Geology Exam 1

Geology flash cards to prepare for the first exam. (GEOL 1040)f

102 cards   |   Total Attempts: 182
  

Cards In This Set

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The science that pursues an understanding of the planet Earth
Geology
Examines the materials composing Earth and seeks to understand the many processes that operate beneath and upon its surface.
Physical geology
Seeks an understanding of the origin of Earth and its development through time.
Historical geology
Problems and issues addressed by geology:
Natural hazards, resources, world population growth, environmental issues
States that the physical, chemical, and biological laws that operate today have also operated in the geologic past.
Uniformitarianism
Belief that Earth's landscapes had been shaped primarily by great catastrophes.
Catastrophism
Dates are placed in their proper sequence or order without knowing their age in years.
Relative dating
States that in layers of sedimentary rocks or lava flows, the youngest layer is on top and the oldest is on the bottom.
Law of superposition
States that fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite and determinable order, and therefore any time period can be recognized by its fossil content.
Principle of fossil succession
Eon in the geologic time scale that includes the origin of Earth and is divided into Proterozoic and Archean.
Precambrian
Eon in the geologic time scale that includes the eras paleozoic, mesozoic, and cenozoic.
Phanerozoic
A tentative(or untested) explanation.
Hypothesis
A well-tested and widely accepted view that the scientific community agrees best explains certain observable facts.
Theory
Steps of the scientific method
Gathering facts through observations, formulation of hypothesis and theories, testing hypothesis
Earth's sphere that is a dynamic mass of water that is continually on the move, evaporating from the oceans to the atmosphere, precipitating to the land, and running back to the ocean again.
Hydrosphere