1. What is Geography?
Geography (from geo, “earth”, and grapein, “to write”) is the science that studies the relationships among natural systems, geographic areas, society, and cultural activities and the interdependence of all of these over space.

2. What is physical geography?
Physical geography is the spatial analysis of all the physical elements and process systems that make up the environment: energy, air, water, weather, climate, landforms, soils, animals, plants, microorganisms, and Earth itself.

3. What are the inner core, outer core, mantle, asthenosphere, lithosphere, oceanic crust, and continental crust? o Inner core: solid iron well above the melting temperature of iron at the surface, but remains solid b/c tremendous pressure (combination of silicon, oxygen, sulfur) o Outer core: molten, metallic iron (fluid) with lighter densities than the inner core o Mantle: 80% of earth’s total volume, rich in oxides of iron and magnesium and silicates (FeO, MgO, and SiO2),
• Lower mantle: denser, contain a mixture of iron, magnesium, and silicates, with some calcium and aluminum.
• Upper mantle: a high-velocity zone just below the crust where seismic waves transmit through a rigid, cooler layer, divides into three fairly distinct layers:
i. Upper mantle ii. Asthenosphere iii. Uppermost mantle

o Asthenosphere: (plastic layer) contains pockets of increased heat from radioactive decay and is susceptible to slow convective currents in these hotter, less dense materials. o Lithosphere: approximately 45-70 km thick, and was made up of uppermost mantle and crust o Oceanic crust (denser): basalt, granular and high in silica, magnesium, and iron. o Continental crust (less in dense): essentially granite, it is crystalline and high in silica, aluminum, potassium, calcium, and sodium.

4. What are the relative densities of the parts of the Earth listed above?
Inner core outer core lower mantle upper mantle asthenosphere lithosphere oceanic crust continental crust

5. Who was Wegener, and what types of evidence did he use to support his theories?
Alfred Wegener is a German geophysicist and meteorologist who came up with the “continental drift” concept.