2nd Semester Exam Study Guide
Volcanoes
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Pluton - Intrusive igneous rock body, including batholiths, stocks, sills, and dikes, formed through mountain-building
processes and oceanic-oceanic collisions; can be exposed at Earth’s surface due to uplift and erosion.
2. Batholith - Course-grained, irregularly shaped, igneous rock mass that covers at least 100km2, generally forms 10-30 km
below Earth’s surface, and is common in the interior of major mountain chains.
3. Stock - Irregular shaped pluton that is similar to a batholiths but smaller, generally forms 5-30 km beneath Earth’s surface,
and cuts across older rocks.
4. Dike - Pluton that cuts across preexisting rocks and often forms when magma invades cracks in surrounding rock bodies.
5. Sill - Pluton that forms when magma intrudes parallel rock layers.
6. Shield Volcano - Broad volcano with gently sloping sides built by nonexplosive eruptions of basaltic lava that accumulates
in layers.
7. Composite Volcano - Generally cone-shaped with concave slopes; built by violent eruptions of volcanic fragments and lava
that accumulate in alternating layers.
8. Cinder Cone Volcano - Steep-sided, generally small volcano that is built by the accumulation of tephra around the vent.
9. Hot Spot - Unusually hot area in Earth’s mantle where high-temperature plumes of mantle material rise toward the surface.
10. Fissure - Are long cracks in Earth.
11. Tephra - Rock fragments, classified by size, that are thrown into the air during a volcanic eruption and fall to the ground.
Earthquakes
1. fault – fracture in Earth’s crust that occurs when stress is applied too quickly or stress is too great
2. Primary Wave – seismic wave that squeezes and pushes rocks in the same direction
3. Secondary Wave – type of seismic wave that causes rock particles to move at right angles to the direction of the wave
4. Stress – forces per unit area that can act on a material – compression, tension, and shear.
5. Strain – deformation of materials in response to stress
6. focus – point of initial fault rupture where an earthquake originates
7. epicenter – point on Earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake
8. seismogram – record produced by a seismometer that can provide individual tracking of each type of seismic wave
9. Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale – type of scale that measures an earthquake’s intensity on a scale from I to XII
10. Moment Magnitude Scale – type of scale used to measure earthquakes magnitude, takes into account faults
11. Richter Scale – numerical rating system used to measure the amount of energy released during an earthquake.
Erosion and Deposition
1. Mechanical Weathering – process that breaks down rocks and minerals into smaller pieces.
2. Chemical Weathering – process by which rocks and minerals undergo changes in their composition.
3. Exfoliation – process in which outer rock layers are stripped away resulting in a dome-shaped formation.
4. Erosion – removal and transport of weathered materials from one location to another.
5. Deposition – occurs when eroded materials are dropped in another location.
6. Soil Horizon – distinct layer within a soil profile.
7. Soil Profile – vertical sequence of soil layers, containing A-horizon, B-horizon, C-horizon
Climate
1. Normals - Standard value for a location, including rainfall, wind speed, and temperatures, based on meteorological records
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compiled for at least 30 years.
Microclimate - Localized climate that differs from the surrounding regional climate.
Heat Island - Urban area where climate is warmer than in the surrounding countryside due to factors such as numerous
concrete buildings and large expanses of asphalt.
Koppen Classification System - Classification system for climates, divided into five types, based on the mean monthly
values of temperature and precipitation and types of vegetation.
Greenhouse Effect - Natural heating of Earth’s surface by certain atmospheric gases, which helps keep Earth warm enough
to sustain life.
Ecology
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Community – a group of various species that live in the same habitat and interact with each other.
Ecosystem – a community of organisms and their abiotic environment.
Habitat – a place where an organism usually lives.
Ecological Succession – the replacement of one type of community by another at a single location over a period of time.
Climate – the average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time.
Biome – a large region characterized by a specific type of climate and certain types of plant and animal communities.
Producer – a photosynthetic or chemosynthetic autotroph that serves as the basic food source in an ecosystem.
Consumer – an organism that eats other organisms or organic matter instead of producing its own nutrients or obtaining
nutrients from inorganic sources.
Decomposer – an organism that feeds by breaking down organic matter from dead organisms.
Trophic Level – one of the steps in a food chain or food pyramid.
Energy Pyramid – a triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem’s loss of energy, which results as energy passes through the
ecosystem’s food chain.
Carbon Cycle – the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back.
Nitrogen Cycle – the cycling of nitrogen between organisms, soil, water, and the atmosphere.
Phosphorus Cycle – the cyclic movement of phosphorus in different chemical forms from the environment to organisms and
then back to the environment.
Population – a group of organisms of the same species that live in a specific geographical area and interbreed.
Carrying Capacity – the largest population that an environment can support at any given time.
Predation – an interaction between two organisms in which one organism, the predator, kills and feeds on the other
organism, the prey.
Parasitism – a relationship between two species in which one species, the parasite, benefits from the other species, the host,
which is harmed.
Symbiosis – a relationship in which two different organisms live in close association with each other.
Mutualism – a relationship between two species in which both species benefit.
Commensalism – a relationship between two organisms in which one organism benefits and the other is unaffected.
Niche – the unique position occupied by a species, both in terms of its physical use of its habitat and its function within an
ecological community.