Chapter 8 Objective Questions
Earth Systems
Are Hybrid Electric Vehicles as Environmentally Friendly as We Think They
Are?
1. What does HEV stand for?
2. How are these cars fueled?
3. What is the proposed advantage to these cars over current cars on the road?
4. What are some of the environmental trade-offs with these cars?
5. What metals are used for these cars such as the Toyota Prius and what is the
issue?
6. What problems arise from mining the metals?
The availability of Earth’s resources was determined when the planet was
formed.
1. Think back to your chemistry and the periodic table. How did these
elements form on the Earth?
2. The elements settled in different places on the Earth based on?
3. The layers of the Earth are the _________________, the ________________, which is
mostly molten __________________, the __________________, composed of flexible,
_______________ rock, and the __________________, which includes the upper mantle
and the ______________.
4. What is the lithosphere composed of?
Earth is dynamic and constantly changing.
1. What are the three major processes that make up the geologic cycle?
Convection and Hotspots
1. Why is the core so hot?
2. An upwelling from the core produces plumes of hot magma called?
3. What are convection cells?
Theory of Plate Tectonics
1. You learned about this in earth science and in biology. Review what plate
tectonics theory states.
2. What is the tectonic cycle?
3. Oceanic plates vs. continental plates?
4. What is the cause of sea floor spreading?
5. What is subduction?
Make sure you know Figure 8.4 and where the zones are. Which how they
move either away or towards each other.
Consequences of Plate Movement
Make sure you are familiar with the geologic time scale in Figure 8.6.
Types of Plate Contact
1. Divergent plate boundaries?
2. Convergent plate boundaries?
3. Transform fault boundary?
Figure 8.8
DO THE MATH – Plate Movement (p. 216)
Faults and Earthquakes
1. What is a fault?
2. What are fault zones?
3. What causes earthquakes?
4. What is seismic activity?
5. What is an epicenter?
The Environmental and Human Toll of Earthquakes and Volcanoes
1. What is the Richter scale and how is magnitude determined?
The rock cycle recycles scarce minerals and elements.
1. What are minerals?
Formation of Rocks and Minerals
You learned all about this in Earth Science so this should be a simple review for you.
1. What are the three modes of rock formation?
Igneous Rocks
1. Chemical composition?
2. Mode of formation?
3. Intrusive igneous versus extrusive igneous?
4. Fractures?
Sedimentary Rock
1. Composition?
2. Mode of formation?
Metamorphic Rock
1. Composition?
2. Mode of formation?
Weathering and Erosion
1. What is weathering?
2. What are the two types of weathering?
3. Examples?
4. What are primary and secondary minerals.
5. How do lichens break down rock?
6. What is the cause of acid rain and how does it impact soil chemistry?
Erosion
1. What are the different types of erosion?
2. What is deposition?
Soil links the rock cycle to the biosphere.
1. What is soil?
The Formation of Soil
What five factors determine the properties of soils?
Parent Material
1. How does parent material impact soil quality?
Climate
1. How does climate influence soil formation?
Topography
1. How does climate influence soil formation?
Organisms
1. How does topography influence soil formation?
Time
1. How does time influence soil formation?
Soil Horizons and Properties
1. What are the characteristics of the different soil horizons – O, A, B, C?
2. What is eluviation?
3. Topsoil?
4. Subsoil?
Physical Properties of Soil
1. What are the three types of mineral particles making up soil?
2. How do they differ in size?
3. How can you tell what type of soil you have using the chart in Figure 8.22?
4. What is porosity and how does each type of soil perform in this area?
5. What is the best mixture of an agricultural soil?
6. How does soil act as a filter and what soil type is good for cleaning up
contamination spots?
Chemical Properties of Soil
1. What are cations?
2. What type of charge do clay particles carry?
What is the CEC and what is it based on?
3. What do calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium do in soils that tend be
acidic and high in aluminum and hydrogen?
4. What is the base saturation?
5. Why are these properties important to plants in soils?
Biological Properties of Soil
1. What three groups of organisms account for most of the life found in soils?
2. How do larger organisms contribute to improving soil conditions?
Soil Degradation and Erosion
1. What is soil degradation?
2. What types of activities contribute to compaction? Mineral loss?
The uneven distribution of mineral resources has social and environmental
consequences.
1. What is crustal abundance?
2. What are ores? Metals?
3. What are disseminated deposits?
4. What s a reserve?
Types of Mining
1. What are the two types of mining?
Surface Mining
1. How does strip mining impact the environment?
2. What are mining spoils or tailings?
3. What is open-pit mining?
4. What is mountaintop removal?
5. What is placer mining?
Subsurface Mining
1. What is subsurface mining?
Mining, Safety, and the Environment
1. What environmental problems arise form the different types of mining
Make sure you study Table 8.2
Mining Legislation
1. What is the Mining Law of 1872? General Mining Law?
2. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977?
Working Toward Sustainability – Mine Reclamation and Biodiversity
1. Explain what reclamation attempts to do with mines.
Work the FRQ and the Measuring Your Impact to practice your math essay
writing skills. The multiple-choice questions are great examples of what you
will see on the APES exam.