Geology - Earth Sciences
1. What is the commonly accepted age of Earth?
a) 4.6 Billion years
2. Which of the following was not a source of heat for the early Earth?
a) hydrothermal energy
3. What are small asteroids called?
a) meteoroids
4. What is the process by which a planet becomes internally zoned when heavy materials toward its center and lighter materials accumulate near its surface?
a) Diffentiation
5. Where is most of the North American Precambrian shield exposed at the surface?
a) Canada
6. What mineral can be used to radio metrically date Earth’s age?
a) zircon
7. Refer to Figure 22-6. What name is given to the core of the modern-day North American continent that formed in the Proterozoic?
a)Laurentia
8. What is the name of the first super continent which formed near the end of the Proterozoic?
a) Laurentia
9) What volcanic process most likely formed Earth’s atmosphere?
a) differentiation
10) Why is ozone a necessary component of Earth’s atmosphere?
a) It fillers out most of the sun’s UV radiation
11)Why is Earth’s atmosphere rich in nitrogen (N) and carbon dioxide (CO2) today?
a) because they can not escape Earth’s gravity
12) Rearrange the following phrases to create a cycle ...
A significant portion of New England was formed as a result of an accretionary orogen. Southeastern New England is marked by a series of terranes that accreted onto the Laurentian supercontinent during the Silurian and Devonian. The Terranes of Gander, Nashoba, Avalon, and Meguma are present from west to east in eastern Massachusetts and all of are Gondwanan provenance. Their modern-day juxtaposition suggests that the marginal Gondwanan micro-continents collided sequentially from west to east, expanding the Laurentian continent with each respective collision. As each subsequent plate collided, an intervening subduction zone died and a new subduction zone was created to the east. The oblique collision of the Avalon Terrane into Laurentia followed the accretions of the Gander and Nashoba Terranes and preceded the accretion of Meguma. The collision was marked by uplift, mylonitic metamorphism, and calc-alkaline Nashoba plutonism as the Iapetus Ocean subducted under the Nashoba and eventually the Avalon collided obliquely into the continental margin.
4. Identify the layer of the Earth in the diagram to the right which makes up 70% of the Earth’s mass and is mostly solid but capable of flow, causing changes in the Earth’s surface. (S6E5a)
and Metamorphic rocks can be found. There are also a lot of crusted plates, and violent
Americas by 14,000 ago” (O’Brien 12), after large portions of North America encountered the last ice age, which
The Permian Period was the last period of the Paleozoic Era. During this geological time period’s earlier stages glaciation was extensive. Middle Permian began to warm, and by the late Permian the environment was hot and dry. The environmental conditions were so extreme that the marine and terrestrial life forms were greatly affected. According to research the drastic climate change could have been caused by the formation of Pangaea. In 1912 Alfred Wegener while studying his theory of the continental drift, discovered Pangaea’s very existence. A combination of all of Earth’s landmasses joined together and covered 1/3 of Earth’s surface. Pangaea was f...
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (2014). Burgess Shale Fossil Specimens. Retrieved May 2014, from http://paleobiology.si.edu/burgess/burgessSpecimens.html
Leibniz (1691) wrote that the Earth has cooled down from a liquid state. Dana (1843-1873) described oceanic subsidence and mountain-building as results of the thermal contraction of the Earth. Lyell suggested that, due to unequal cooling, parts of the Earth sink faster than the rest, so that continents of the past have become ocean floors today and vice versa. Suess (1885, Vol. 1, p. 778) said that “the collapse of the world is what we are witnessing”. This paper reviews the Contracting Earth Theory.
Inside Earth there is heat from pressure (push your hands together very hard). and feel the heat). There is heat from friction (rub your hands). together and feel the heat). There is also heat from radioactive decay.
energy to enter the atmosphere but would have blocked the radiation of most surface heat
The Burgess Shale is located in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park; Part of the ancient landmass called Laurentia (Scott, et al., 2000). Fossils found within the formation dating back 545-525 million years ago represent original species from the Cambrian explosion, a relativel...
The center of the Earth is composed of a solid metallic core surrounded by a molten layer of liquid metal. This paper will discuss the reasons to believe the theory that the Earth has a molten core, and the important discoveries that have led to this generally accepted theory. It is very reasonable to agree with this theory when paying credence to the logical evidence that answers questions about the Earth’s core. This evidence includes information about the elemental make up of the Earth, the reason for the Earth’s magnetic field, and some of the possibilities of the Earth’s formation.
 Bartolini, Annachiara and Larson, Roger L; 2001 Pacific microplate and the Pangea supercontinent in the Early to Middle Jurassic; Geology, Aug2001, Vol. 29 Issue 8, p735-39
The geology of Northern Ireland is remarkably varied for its size. Its bedrock geology includes examples from almost every period of geological time during the last billion years of Earth history. Geology affects almost every aspect of life, from shape of the landscape to the wildlife. In this area, the biodiversity is very much underpinned by its geology.
The interior structure of the earth is made up of crust, the mantle and core (inner core and outer core). Earthquakes occur on the crust. Crust forms the external layer of the earth surface. On the crust, the plate tectonics forces are in charge of causing the abrupt earth movements. Due to the existence of an immense temperature and concurrent pressure difference in the outer layer and inner layer of the earth, convection currents occur at the mantle. This energy results from overwhelming decomposition of radioactive substances contained by the rocks found at the interior of the earth. The developed convection currents lead to movement of lava; cold lava finds its way to the interior of the earth crust, while the molten lava which is generally hot, leaves the interior of the earth to the outside of the earth crust. These kinds of circulations occur at different locations of the earth surface and consequently results in segmentation of the earth due to movement in different directions.