Earth Science Exam

What are the main gases that make up the atmosphere?

Mostly invisible gases that surround the Earth.

Small glacial valleys that join the deeper, main valley.

Where does abrasion happen?

What is frozen ground found at high altitudes?

This forms when a glacier erodes a river valley.

_______________ is the blowing of millions of grains of sand.

What does wind move?

What sphere is made up of living things?

What layer of the Earth lies below the crust?

The sudden and rapid movement of large amounts of material downslope

A break or crack in the Earth's crust where rocks can move?

What makes it hard to determine the relative age of rocks?

Where is humus found?

Rapid movement of a large mass of mud.

__________ happens when loose rock falls down a steep slope.

What causes glaciers to move?

Large mass of moving ice that forms by the compacting of snow.

Thick deposits of windblown, fine-grain sediment.

What are the main soil horizons?

What is the Earth made of?

What type of soil develops in cold, dry regions?

The bending of rock when rock layers are squeezed together.

Jagged ridges that form between two or more cirques that cut in the same mountain.

The removal of fine sediment by wind.

Vertical section of soil that shows all the different layers of soil.

What is determining whether an object or event is older or younger?

_________ states that an older rock unit is mixed and deposited into a younger mix.

Loose mixture of rock fragments, organic matter, water and air.

Where does the Earth's energy come from?

What does wind do when it hits an obstacle?

A surface made up of mostly pebble and small, broken rock?

What layer of the Geosphere is made up of iron and nickel?

Remains of decayed organic material.

What is the removal of fine sediment by wind?

Oceans cover ________ of the Earth's surface.

This type of soil forms in warm, wet regions.

What are mounds of wind deposited sand?

The spaces between soil particles are?

The grinding and wearing down of rock surfaces by other rock or sand particles.

What happens when Earth's forces move rock layers up or down unevenly?

What are most soils composed of?

What includes all the matter, energy and processes within Earth's boundaries?

An ordered arrangement of rock layers that is based on relative ages of rock.

Thick sheets of ice that may spread over large areas.

What is made of mostly iron and nickel?

Bowl-shaped depressions where glacial ice cuts back into mountain walls.