Earth Science Weathering Processes
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Questions and Answers

What is Weathering

Weathering is the process that disintegrates or breaks rocks apart without changing their chemical composition.

What is Exfoliation?

It is because of the intense heating of the rock layers.

What is Abrasion?

Wearing away of rocks by constant collision of loose particles.

Biological Activity is a type of Physical Weathering.

<p>True</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Salt Wedging?

<p>Most water contains dissolved salts. When the water in rock fissures, evaporates, salt crystals form and expand like ice, forcing open fissures.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the factors that affect the rate of weathering?

<p>Properties of the parent rock, climate, soil and length of exposure.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three main reasons that make the Earth's interior hot?

<p>Heat from when the planet formed and accreted, frictional heating, radioactive decay.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the thinnest layer of the Earth?

<p>The crust</p> Signup and view all the answers

The Earth's crust is broken into many pieces called plates.

<p>True</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the thickest and largest layer of the Earth?

<p>The Mantle</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the outer core?

<p>The outer core is a low viscosity fluid.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is magma?

<p>Magma is molten material beneath or within the Earth's crust from which Igneous rocks are formed.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the components of magma?

<p>A mixture of minerals, gases like carbon dioxide, water vapor and sulfur.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are xenoliths?

<p>A xenolith is a piece of rock trapped in another type of rock.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Match the following types of magma with their characteristics:

<p>Basaltic = formed through dry partial melting of the mantle Andesitic = formed through wet partial melting of the mantle Rhyolitic = formed as a result of wet melting of continental crust.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is viscosity?

<p>Viscosity is the resistance to flow (opposite of fluidity).</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the factors that affect the viscosity of magma?

<p>Temperature, chemical composition and amount of dissolved gasses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Plutonism?

<p>Plutonism is defined as the process by which magma get out through the crust and crystallizes as an intrusive igneous rock beneath the Earth's surface.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two main types of Igneous processes?

<p>Volcanism - volcanic eruptions, Plutonism - Igneous intrusions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two main types of volcanic eruptions?

<p>Effusive (Non-Explosive) Eruptions and Explosive Eruptions</p> Signup and view all the answers

A partial melt occurs when only part of the mineral melts.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three main types of magma generation?

<p>Subduction Zones, Hot-Spot Volcanism and Rift Zones</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is metamorphism?

<p>Metamorphism is the change that takes place within a body of rock as a result of it being subjected to conditions that are different from those in which it formed.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the two primary types of pressure involved in metamorphism?

<p>Uniform pressure increasing with depth and direct pressure from tectonic plates.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three main types of metamorphism?

<p>Contact Metamorphism, Regional Metamorphism and Dynamic Metamorphism</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the process of seafloor spreading?

<p>Seafloor spreading is a geological process in which tectonic plates -large slabs of Earth's lithosphere split apart from each other.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the main features of a Mid-Ocean Ridge?

<p>A central rift valley and rugged flanks.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the deepest feature of the seafloor?

<p>Deep-ocean trenches</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three types of convergent boundaries?

<p>Oceanic-continental, Oceanic-oceanic, and Continental-continental convergence</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three main forces that drive the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates?

<p>Mantle Convection Current, Ridge Push and Slab Pull</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Stratigraphy?

<p>Stratigraphy deals with the study of any layered (stratified) rock, but primarily with sedimentary rocks and their composition, origin, age relationships, and geographic extent.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Stratification only occurs in sedimentary rocks.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three main processes involved in the formation of sedimentary rocks?

<p>Weathering, Erosion and Transport.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three main principles used to determine the relative age of rocks?

<p>Principle of Superposition, Principle of Horizontality and Principle of Cross-Cutting</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is a unconformity?

<p>Unconformities represent the interruption in the process of deposition of sedimentary rock.</p> Signup and view all the answers

All fossils make good index fossils.

<p>False</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the traits of index fossils?

<p>Index fossils are distinctive, widespread, and have limited geologic time range.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the criteria for a fossil to be considered an index fossil?

<p>An organism must have lived only during a short part of Earth's history, many fossils of the organisms must be found in rock layers, the fossil must be found over a wide area of Earth, the organism must be unique, and the shorter time period a species lived, the better an index it is.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the conditions required to permit fossilization?

<p>Rapid burial, protective cover or medium, and possession of hard parts.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the characteristics of good index fossils?

<p>Distinctive, widespread, short time range and abundant.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the main types of fossilization?

<p>Preservation without alteration, Preservation with alteration and ichnofossils of trace fossils.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the main types of index fossils?

<p>Trilobites, Hard-shelled invertebrates, small or microscopic fossils and terrestrial rocks.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between relative dating and absolute dating?

<p>Relative dating determines the age of rocks and fossils in relation to one another, while absolute dating determines the actual age of rocks.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the main subdivisions of geologic time?

<p>Eon, Era, Period, Epoch and Age</p> Signup and view all the answers

The geologic time scale is organized into hierarchical time units, ranging from the largest, eons, to the smallest, ages.

<p>True</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is the Phanerozoic Eon?

<p>The Phanerozoic Eon represents the era when macroscopic organisms, including algae, fungi, plants, and animals lived.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are the three Eras of the Phanerozoic Eon?

<p>Paleozoic Era, Mesozoic Era, and Cenozoic Era.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Earth Science Study Notes

  • Earth Science is the study of Earth's physical structure, processes, and history.

  • Weathering is the disintegration and decomposition of rocks near the Earth's surface.

  • Physical weathering is the mechanical breakdown of rocks without changing their chemical composition.

  • Chemical weathering involves changes to the molecular structure of rocks and soil.

  • Exfoliation is the process where cracks develop in rock layers due to intense heating and the reduction in pressure from erosion and uplift.

  • Abrasion involves the constant wearing away of rocks by collisions with loose particles.

  • Biological activity includes the role of plants, animals (including humans) as agents of mechanical weathering.

  • Crystal formation, also known as salt wedging, occurs as water evaporates, leaving behind salt crystals that exert pressure on rock fissures.

  • Swiftly flowing water breaks apart rocks through impact with other rocks and sediment.

  • Plant roots can expand cracks in rock, causing breakage.

  • Successive heating and cooling cause rocks to expand and contract, potentially leading to breakage.

  • Frost wedging is a form of physical weathering where repeated freezing and thawing of water in cracks weakens and breaks apart rocks.

  • The rate of weathering depends on factors like the rock's properties, climate, and length of exposure.

  • Soil affects the rate of weathering by retaining water, prolonging chemical reactions.

  • The temperature at which rocks and minerals melt depends on the pressure and the presence of water or carbon dioxide.

  • Magma formation occurs within the Earth's crust due to the melting of rocks.

  • Magma is molten rock below the Earth's surface.

  • Igneous rocks are formed from the cooling and solidifying of magma.

  • Weathering produces rock fragments, which can be transported and deposited elsewhere.

  • Types of magma include basaltic, andesitic, and rhyolitic magmas with different chemical compositions, temperatures and viscosities.

  • Types of volcanoes like Hawaiian and Strombolian.

  • Processes shaping the Earth's surface include weathering, erosion, and deposition.

  • A hot spot is a region within the Earth's mantle that produces magma.

  • The Earth's interior is made up of: a Crust, Mantle, Outer Core, and Inner Core.

  • The temperature and pressure of each layer significantly vary.

  • The Earth's temperature is maintained by heat from when it formed, frictional heating, and radioactive decay.

  • Rocks deform in response to stress, leading to folding, faulting, and fracturing.

  • The processes that form magma by melting of rocks include increase of temperature, decrease of pressure, and the addition of water.

  • Metamorphism is the change in the structure and mineral composition of rock due to pressure, heat, and chemically active fluids.

  • Metamorphic rocks form from existing rocks under different pressure and temperature conditions.

  • Types of metamorphic rocks include foliated (foliation) and non-foliated.

  • Processes causing metamorphism include contact, regional, and dynamic metamorphism.

  • Contact, regional, and dynamic metamorphism are three different types of metamorphism based on different pressure and temperature conditions.

  • Three major types of fault: dip-slip, strike-slip, and oblique-slip faults.

  • Faults are fractures in the Earth’s crust where blocks of rock have moved relative to each other.

  • Types of stress occurring in the Earth's interior include compressive, tensional, and shear stress.

  • Geological structures like folds and faults are produced due to stress and strain.

  • Folds are bends in rock layers while faults are fractures along which the rock has moved.

  • Sedimentary rocks form from pre-existing rocks being weathered, eroded, and transported then deposited in layers.

  • Strata are the layers of sedimentary rocks.

  • Seafloor spreading is a geologic process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges.

  • Plate tectonics is the theory that describes the movement and interaction of Earth's lithospheric plates.

  • Convergent, divergent, and transform plate boundaries are types of plate boundaries with resulting features.

  • Convergent boundaries occur when tectonic plates collide, divergent boundaries occur when plates move away from each other, and transform boundaries occur when plates slide past each other.

  • Relative dating determines the age of rocks by comparing their positions in the rock record while absolute dating determines the actual numerical age of rocks.

  • Index fossils have a known and limited geologic time range, and occurrence in different strata helps determine the ages of rock layers.

  • The geologic time scale divides Earth's history into eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages.

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Explore the fascinating topic of weathering in Earth Science with this quiz. You'll learn about physical and chemical weathering, different processes like exfoliation and abrasion, and the role of biological agents. Test your knowledge of how these processes shape our planet's physical landscape.

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