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| a small planetary body in orbit around the sun, larger than a meteoroid but smaller than a planet |
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| a small, solid body moving through space in orbit around the sun |
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| any of the small extraterrestrial solid bodies that hit the earth's atmosphere |
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| a streak of light in the sky at night that results when a meteoroid hits the earth's atmosphere and air friction causes the meteooid to melt or vaporize or explode |
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| a transient shower of meteors when a meteor swarm enters the earth's atmosphere |
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| a stony or metallic object that is the remains of a meteorid that has reached the earth's surface |
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| most abundant meteorite (94% of total); composed mainly of silicates, some stones, are carbonaceous (contain carbon) |
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| stony meteorites that contain chondrules; are unaltered and undifferentiated and represent oldest solid material within our solar system; formed early as molten or partially molten droplets in space before being accreted to their parent asteroids and planets; represent 86% of total meteorites |
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| stony meteorites that came from the crusts of planetary bodies or very large asteroids; they were broken away by the impact of massive asteroids; do not contain chondrules; are altered and differentiated and resemle volcanic rocks from the moon; represent 8% of total meteorites |
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| (grains) that are glassy spheres of mainly silicates formed early during the formation of the solar nebula; found in chondrites |
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| are from the core of an extinct planet or planetoid destroyed by a catastrophic impact event billions of years ago during the formation of our solar system, the like of which are only found in meteorites; composed of iron and nickel; very dense and most irons have an internal crystalline structure known as a widmanstatten pattern; represent 5% of total meteorites |
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| icy material and silicate dust characterized by eccentric orbits around the sun |
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| are from the region at the interface between a planet's core and its mantel that was torn away from by a catastrophic impact; consist of a breccia or mixtures of stony and metallic materials; very rare and represents 1% of total meteorites |
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| earth crossing asteroids with semi-major axis greater that 1 astronomical unit |
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| earth crossing asteroids with semi-major axis less than one astronomical unit |
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| not earth crossing asteroid but a mars crossing asteroid |
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| the mass of extraterrestrial material falling on the earth's surface; consists of mostly micrometeorites (dust particles); sometimes also large meteorites |
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| matter thrown out of a crator during a meteorite impact |
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(<5km) smooth bowl shape with rim
I.E. Meteor Crater, Arizona |
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(>3km) intricate bowl shape with rim and central uplift
I.E. Upheavel Dome, Utah |
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| Chicxulub Crater, Yucatan, Mexico |
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| one of the most famous impact craters; 65 million years old and at least 180 km wide (110 miles) |
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| 85-600km, temperature increase in this layer of the atmosphere is due to absorbtion of very short-wave high energy solar radiatioon by atoms of oxygen |
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| 47-80km, negative temperature gradient, coldest part of atmosphere |
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| 10-47km, thermally stable level of the atmosphere containing the ozone layer 24-48km. warming due to absorbtion of UV radiation |
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| undersea mountains usually of volcanic origin that dot the abyssal plains and are most common in the Pacific ocean |
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| submerged flat-topped seamounts that have been erodeed by wave action |
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| relatively flat surfaces that slope .5 degrees seaward and are underlain by shallow water sediment several km thich and granitic continental crust |
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| past the outer edge of the shelves sloping 6 degrees seaward towards the abyssal plain |
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| often cut into the continental shelves and slopes the canyons may be seaward extensions of river valleys and/or excavated by turbidity currents |
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| can be 1000kms long 50-100 km wide and 8-11km deep. most located along pacific margin where oceanic crust is being subducted under continental crust. they can be sediment free or they can contain chaotic accumulations of deformed sediment (accretionary wedge) |
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| most of these are built of coral and are limited to photic zone and form in warm water about up to 20 degrees north and south of the equator |
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| driven by wind that "pushes" irregularities (waves) developed on the ocean surface |
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| Coriolis and Ekman effect |
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| objects in motion on a rotating sphere will tend to follow curved paths |
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| are large scale circular ocean currents. they are caused by the Coriolis effect |
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| near shore surrents driven by tides |
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| radiation energy in visible and near-visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum |
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| radiation energy emitted in the inferred portion of the electromagnetic spectrum |
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| the transfer of heat energy in response to a temperature gradient within an object or between objects that are in physical contact. transfers very little heat energy around the world |
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| the transfer of heat energy by circulation through a gas or liquid. transfers a lot of heat energy around the world |
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| the heat energy released or absorbed by a substance during a phase change |
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| latent heat of vaporization |
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| heat energy required to overcome molecular forces of attraction between particles of a liquid and bring them to a vapor state |
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| latent heat of condensation |
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| heat energy released during condensation from a vapor state |
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| heat energy released when a material freezes or absorbed when it melts |
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| (heat capacity) is the heat energy required to raise the temperature of a substance 1 degree Celsius. term related to how much heat energy a substance can store |
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| the shape of the earth's orbit about the sun which varies between slightly more or less elliptical |
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| the axial titl of the earth |
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| the change in the orientation of the earth's rotating axis |
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| change in net radiative energy available to the earth |
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