Exam 1: Earth As a Planet

Earth's four very large subsystems are the geosphere,hydrosphere,atmosphere,and ______.

The formation of Earth and other planetary bodies through the processes of condensation and accretion was essentially complete _____ years ago.

The study of how rocks deform (break and bend)is referred to as _____.

The ______ cycle circulates water through various reservoirs of the Earth system: the ocean,the atmosphere,the geosphere,and the biosphere.

What is the difference between physical geology and historical geology?

The early planets of the solar system formed as gravity caused larger debris to attract smaller chunks,thereby growing larger through the process of _____.

In the illustration below,which of the three models depicts an "open system?"

The illustration below shows four stages in the development of the solar system.Describe the changes that take place in stage 3 of this evolution.

______ is the older,thicker,and less dense part of Earth's crust that forms the majority of Earth's land masses.

In what ways do the biosphere and the lithosphere interact?

The model that describes the movement of water through the reservoirs of the Earth System is called the _____ cycle.

The hydrosphere comprises all of Earth's water and ice,both on the surface and underground.

What is a closed system?

At the end of the Cretaceous period,an asteroid hit Earth and may have led to the extinction of many species,including the dinosaurs.How do you reconcile this event with Hutton's concept of uniformatarianism?

The model of ______ describes the movement and interactions of large segments of Earth's lithosphere.

The cloud of gas and dust from which the moons and planets of our solar system eventually formed is called the _____.

In the two photographs below,A shows structures within a modern sand dune that are identical to the structures in the sandstone shown in B.Geologists interpret the structures in the ancient sandstone to be formed by the same processes as those that produced the structures in the modern sand dune.A geologist's ability to interpret these structures by comparing them to modern processes is an example of--------------------.

The ______ is the innermost compositional layer of solid Earth.

Why are meteorites of such interest to scientists?

What are the reservoirs of the hydrologic cycle?