Geology Exam 1

The science that pursues an understanding of the planet Earth

Examines the materials composing Earth and seeks to understand the many processes that operate beneath and upon its surface.

Seeks an understanding of the origin of Earth and its development through time.

Problems and issues addressed by geology:

States that the physical, chemical, and biological laws that operate today have also operated in the geologic past.

Belief that Earth's landscapes had been shaped primarily by great catastrophes.

Dates are placed in their proper sequence or order without knowing their age in years.

States that in layers of sedimentary rocks or lava flows, the youngest layer is on top and the oldest is on the bottom.

States that fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite and determinable order, and therefore any time period can be recognized by its fossil content.

Eon in the geologic time scale that includes the origin of Earth and is divided into Proterozoic and Archean.

Eon in the geologic time scale that includes the eras paleozoic, mesozoic, and cenozoic.

A tentative(or untested) explanation.

A well-tested and widely accepted view that the scientific community agrees best explains certain observable facts.

Steps of the scientific method

Earth's sphere that is a dynamic mass of water that is continually on the move, evaporating from the oceans to the atmosphere, precipitating to the land, and running back to the ocean again.