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2. Why does marble rarely contain fossils?
This is because of the way that it is formed. When you have a rock that is formed through metamorphosis then it has been created through heat and pressure acting on other rocks.
Fossils are inherently delicate things and therefore precious little would withstand the conditions that are required to create marble - and therefore marble hardly ever contains fossils as a direct result of this.
It moves because the huge pressure of the ice and snow lowers the freezing point of its lower layers, causing them to melt.
4. Why did the continents spread apart?
This is due to the heat generated from the earth's interior and earthquakes - the convection currents deep within the earth because the movement of the material that sits on top.
5. Which type of rock is critical for the formation of geysers?
Liquid rock is needed for geysers to form in the form of what is called magma - which is the geological name for liquid rock. Without that, you cannot get geysers forming.
The lower section of the Earth's crust has been reached. The possibility of the mantle is not far away. Depths of over 4,500 feet have been reached.
7. Which kind of volcano is the most destructive?
Well each type of volcano can be very destructive and if you are talking in human loss of life terms than the answer is any type of volcano that is near dense population.
The most destructive type of volcano though that is generally acknowledged; as such, independent of people is that which is called the stratovolcano.
This is the Great Barrier Reef off the northeast corner of Australia.
Many carbonate minerals will do this. However since this is a chemistry homework question - I'm guessing for GCSE - then almost certainly the answer they are looking for is calcium carbonate, because this equation often needs to be learnt and then perhaps balanced in an exam question.
10. Where would you expect to find the oldest basalt on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean?
The oldest sea floor in the Atlantic that is made of basalt is to be found closest to the continents, the further into the ocean away from land that you go, the newer the sea floor.
This is because new sea floor is still being added in the middle of the ocean and therefore the banding and age of the rocks gets increasingly older the further you move from the centre of the ocean.
11. Where are Mountains of the Moon?
These are a mountain range, along Zaire and Uganda in East Africa.
12. When does an atoll start to form?
This begins to form when tiny marine animals - coral polyps - attach themselves to rocks on the seabed.
13. What ways can igneous rock form two ways?
Igneous rocks - got to that stage of your geography or chemistry class already?
Well here is a little information for you on the ways in which igneous rocks can form.
Igneous rocks are created when melted material crystallizes, e.g. from magma.
There are two formation methods, the first is that they form on the surface and these are called extrusive igneous rocks, or they can form inside the crust, and these ones are called intrusive igneous rocks.
14. What time period can carbon-14 dates have?
Carbon 14 has a half-life of 5,730 years, and therefore it can be used to date very accurately a large majority of things, particularly wood and so on.
It is only not useful for ancient things where all the carbon 14 will have gone, or almost gone - and for these there are other isotopes of other elements, that can be used with a much longer half-life.
15. What separates the outer core from the mantle above it?
There is a gradual transition caused by a change in temperature and reducing pressure.
16. What minerals attract lightning?
Tall structures and things that are metal attract lightning, also trees do.
In fact, anything that is metallic containing mineral may seem to attract the lightning for instance things like iron.
17. What makes mountains appear purple?
This is to do with light and the atmosphere.
The way the rays of light strike the mountains at a greater height than us, then reflect and reach our eyes below the height of mountains, coupled with the air in-between, leads to them looking purple, in a similar way to the process with different wavelength light makes the sky look blue on a sunny day.
18. What layer of the earth does magma form?
Magma is part of the layer just under the crust.
It reminds us that whilst everything seems solid underfoot actually that is not quite so, and there are only relatively thin layers on top that move and float on a sea of magma underneath, it is this that moves the continents around the surface of the planet, all be it very slowly indeed.
19. What is the rate of species and how does this relate to finding transitional species?
The rate of species depends on the time and particular species and environment at the time, therefore there is no one absolute figure that can be used.
However clearly the rate of species can be used to estimate where in transition each species is and when the next variations will come along.
20. What is the name of the largest volcano in the world?
The largest volcano in the world over ground is called Mauna Loa.
Mauna Loa is to be found in Hawaii, now a US State.
21. What is the minimum depth needed for a feature to be considered a canyon?
In fact, it is a bit like considering when a few grains of sand become a heap of sand: there is no absolute point where something turns from a depression to a canyon.
The definition is simply a deep, narrow steep-sided valley, but the minimum depth is not absolute.
22. What is the mantle made of?
Earth's mantle - what is it made of - well, many things indeed, but mainly the following:
Compounds of the following metals or semi-metals, along with oxygen compounds:
1) Iron compounds
2) Magnesium compounds
3) Aluminum compounds
4) Silicon compounds
23. What is the general statement regarding the temperature of water in oceanic depths?
Generally, the relation is this - the further from the surface the colder the water.
This makes sense because of course as you go down further there is less and less sunlight, and therefore the temperature of the water drops.
24. What is the earths crust made of?
The overall composition of the Earth's crust, in terms of elemental composition is as follows:
Oxygen 46.6%
Silicon 27.7%
Aluminum 8.1%
Iron 5.0%
All other elements 12.6%
25. What is the earths core made of?
The outer core is liquid and the inner is solid. Both parts are made of alloy of two metals - iron and nickel, allowing the rise of the magnetic field that the earth exhibits and is so essential in protecting our existence.
26. What is the earth made of?
The overall composition of the Earth, in terms of elemental composition is as follows:
Iron 34.6%
Oxygen 29.5%
Silicon 15.2%
Magnesium 12.7%
Nickel 2.4%
Sulphur 1.9%
All others: 3.7%
27. What is the difference between the geoid and the surface of the earth?
The geoid is an imaginary surface that equivalences with the average (mean) sea level around the world.
Therefore, it is not an actual or real thing like the continents themselves that form the surface of the earth, but merely a useful model that we can imagine to extend through the continents.
28. What is the difference between a semi-precious and a precious stone?
The difference between precious and semi-precious comes down purely to human definitions that have been imposed.
There is nothing in and of itself about the nature of a stone, which makes it precious or semi-precious.
Rather it is down to human desirability of an element or mineral or form or a stone that decides.
Generally, the rarer and more sought after a mineral is, the more likely it is to be defined as precious.
Desired, but more common and less valuable items may be, in contrast, semi-precious.
29. What is the difference between a canyon, gorge, and valley?
The simplest way to answer this is to define each term, so you can see:
1) A canyon is a deep valley with steep sides thinks of the Grand Canyon most famously to visualize what this is.
2) A gorge is a deep ravine, which usually has a river running through it - though this does not have to be the case.
3) Finally, a valley is any depression, usually of a certain length, in the surface of the land and often contains a river.
Therefore, a canyon is a specific type of valley, with particularly steep sides. A gorge is a deep depression that will usually contain a river.
This refers to the Cambrian period, a geological time, at around 570 - 510 million years ago. It is when invertebrate life first appeared.
During the period comes what is known as the Cambrian Explosion - where the fossil record suddenly seems to radiate with an array of multi-celled creatures.
It is a fine-grained, earthy, sedimentary rock like clay, but formed in thin layers.
This is a type of soil, which is halfway between clay and sandy soils.
33. What is happening when a metamorphic rock is forming?
The rock is being subjected to intense heat and pressure at the time - this is what causes the dramatic stresses that are indeed what happens during the metamorphic process and what triggers the profound change in the chemical make up or constitution of the rocks.
Granite is a hard, igneous rock. It is made up of mica, quartz, feldspar and sometimes bits of other rocks as well. Granite is usually pink, white, or grey. It is crystalline and so shines.
The remains of trees and shrubs grew millions of years ago, when the weather was mild and moist.
