GEOSPHERE UNIT TEST STUDY GUIDE

Section 1.1: The Earth System:

§  4 parts of the Earth system

§  Characteristics of the Earth system as a whole

§  Characteristics of each part of the Earth system

§  Interactions of the 4 parts of the Earth system

Chapter 2: Minerals:

§  4 characteristics of minerals

§  Rock forming mineral groups

§  Composition of Earth’s crust (minerals and elements)

§  Properties used to identify minerals

§  Different types of mining

§  5 ways minerals are formed

§  Uses of minerals

§  Chapter 2 vocabulary

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Chapter 3: Rocks:

§  3 types of rocks

§  Processes of the rock cycle

§  Rock composition of Earth’s crust and surface

§  Properties of each rock type

§  How each rock type forms

§  Examples of each rock type

§  Chapter 3 vocabulary

Chapter 4: Weathering and Soil:

§  2 types of weathering

§  Examples of each type of weathering

§  Composition of soil

§  Properties of soil

§  Characteristics and organisms of soil horizons

§  Effect of climate and region on soil

§  3 human activities that affect soil

§  Uses of soil

§  Methods of conserving soil

§  Chapter 4 vocabulary

Chapter 5 Erosion and Deposition:

§  Examples of erosion and deposition

§  Examples of mass wasting

§  Divides and drainage basins

§  Features created by moving water

§  Formation of caves

§  Longshore current and longshore drift

§  Formation of sandbars and barrier islands

§  Formation of loess and desert pavement

§  2 types of glaciers and their characteristics

§  Features created by glaciers

§  Chapter 5 vocabulary

Chapter 6: Plate Tectonics:

§  Earth’s layers, including lithosphere & asthenosphere

§  Characteristics and composition of Earth’s layers

§  Continental drift

§  Seafloor-spreading

§  Plate movement processes

§  Hot spots

§  Magnetic reversals

§  3 types of plate boundaries

§  Features created by plate boundaries

§  3 types of convergent plate boundaries

§  Chapter 6 vocabulary

Chapter 7: Earthquakes:

§  3 types of faults

§  Causes of earthquakes

§  Strength of earthquakes

§  Seismic wave types and characteristics

§  Locating an earthquake

§  Instruments used to study earthquakes

§  Effects of earthquakes

§  Reducing earthquake damage

§  Chapter 7 vocabulary

Chapter 8: Volcanoes:

§  Folded and fault-block mountains

§  3 types of volcanoes

§  Short and long-term effects of volcanic eruptions

§  Location of volcanoes

§  Warning signs and monitoring of volcanoes

§  The effects of volcanoes on water

§  Chapter 8 vocabulary