Earth Science Flashcards

Which process transports sediment from one location and deposits it in another, forming features like deltas and sandbars?

Answer: Erosion and deposition

Erosion picks up and transports sediment via water, wind, or ice, which is then deposited when energy decreases, forming landforms like deltas.

What causes the apparent daily motion of the Sun across the sky from east to west?

Answer: Earth's rotation from west to east

Earth rotates from west to east on its axis, making the Sun appear to move across the sky from east to west each day.

Which mineral is the hardest on the Mohs scale and can scratch all other minerals?

Answer: Diamond

Diamond rates 10 on the Mohs hardness scale — the highest — and can scratch every other known natural mineral.

A weather station reports dew point temperature equal to air temperature. What does this indicate?

Answer: Relative humidity of 100%

When air temperature equals the dew point, the air is saturated (100% relative humidity), and condensation or fog is likely to form.

Which type of unconformity occurs when tilted or folded sedimentary layers are eroded and then covered by new horizontal layers?

Answer: Angular unconformity

An angular unconformity features older tilted or folded strata below an erosional surface overlain by younger, horizontal sedimentary layers.

Which phenomenon explains why New York City experiences longer days in June than in December?

Answer: Earth's axis is tilted toward the Sun in June

Earth's 23.5° axial tilt causes the Northern Hemisphere to be angled toward the Sun in June, producing longer days and higher Sun angles.

Which rock type would most likely preserve fossils of ancient organisms?

Answer: Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock that commonly forms in marine environments where organisms with hard shells or skeletons are preserved as fossils.