Study Guide for S1 Earth Science Final Exam

Name: __________________________ Date: __________

Chapters Covered: C1, “Introduction to Earth Science”; C2, Mapping Earth’s Surface; C3, “Minerals”; C4,
“Rocks”; C5, “Plate Tectonics”; C6, “Earthquakes”; C7, “Volcanoes”; C8, “Weathering and Soil
Formation”.

Review Text Chapter Study Guides: C1 pg. 28; C2 pg. 60; C3 pg. 88; C4 pg. 118; C5 pg. 156; C6 pg. 194;
C7 pg. 226; C8 pg. 260

In addition know following:

The most important lab safety rule is to always follow your teacher’s instructions and text/lab manual
directions exactly.

A hypothesis, must be testable, and is a possible explanation for a set of observations or answers to a
scientific question.

The manipulated (or independent) variable is the one the experimenter purposely changes to test a
hypothesis. The responding (or dependent) variable is the one that changes in response to the
manipulated variable. For instance, if you were experimenting to test the effects of the amount of
sunlight on rate of plant growth, the manipulated variable would be the amount of sunlight, and the
responding variable would be the rate of plant growth.

A conclusion is the summary of what you have learned from a scientific experiment.

A theory is a well-tested explanation for a wide range of observations or experimental results.

Relief, on a map, is the difference in elevation between the highest and lowest points of an area.

Contour lines indicate a given elevation. Closely spaced contour lines indicate a steep slope.

Lines of latitude are horizontal, and lines of longitude are vertical. The point on the Earth’s surface
having zero degrees latitude and zero degrees longitude would be where the equator (zero latitude)
crosses the prime meridian (zero longitude).

Any locations on Earth that have the same distance from the equator, have the same latitude (north or
south). The distance east or west of the prime meridian is called longitude.

For Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to work, there must be at least 3 above the horizon at any
given time.

Minerals are inorganic, which means they contain no materials that were once part of living things.

Streak is the color of a mineral’s powder. A vein is a narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is different
from the surrounding rock.

The rate of cooling affects the size of mineral crystals formed in magma. If the rate of cooling is slow, the
crystals will be larger.

A crystal is the repeating pattern in mineral’s particles.

The hardest known mineral on the Mohs scale is diamond, the softest is talc.

Rock samples from holes drilled several kilometers into the Earth’s crust provide direct evidence about
the Earth’s interior. Geologists obtain indirect evidence about the Earth’s interior by recording and
examining seismic waves.

The main layers of the Earth from the surface to the center are: crust, mantle, outer core and inner core.

Radiation is the transfer of thermal energy through empty space. Convection currents allow heat
transfer within a fluid.

The movement of the Earth’s plates is caused by convection currents in the mantle.

According to Alfred Wegener’s Continental Drift hypothesis, the Earth’s continents were once joined in a
single landmass called Pangaea. However, most scientists rejected Wegener’s hypothesis because he
could not identify a force that could move the continents. Later, it was shown to be convection currents
in mantle.

The Theory of Plate Tectonics is the geological theory that states the pieces of the Earth’s lithosphere
are in constant slow motion from the convection currents in mantle. Direct evidence includes sea-floor
spreading and subduction.

In sea-floor spreading, molten material rises from the mantle along mid-ocean ridges.

Subduction is the process where one of a pair of converging plates sinks into the mantle beneath the
other, such as where an ocean floor sinks beneath a continental plate forming a deep ocean trench.

The place where two plates come together is known as a convergent boundary. The place where two
plates are moving away, such as a mid-ocean ridge, is known as a divergent boundary. The place where
two plates slide past one another, such as a strike slip fault, is known as a transform boundary.

A fossil is any trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock.

In coarse grained rocks, the grains are large and easy to see.

Igneous rocks form from the cooling of magma below the surface or lava at the surface.

Metamorphic rocks change from one type of rock to another over time through heat and pressure
beneath Earth’s surface.

Granite is the most abundant intrusive rock in continental crust.

Deposition is the process by which sediment settles out of water or wind. Sedimentary rocks are formed
in part due to this process.

Skeletons of coral animals form the structure of coral reefs.

The formation of the Hawaiian Islands is an example of volcanoes forming over a hot spot. An island arc,
on the other hand, is formed from volcanoes along converging oceanic plate boundaries.

A volcanic pipe is the long tube in the ground that connects the vent to the magma chamber. A landform
known as a volcanic neck is formed when magma hardens in a volcanic pipe.
If a volcanoes magma is high in silica, it will have a high probability of erupting explosively.

Pahoehoe is fast moving hot lava.

A hot spring is formed when groundwater heated by magma rises to the surface and collects in a natural
pool.

Composite volcanoes are tall cone shaped mountains in which layers of lava alternate with layers of ash.

Pumice is typically formed as a result of an explosive eruption.

The major ingredient of magma is silica. The upward movement of magma can cause small earthquakes
around a volcano before an eruption. Before lava reaches the surface it is called magma.

A caldera is the huge hole left by the collapse of a volcanic mountain.

Stress is a force on rocks which can lead to earthquakes. Compressive forces can produce reverse faults.
Tension forces can produce normal faults.

An anticline is a fold in rock that bends upward into an arch.

The focus is the point beneath the Earth’s surface where rock breaks under stress and causes an
earthquake. The epicenter is the point directly above the focus on the Earth’s surface.

P waves, also known as primary waves, are seismic waves that arrive at the surface first, and move by
compressing and expanding the ground. P waves can travel through both liquids and solids.

S waves are also known as secondary waves, and travel slower than P waves.

Surface waves move slower than S or P waves.

Seismographs record the ground movements caused by seismic waves.

An aftershock can cause damage days or even months after a large earthquake.

Earthquakes occurring in an ocean can cause tsunamis.

A base-isolated building is designed to reduce the amount of energy entering a building during an
earthquake. The best way to protect yourself in an earthquake is to drop, cover and hold.

A GPS satellite system can monitor both vertical and horizontal movements along a fault.

A plateau is a large area of flat land elevated high above sea level.

A moment magnitude scale is a used to determine the total energy released by an earthquake.

Abrasion is an agent of mechanical weathering where rock is worn away by the grinding action of other
rock particles.

Freezing and thawing of water is another mechanical weathering agent which causes ice wedging.

Chemical weathering can cause the mineral composition of rock to change.

Hot and wet climates can increase the rate of weathering. Soil formation begins with the weathering of
bedrock.
Erosion by water and wind can cause the loss of soil not protected by plant cover. The removal of plant
cover (grass) in the 1930s, by plowing vast regions in the Great Plains, exposed soil and was the primary
cause of the Dust Bowl during drought periods.

Soil conservation is the management of soil to prevent its destruction.

The A horizon soil layer contains loam that is rich in humus.

Know the following diagrams:

Rock Stress diagrams, World Map with latitude and longitude, Topographic Maps with elevation contour
lines, Plate Boundary diagrams, and the Rock Cycle.