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Review
Earth Science Midterm

MIDTERM- 1/22
 Exam Format

- 65 questions
- 40- multiple choice
- 25 short answer questions (constructed
response)
Earth Science Reference Tables

• Provided for all students to use during the

written exam
• Be familiar with the ESRTs prior to exam
• Some questions require the use of the
ESRTs, while for other questions, the
ESRTs may be helpful
• Not all questions will prompt you to use the
ESRTs
Tips for Multiple Choice Questions
• Eliminate obvious distracters
Tips for Multiple Choice Questions
• Just because a choice may have some
truth, it does not mean that it answers the
question
Tips for Multiple Choice Questions
Also…
• Read all choices before answering a
question
• Skip over hard questions for later
• Information in one part of the test may be
helpful in other parts
• Do not leave any answers blank -- if all
else fails, guess
Constructed Response –
Practice 1
Constructed Response –
Practice 1
Constructed Response –
Practice 1

B
A
C
Constructed Response –
Practice 1
Constructed Response –
Practice 1

The water velocity decreases; or

The particles slow down and are deposited
 Minerals
• Mineral: naturally occurring substance with
a unique crystalline structure and chemical
composition
• Identification based on:
– Luster: metallic or non-metallic
– Hardness: resistance to being scratched;
measured on the Mohs scale
– Cleavage or fracture: how the mineral breaks
– Streak: colored powder, if any, left behind after
mineral is rubbed on a surface
– Acid test: bubbles result if calcium carbonate is
present
 Igneous Rocks

• Igneous rock: formed from cooled and

hardened magma (intrusive) or lava (extrusive)
• Intrusive: formed inside earth
– coarse grained and large crystals (granite)
• Extrusive: formed outside earth
– glassy appearance (obsidian)
– vesicular: gas pockets (pumice)
– fine grained and small crystals (basalt)
 Sedimentary Rocks

• Sedimentary rock: generally formed from

compaction and cementation of smaller
rocks and/or sediments
• Generally formed in aquatic environments
• Key characteristics:
– Visible sediments or pieces of other rocks
(such as sand, pebbles, silt, and cobbles)
– Fossils may be present
 Metamorphic Rocks

• Metamorphic rock: formed when existing

rocks undergo intense heat and pressure
• Generally formed deep in lithosphere
• Key characteristics:
– Foliation: thin layering due to mineral
alignment
– Banding: type of foliation where minerals are
separated into bands
Plate Tectonics and
Continental Drift
2. Plate Tectonics
a. This is the basic idea that Earths crust is divided
plates
into a few large, thick ____________ which are large
slabs of the lithosphere.

lithosphere move slowly

(1) Plates are part of the______________
and change in size.
(2) Plates may be:
sea floor rock
(a) entirely ___________
sea floor and _____________
(b) both ____________ continental rock
continental rock
(c) entirely ______________
Inferred Properties of Earth’s Interior
(3) Plate boundaries are geologically active
with:

earthquakes
(a) __________________
volcanoes
(b) __________________
(c) young
__________________
mountain ranges
(Rocky Mountains, Himalayas)
 Divergent Boundaries
A. ___________
 B. Transform
__________Boundaries
1. One plate slides
_____________
horizontally past
another.
2. Sites of shallow-focus
earthquakes and less
likely to have volcanic
activity
3. Strike-slip motion is
common.
4. No new surface is
formed or consumed
5. Locations of transform
motion.
San Andreas Fault in California (between the North
a. _________________
American Plate and the Pacific Plate)
fracture zones (not plate boundaries)
b. At mid-ocean ridge _________________
Ocean-Continent Convergence
3. Continent-Continent Convergence

collide
a. Two continents ___________.
suture
b. Continents become welded together along a dipping ____________
zone.
c. A mountain belt forms at the interior of the new continent. Examples:
(1) Himalayas between Eurasia and India
(2) Appalachians - Formed when Pangaea collided with North America
 Earthquakes and Epicenters
• Epicenter: location on earth’s surface
directly above the focus (where the
earthquake originates)
• Distance to the epicenter can be
determined if the travel times of the P- and
S-waves are known
• Lagtime: difference in travel time between
the P- and S-waves
Earthquakes and Epicenters
Earthquakes and Epicenters

Lag time:
6 minutes
Earthquakes and Epicenters

Lag time:
6 minutes
Earthquakes and Epicenters

Lag time:
6 minutes
Earthquakes and Epicenters

Lag time:
6 minutes

4,400 km
Earthquakes and Epicenters
 Earthquakes and Epicenters
• To locate the earthquake’s epicenter, a
minimum of three seismic stations are
needed
• With one station, there are many possible
epicenters

Station 1
 Earthquakes and Epicenters
• With two stations, there are only two
possible epicenters

Station 2
Station 1
 Earthquakes and Epicenters
• With three stations, there is only one
possible epicenters

Station 3

Station 2
Station 1
 How to
prepare for
an
earthquake
Tsunamis- waves produced from an
undersea earthquake
How to prepare for a future tsunami
A. WEATHERING
1.The group of
destructive
______________processes that change
the physical and chemical character of
rock at or near Earth’s surface.

 Weathering breaks rocks into smaller

particles that are easily moved over
Earth’s surface.
 B. __________
Erosion
1. This is the ____________________________
picking up or physical removal
or rock particles by an agent of erosion.
Agents of erosion include:
 Gravity
 Wind
 Running Water (streams and glaciers)
 Wave action
2. Most eroded rock particles are at least
partially
weathered
_________________.
3. Rock can be eroded before it has weathered
at all.
 Rivers move a great deal of
material. The faster the water
moves, the larger material that can
be carried down stream.
As time goes by, the stream
erodes away the land and
makes it flatter.
When the gradient is low, the
shape of the stream changes
and meanders form:

MEANDER
Contour lines showing head of the
stream to the mouth of stream with
delta

Velocity slows
when entering a
large body of
water
 Eventually all
streams flow
into the ocean

This part of a
stream is called
a DELTA
Rate of change

Answer: .5 degrees
Celsius/hour