccia, sand, silt, clay
123.
As particle size increases, permeability increases. (ability to hold water)