Earth's Structure and Processes Quiz

Continents, Earth's Structure, and Processes

• Continents are large landmasses on Earth's surface.
• The lithosphere is the solid rock portion of Earth's surface.
• The atmosphere is a thin layer of gases surrounding Earth.
• The hydrosphere includes all water on and near Earth's surface.
• The biosphere encompasses all life on Earth and the environments they inhabit.
• Continental drift is the hypothesis that continents move across Earth's surface.
• The solar system includes the sun, planets, and their orbiting objects.

Earth's Internal Structure

• Earth's core is made of iron and nickel.
• The mantle is a hot, solid layer between the core and crust.
• The crust is the thin, solid outermost layer.

Hydrologic Cycle and Surface Water

• The hydrologic cycle describes water movement in the hydrosphere, including evaporation, precipitation, and runoff.
• Currents are large streams of moving ocean water.
• Waves are water swells and ridges caused by wind.
• Tides are the regular rise and fall of ocean levels due to the Moon's gravity.
• Drainage basins are areas drained by a single river and its tributaries.
• Groundwater is water held underground.
• The water table is the upper limit of the saturated groundwater zone.

Landforms and Topography

• Landforms are natural surface features.
• Topographic features describe surface shape and landform distribution.
• Continental shelves are the submerged edges of continents.

Plate Tectonics

• Tectonic plates are sections of Earth's crust that move.
• Divergent boundaries occur where plates move apart.
• Convergent boundaries occur where plates collide.
• Transform boundaries occur where plates slide past each other.
• Faults are breaks in Earth's crust.
• Seismographs measure earthquake strength.
• The epicenter is the point on the surface directly above an earthquake's focus.
• Tsunamis are giant waves caused by underwater earthquakes.
• Lava is molten rock that reaches the surface.
• The Ring of Fire is a zone of active volcanoes encircling the Pacific Ocean.

Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition

• Weathering is the breakdown of rocks.
• Mechanical weathering breaks rocks into smaller pieces physically.
• Chemical weathering changes rock composition chemically.
• Erosion is the movement of weathered material.
• Deltas are landforms formed by river deposition.
• Loess is wind-deposited silt.
• Glaciers are large masses of moving ice.
• Glaciation is the process of glacier formation and movement.
• Moraines are piles of glacial debris.
• Humus is organic material from decomposed organisms.

Earth in Space and Solar System

• Earth is the third planet from the sun.
• Earth's distance from the sun is roughly 93 million miles.
• Comets are icy bodies with vapor trails.
• Asteroids are rocky space objects.
• The asteroid belt is between Mars and Jupiter's orbits.
• Earth's circumference is approximately 24,900 miles.
• Earth's diameter is about 7,900 miles.

Earth's Structure (Continued)

• The outer core is a liquid layer surrounding the inner core.
• The inner core is a solid sphere at the center of Earth.
• The mantle is the layer surrounding the core, containing most of Earth's mass.
• Magma is molten rock formed in the Earth's mantle.
• The crust is the thin outer rocky layer.
• Pangaea was an ancient supercontinent.
• Panthalassa was the ocean surrounding Pangaea.

Geographic Concepts

• Absolute location: Exact position on Earth.
• Relative location: Position in relation to other places.
• Location: Where a place is (absolute and relative).
• Physical characteristics: Earth's surface features (landforms, water, climate).
• Human characteristics: Human-created elements (history, culture).
• Place: Describes specific characteristics of an area.
• Human-Environment Interaction (HEI): How humans interact with their environment.
• Movement: How places connect through people, ideas, or goods.
• Regions: Shared characteristics that help define an area.
• Formal regions: Regions based on government/administrative boundaries.
• Functional regions: Regions defined by a common function.
• Vernacular regions: Regions defined by perception.
• Reference maps: Show geographic locations.
• Thematic maps: Display specific variables across an area.
• Navigational maps: Show routes.
• Surveys: Data collection for map accuracy.
• Global Information Systems (GIS): Databases of spatial information.
• Latitude: Distance north/south of the equator.
• Longitude: Distance east/west of the prime meridian.

Weather, Climate, and biomes

• Solstice: Two times per year when the sun is furthest from the equator.
• Equinox: Two times per year when day and night are equal length.
• Weather: Atmosphere conditions at a particular time.
• Climate: Average weather conditions over a long period.
• Convectional precipitation: Rain caused by surface heating.
• Frontal precipitation: Rain caused by clashing air masses.
• Orographic precipitation: Rain caused by mountains forcing air upwards.
• Rain shadow: Dry region on a mountain's leeward side.
• Climate types: Categorized by temperatures and precipitation (Tropical wet, Tropical wet-dry, Semiarid, Desert, Mediterranean, Marine west coast, Humid subtropical, Humid continental, Subarctic, Tundra, Polar, Highland).
• Biomes: Areas with similar vegetation and animal life (rainforest, deciduous forest, coniferous forest, chaparral, savanna, steppe/prairie).