The Earth

Answers

ATMOSPHERE OF EARTH

1. nitrogen, oxygen, argon

2. oxygen, *21

3. nitrogen, *78 percent

*4. argon, volcanic, one

5. troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere

6. temperature

7. cooler

8. troposphere, rise

9. stratosphere, ultraviolet, ozone

10. GREATER, thin

ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION

11. equator or tropics, poles

12. exchange of heat from warmer regions of the earth to colder regions of the planet.

13. rotation, west, east

14. Coriolis, THREE

*15. RIGHT

*16. LEFT

*17. The rotation of Venus is so slow that the Coriolis effect is much weaker.

*18. rapid rotation

THREE MAJOR ROCK GROUPS

19. oxygen, silicon, iron

20. igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic

21. igneous

22. sedimentary, deposition, precipitation

23. metamorphic, sedimentary, igneous

24. sedimentary

INTERIOR OF EARTH

25. crust, mantle, outer core, inner core

26. composition, density

27. sank towards the center of the planet, while less dense materials either remained in their positions or moved toward the surface.

28. differentiation

29. primary, secondary, primary (P-waves, push-pull, longitudinal), secondary (S-waves, transverse)

30. primary, secondary, distance

31. secondary waves, primary waves, secondary waves, primary waves

32. pressure

33. SOLID, pressure

THE DYNAMIC EARTH -- PLATE TECTONICS

34. a. The continents are in many respects like a jigsaw puzzle which can be fit together along boundaries where they were once joined.

b. Fossils of extinct species of animals are found in locations separated by large bodies of water, indicating these continents were once joined.

c. Magnetic properties of ocean basins reveal a zebra pattern of pole reversals indicating continental separation.

d. Techniques in radio astronomy utilizing Very Long Baseline Interferometry have shown North America to be separating from Europe by about 1¼ inches (3 cm) per year.

35. plates

36. crust, mantle, mantle

37. Mid-Atlantic Ridge

38. volcanoes, Iceland

39. subduction

40. earthquakes, volcanoes, trench

41. Japan or New Zealand or the Aleutian Islands or the Caribbean Islands or the west coast of South America, or the Philippines, etc.

42. Los Angeles and San Francisco are near the boundaries of the North American plate and the Pacific plate. This region is prone to seismic activity as the Pacific plate yields to the pressures being exerted against it by the North American plate.

43. mountains
     a. Alps: Italy slamming into Europe
     b. Himalayas: India colliding with Asia
     c. Andes: Nazca plate subducting under the South American plate
     d. Rockies: N American plate pushing against the Pacific plate

44. volcano

45. hot spot

46. mantle, dense

47. mountains, oceans

48. LARGER, faulting or fractures, surface area

49. graben

50. slowly, rapidly

MAGNETIC FIELDS

51. field, matter

52. gravitational field, magnetic field

*53. spin axes

54. plasma

55. magnetic field

56. spiral

EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD

57. electricity (electrons), rotation

58. cancel

59. deflect around the earth's magnetic field or change its direction of motion

60. solar wind

61. DEFLECTED

62. bow shock, STRONGER

63. shock front

64. magnetopause

65. earth

66. magnetosphere, Van Allen

67. aurora borealis or northern lights, aurora australis or southern lights

68. solar wind

69. liquid, rotation