Earth Science: a QuickStudy Digital Reference Guide

By Frank Miskevich

The ultimate reference guide to the all-encompassing essential science of earth that includes geology, meteorology, oceanography and astronomy. The amount and variety of facts covered makes our expertly written and designed guide a perfect fit to increase understanding, test scores and grades for students while offering the earth-conscious and space-lovers out there handy facts about our planet systems underground, on the surface, in our sky, and into space. This digital guide with colorful illustrations, diagrams, tables and graphs pack more facts per page than you’ll find anywhere for high-value quality knowledge, better grades and planet awareness at an unbeatable price.
Digital guide includes:

• Astronomy
  • Components of Study
  • The Four Spheres
• Gravity & Orbital Motion
  • The Earth
  • The Moon
  • Structures of the Earth
  • History of the Earth
  • Plate Tectonics
  • Earthquakes & Volcanoes
• Types of Rocks
  • Igneous Rocks
  • Metamorphic Rocks
  • Sedimentary Rocks
  • Minerals, Ores & Crystals
• Hydrosphere
  • Water Cycle & Moving Water
  • Energy & Discharge
  • Profile
  • Base Level
  • Work of Streams
  • Mass Wasting
  • Competence & Capacity
  • Deposition
  • Natural Levees & Stream Valleys
  • Resistant Beds, Rapids & Waterfalls
  • Meanders & Oxbow Lakes
  • Wide Valleys
  • Drainage Patterns
  • Groundwater Depletion & Contamination
  • Springs, Caves & Caverns
• Atmosphere
  • Atmospheric Composition
  • Atmospheric Layers
  • Wind
  • Clouds
  • Meteorology
• Climate

• Language: English
• Publisher: BarCharts, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781423243250

Book preview

title

Introduction

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge. —Carl Sagan

Components of Study

Geology: Both a physical and historical study of rocks of Earth

Meteorology: The weather and climate of Earth

Oceanography: The oceans of Earth

Astronomy: What is external to the atmosphere

The Four Spheres

Lithosphere: The solid earth

Hydrosphere: The liquid earth

Atmosphere: The gaseous earth

Biosphere: Where life exists

Astronomy

To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit. —Stephen Hawking

The Sun

It is the largest body in the solar system (99.8% of the total mass).

It was formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago.

It contains enough energy to continue as it is now for about 5 billion years.

It gives off energy using nuclear fusion, the violent joining of hydrogen atoms to form helium and release energy.

The surface of the Sun is not constant.

Sunspots: Areas of reduced heat/energy formed because of the Sun’s magnetic field.

Solar flares: Eruptions of mass and energy that can damage satellites and equipment on Earth.

Solar corona: An area of super-heated plasma surrounding the Sun, most commonly seen during a solar eclipse (when the Moon passes between the Earth and Sun).

Solar Energy

The Sun gives off energy at many wavelengths.

Specific wavelengths indicate particular reactions and/ or elements that are present in the Sun.

Solar energy arriving at Earth averages about 120 watts/m² per day.

Almost all of the energy used on Earth directly or indirectly came from the Sun.

Variations in solar energy cause seasonal temperature changes.

Oil and gas deposits are formed from organisms living millions of years ago.

Wind is caused by uneven heating of the Earth’s surface and the Earth’s rotation.

Solar panels convert visible light directly into electricity.

The visible wavelengths (400–700 nm) given off by the Sun can be separated by a prism to produce the visiblespectrum of sunlight.

Various wavelengths (dark lines) are either not produced or are absorbed by different