Grade 11 Power

CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY (Homework: WORKBOOK PAGE 95-100)

1 THE LITHOSPHERE

 

• The lithosphere is the hard shell of the Earth, consisting of the crust and the topmost part of the upper mantle (p. 184).

• Minerals are solid inorganic substances with clearly defined composition and properties (p. 185).

• Geologists classify minerals according to their properties (p. 185).

• To mine minerals, geologists must first locate them and then extract them from the lithosphere (p. 187).

• Ore is rock containing minerals. When the amount and concentration of a mineral in a particular site are high enough for mining, the mineral layer is then referred to as a deposit (p. 187).

• Once the ore has been extracted, the mineral is separated from the rock in several stages (p. 189).

• Rocks are heterogeneous solids composed of many minerals (p. 189).

• Igneous rocks are formed when magma cools and solidifies (p. 190).

• Sedimentary rocks are formed by the accumulation and compaction of debris (p. 191).

• Metamorphic rocks are former igneous or sedimentary rocks that have been transformed by heat or pressure (p. 191).

• Like minerals, certain rocks are extracted from the ground to meet human needs (p. 191).

• Soil horizons are differentiated layers running roughly parallel to the surface of the ground (p. 192).

• Permafrost is ground whose temperature has been 0°C or lower for at least two years (p. 194).

• Fossil fuels result from the transformation of organic residue. These energy sources consist of oil, natural gas and coal (p. 196).

• Nuclear energy is the energy stored in the bonds between the particles in the nucleus of an atom (p. 198).

• Geothermal energy is the energy that comes from the internal heat of the Earth (p. 198).

2 THE HYDROSPHERE

• The hydrosphere is the Earth’s outer layer of water, uniting water in all its states: liquid, solid and gas (p. 201).

• Inland waters are all the freshwater bodies found on continents, uniting rivers, lakes and groundwater (p. 201).

• A watershed is an area of land in which all inland waters drain into the same larger body of water (p. 202).

• Salinity is a measure of the amount of salt dissolved in a liquid (p. 204).

• An ocean current is the movement of seawater in a certain direction (p. 205).

• Ocean circulation is the combined effect of all the currents that move across the oceans (p. 205).

• Thermohaline circulation is a huge “conveyor belt” of surface and subsurface currents that moves water all around the world (p. 206).

• The cryosphere consists of all the frozen water on the Earth’s surface (p. 207).

• Pack ice is composed of the ice floating on the oceans near the North and South poles (p. 207).

• A glacier is a mass of ice on land, formed by compressed snow (p. 208).

• Hydraulic energy is the energy that can be derived from moving water (p. 209).

• A hydroelectric dam converts a river’s hydraulic energy into electrical power (p. 210).