Super Summarized Science Reviewer:

* Warning: please don’t rely on this alone. There may be some info that will be
missing since this is only a summary :)
* TNX LI BO YANG for some added info
Continental Drift Theory (Thanks Li Bo Yang)
- Alfred Wegener
- “The Origins of Continents and Oceans”. Theory where continents were
once joined together as a “supercontinent” before breaking drifting apart to
their current positions
- evidence: similarity in animal and plant species/fossil
- Ocean-floor as Evidence of Seafloor Spreading
- landforms underneath the oceans, specifically the presence of younger
rocks from mid-ocean ridges to older rocks near the trenches

Mapping of Earth’s Interior

- Crust
- Upper and Lower Mantle
- Core
Landforms
- Compression:
- Mountain ranges: Collision between two continental plates create
mountain ranges. These are very tall and long mountains.
- Ocean Trenches: When two plates collide, one goes down and the other
above. This is called subduction. Ocean trenches are one of the deepest
parts of the ocean. These are narrow deep underground troughs.
- Volcanic Arcs: Chain of volcanoes forming above a subducting plate.
These volcanoes then form as islands.
- Tension:
- Mid-Ocean Ridges: These are Mountain Ranges underwater. These
could be more than 2km tall. These are formed by divergent boundaries.
 When divergent pulls the seafloor, hot mantle rises which pushes the
seafloor upward. This then makes Mid-Ocean Ridges.
- Continental Rifts: These are large splits in the earth’s crust. When
divergent boundaries occur, large crusts move downward which creates
valleys between two ridges.
- Shear Stress:
- Transform Faults: This is where tectonic plates slide against each other.
- Fault Zones: An area of many fractured pieces of crust along a large
fault.
Earthquakes:
- Definition: The vibrations in the ground that result from movement along breaks
in Earth’s lithosphere
- Types of Faults:

Fault Name: Location: Movement:

Strike-Slip Transform Boundaries Two Rocks slide past each

other.

Normal Divergent Boundaries Pulls two rocks apart. One

Block drops down.

Reverse Convergent Boundaries Pushes two rocks together.

One block moves up.

- Epicenter: The location on Earth’s surface directly above an earthquake’s focus

- Fault: A break in Earth’s lithosphere where one block of rock moves toward,
away from, or past another
- Earthquake Focus: A location inside Earth where rocks first move along a fault,
starting seismic waves
- Seismic Waves: Energy that travels as vibrations on and in Earth. Scientists use
Wave Speed, Wave Motion and the type of material that waves travel on.
-

Seismic Waves: Description:

 Primary (P-Waves) ● Rock Particles vibrate in the
same motion
● Fastest Seismic Wave
● First wave Seismometer
Detects
● Travels through Solid and
Liquid

Secondary (S-Waves) ● Vibrating Rock Particles

perpendicular to the waves
direction
● Slower than P-Waves
● Second Wave
● Only through Solids

Surface Waves ● Slowest

● Most Damage
● Rocks move through a
rolling motion

- Seismologists: People who study earthquakes.

- Seismometer: An instrument that measures and records ground motion and can
be used to determine the distance seismic waves travel
- Seismogram: A graphical illustration of seismic waves
- Earth’s Interior:
- Inner and Outer Core:
- S-Waves can’t travel through the outer core. This proved that it is
liquid.
- The core comprises of mostly iron and nickel.
- Mantle
- Seismic waves travel slower in hot material, such as mantles below
mid-ocean ridges. While faster in cold areas such as subduction
zones.
- Earthquake Magnitude:
- Richter Scale:
- The magnitude of an earthquake is determined from the logarithm
of the amplitude of waves recorded by seismographs. (Magnitude)
 - Mercalli Scale:
- Determined by the amount of damage done by the earthquake.
(Intensity)
Oceans
- 5 Oceans:
- Pacific Ocean
- Atlantic Ocean
- Southern Ocean
- Indian Ocean
- Arctic Ocean
- Formation:
- Gases from eruption which majority are water vapors with carbon dioxide
and other gases. Overtime these formed the atmosphere.
- Condensation: Water from rain which comes from the gases of
volcanoes then fill up ocean basins overtime.
- Asteroid and Comets: Icy Comets which melt overtime could add up to
the filling of ocean basins.
- Tectonic Change: New oceans form and old oceans disappear because
of tectonic plates.
- Seawater Composition:
- Salinity: A measure of the mass of dissolved solids in a mass of water.
- Brackish: Containing a mixture of freshwater and seawater
- Seafloor:
- Continental Margin:
- Part of the ocean which is beside a continent. Extends from
shoreline to the deep ocean
- Continental Shelf:
- Shallow Submerged Zone around coastal plains.
- 10-30 km wide for Pacific and 100-350 km wide for Atlantic
- Few cm - 150 cm deep
- Continental Slope
 - Steep Sand that extends 4500m deep
- Abyssal Plains
- Bottom of the ocean
- Flat Areas
- 4000-6000 m deep
- Ocean Ridges
- Underwater Mountain Ranges
- Ocean Trench
- Deep narrow steep sided depression underwater
- 11000m deep
- Hydrothermal Vent
- Cracks with vents that are very hot
- Ocean Zones
- Surface Zone
- Shallow Area where plants do photosynthesis since there is
sunlight. 200m deep maximum.
- Middle Zone
- Blue Green Light only
- Most light has been absorbed
- Deep Zone
- No Sunlight at All!
- Animals produce their own light and there are no plants below.
- Ocean Layers
- Changes in Temperature: Tropical Regions water cools rapidly as depth
increases
- Changes in Salinity: Warmer water is saltier while colder water is less
salty.
- Changes in Density: Cold water is denser than hot water
Ocean Currents - A large volume of water flowing in a certain direction.
 - Surface Currents: Surface currents carry warm and cold water horizontally
across the ocean’s surface. They extend to about 400 m below the surface.
Surface currents can move as fast as 100 km/day.
- Gyres: A circular system of currents
- Coriolis Effect: The movement of wind and water to the right or left that is
caused by Earth’s rotation
- Topography: The shapes of the continents and other land masses.
- Upwelling: The vertical movement of water toward the ocean’s surface. Occurs
when wind blows across the ocean’s surface and pushes water away from an
area. Upwelling brings deep cold nutrients down for plants. Cold water rises while
hot water sinks.
- Density Currents: Density currents also move water vertically. They carry water
from the surface into deeper parts of the ocean. Changes in density, not wind,
cause density currents. (Read more about density)
- Gulf Stream: The Gulf Stream affects coastal areas of the southeastern United
States. Its warm currents transfer thermal energy and moisture to the
surrounding air. As a result, summer evenings there are often warm and humid.
Ocean Tides:

Factors Affecting Wave Height

- Wind Speed
- Wind direction
- Fetch – distance over water that the wind blows
Descriptions for Tides
 - Neap Tides: A tide that has the lowest tidal range and occurs when Earth, the
Moon, and the Sun form a right angle
- Spring Tides: A tide that has the largest tidal range and occurs when Earth, the
Moon, and the Sun form a straight line
- Tsunami: A wave that forms when an ocean disturbance suddenly moves a
large volume of water
- Tide: The periodic rise and fall of the ocean’s surface caused by the gravitational
force between Earth and the Moon, and between Earth and the Sun
Types of Freshwater:
- Runoffs: Thin layer of water flowing over earth’s surface
- Streams: A body of water that flows within a channel. Wears away rock and soil
forming fills Pools, riffles, watersheds, headwater, estuaries
- Watersheds: An area of land that drains runoff into a particular stream, lake,
ocean, or other body of water.
- Lakes: A large body of water that forms in a basin surrounded by land.
- Estuary: A coastal area where freshwater from rivers and streams mixes with
salt water from seas or oceans
Types of Groundwater:
- Groundwater: Water that lies below ground
- Aquifer: An area of permeable sediment or rock that holds significant amounts of
water
- Water table: The upper limit of the saturated zone is called the water table.
- Porosity: A measure of rock’s ability to hold water.
- Wetlands: An area of land that is saturated with water for part or all of the year.
- Bogs
- Swamps
- Marches
- Permeability: The measure of water’s ability to flow through rock and sediment
- Importance of Wetlands:
- Flood Control: Because wetlands can store tons of water.
- Habitat Control: Because many animals live in wetlands.
 - Erosion Control: Avoids Erosion and Storm Surges in shorelines.
- Filtration: Avoids pollutants to reach streams etc…
- Human Impact:
- This newly formed dry land is used for roads, building sites, airports, and
other purposes.
- The disappearance of wetlands may be a cause of rising sea levels,
coastal erosion, and the introduction of species that do not normally live in
wetland areas.
Glaciers:
- Alpine Glaciers: A glacier that forms in the mountains
- Freshwater: Water that has less than 0.2 percent salt dissolved in it
- Ice Core: A long column of ice taken from a glacier
- Ice Sheets: A glacier that spreads over land in all directions
- Sea Ice: Ice that forms when seawater freezes
Atmosphere:
- Troposphere: Where we live in, decreases temperature as altitude increases.
Around 8-15 km high.
- Stratosphere: Bottom part contains the ozone layer. The area of the
stratosphere with a high concentration of ozone. This absorbs the UV rays of the
sun.
- Mesosphere and Thermosphere: Contains the Auroras and this is where
meteors burn up.
- Exosphere: The exosphere is the atmospheric layer farthest from Earth’s
surface. Pressure and density are so low in the exosphere that individual gas
molecules rarely strike one another.
- Air Pressure and Altitude: Higher altitude means lower air pressure.
 - Temperature and Altitude:
Types of Fronts:
-

Kinds Definition Clouds Weather

Cold Front Cold Air enters; Cumulus Rainshowers and

Warm Air lifted Thunderstorms

Warm Front Warm Air Enters; Stratus Steady Light Rain

Warm air mass
lifted;

Stationary No movement n/a Long Rainy Days

Occluded Two air cold air n/a Violent Weather

masses meeting Occurs
and lifting warm
air
 - Jet Stream: A narrow band of high winds located near the top of the troposphere
- Land Breeze: Wind that blows from the land to the sea due to local temperature
and pressure differences
- The prevailing westerlies are steady winds that flow from west to east between
latitudes 30°N and 60°N, and 30°S and 60°S. The polar easterlies are cold winds
that blow from east to west near the North Pole and the South Pole.
- The trade winds are steady winds that flow from east to west between 30°N
latitude and 30°S latitude. At about 30°N and 30°S latitude, air cools and sinks.
This creates areas of high pressure and light, calm winds called the doldrums.
Sailboats without engines can be stranded in the doldrums.
- Local winds occur whenever air pressure is different from one location to
another.
- Global Wind Patterns: The region of Earth receiving the Sun's direct rays is the
equator. Here, air is heated and rises, leaving low pressure areas behind. Moving
to about thirty degrees north and south of the equator, the warm air from the
equator begins to cool and sink.
- Coriolis effect create distinct wind patterns. These wind patterns are called
prevailing winds.
Uneven Heating of Earth’s Surface ® Air Movement (Wind)
- Unequal amount of sun exposure for different areas of the earth result in different
temperatures
- Warm air rises, cold air sinks
- Air pressure low over warm areas (tropics), air pressure high in cold areas (polar)
- Difference in pressure creates wind
- WIND – movement of air from high pressure to low pressure areas
Weather Forecasting:
- Doppler: A specialized type of radar that can detect precipitation as well as the
movement of small particles, which can be used to approximate wind speed
- Upper Air Report: A description of wind, temperature, and humidity conditions
above Earth’s surface
 - Surface Report: A description of wind, temperature, and humidity conditions
above Earth’s surface
- Isobar: A line that connects all places on a map where pressure has the same
value
CLIMATE
- Habagat: Southwest monsoon, happens every august. Classified by Humid and
strong rains.
- Amihan: Strong Winds, dry and cold weather.
- El Niño: Drought due to weakened trade winds. Higher rain in Atlantic while
drought in asia.
- La Niña: Strong Rains, opposite of El Nino
-

Climate Temperature Precipitation

Polar Cold Year-Round Little precipitation

Continental Warm Summers, Cold Moderate precipitation

Winters

Tropical Warm Year-Round High precipitation

Dry Hot summers cooler Very little precipitation

winters

Mild Warm summers, mild Humid, high precipitation

winters

Sea Breeze: