Solid Earth Study Guide

Please complete the following study guide in preparation for your test on the Solid Earth. This review is designed to help your understanding of the concepts. These questions on the study guide will not appear on your test.

Earth History

Asteroid Impact Theory v. Gradual Extinction Theory.

** Review your Guided Highlighted Read. This reading passage will be on your test and you will be asked DIFFERENT questions to assess your understanding of the reading.

Index Fossils

1) Based on the drawing above, which fossil is considered an index fossil, A, B, C or D?

2) List the four requirements for determining if a fossil is an index fossil.

1)______

2)______

3)______

4)______

Plate tectonic Theory

1)Explain how marine fossils can be found at the top of a mountain or in the middle of a continent.

Relative Age

2)Refer to the illustration above and put the rock layers in order from youngest to oldest.

Absolute Age

1)Define half-life.

Refer to the chart above for the following question.

1)A sample originally contained 100 g of C-14. The sample now contains 25 g of C-14. How old is the sample?

a)What information is necessary to answer the following problem?

b)Solve the problem below. Show your work.

Early formation of Earth

1) Fill in the blanks below to describe the three major changes that occur as a solar nebula shrinks in size and begins to form planets. The figure below can be found in your textbooks on p. 750. **BEWARE** Do not copy the descriptions that are found below the pictures in your text. Use the figure for a better look at the pictures only.

2)Describe the accretion phase of the early solar system.

3)What provided the Earth with fresh water during its formation?

4)What method or process is used to determine the age of the solar system?

5)Which would scientists use to determine the age of the solar system, Earth rocks or meteorites? Why?

6)What role did gravity play in the formation of the solar system?

Rock Cycle

1)Review the diagram below and describe how subduction of plates contribute to the rock cycle.

FIGURE A

Answer:

2)For the following rock types, describe how the rock is formed and at what type of boundary, if any, the formation would occur.

a)Igneous-

b)Sedimentary-

c)Metamorphic-

Plate tectonics

1)Describe the difference between oceanic and continental plates.

REFER TO FIGURE A (above) for the questions 2-4.

2)What type of boundary(ies) is(are) shown?

3)What type of crustal collisions are happening at each boundary? (Ex. Continental-continental, oceanic-oceanic, oceanic-continental)

4)Which plate is subducting? Why?

5)List the features on Earth that form from each of the following collisions.

a)Oceanic-oceanic

  1. ______
  2. ______

b)Oceanic-continental

  1. ______
  2. ______

c)Continental-continental

  1. ______

6)Use the formula rate = distance ÷ time to solve the following problem:

The Pacific plate on which the city of Los Angeles is located is moving northwest as the plate on which San Francisco is located is moving southeast. The two cities are moving closer to one another at a rate of about 0.00005 km per year. The cities are now a distance of 611 km apart. How many years from now will the cities meet?

7) Using the figure below (found on p. 272 of your textbook), describe the cause of plate tectonic movement.

Interior of the Earth

1)Using the diagram above, explain the presence of P-wave and S-wave shadow zones.

Earthquakes and Volcanoes

1)Describe the chemical composition of mafic and felsic magma and how this composition affects the explosivity of volcanoes.

2)Explain the difference between the Richter scale and the Modified Mercalli Scale. (What do they measure and what do those measurements mean?)

3)List the 3 types of plate boundaries and fill in the rest of the table with “yes” or “no”.

Type of boundary / Can produce earthquakes? / Can produce volcanic activity?