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New YorkEarth and Environmental Science

The Lithosphere: Minerals, Rocks and Plate Tectonics

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do seismic waves let us locate an earthquake and see inside Earth?

Explain how P-waves and S-waves behave and use the Reference Tables earthquake travel-time graph to find the distance to an epicenter, the origin time and the number of stations needed to locate it.
A Regents answer on earthquakes and seismic waves: P-waves and S-waves and how they differ, the Reference Tables P-wave and S-wave travel-time graph, finding the distance to an epicenter from the S-minus-P time, finding the origin time, why three stations are needed, and how the S-wave shadow zone reveals a liquid outer core, with worked exam questions.
13 min answer →

What is a mineral, and how do we identify one from its physical properties?

Define a mineral and explain how physical properties (hardness, cleavage, luster, streak, color and density) and chemical composition are used to identify minerals, using the relevant Reference Tables charts.
A Regents answer on minerals: the definition of a mineral, the physical properties used to identify them (hardness, cleavage and fracture, luster, streak, color, density), why composition and internal arrangement control those properties, and how to use the Reference Tables Properties of Common Minerals chart, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

What is Earth made of inside, and what evidence shows the plates move?

Describe the layered structure of Earth's interior and explain the theory of plate tectonics, including the evidence (sea-floor spreading, matching coastlines, fossils, magnetic stripes) and the calculation of plate spreading rate.
A Regents answer on Earth's interior and plate tectonics: the crust, mantle, outer and inner core and the Reference Tables inferred properties, mantle convection as the driver, the three boundary types, the evidence for sea-floor spreading (matching coastlines, fossils, magnetic stripes, age of sea floor), and a worked spreading-rate calculation.
13 min answer →

How do sedimentary and metamorphic rocks form, and how do we tell them apart?

Explain how sedimentary rocks form by compaction and cementation or by chemical and biologic processes, and how metamorphic rocks form by heat and pressure, using the Reference Tables charts to identify each by texture and composition.
A Regents answer on sedimentary and metamorphic rocks: clastic versus chemical and biologic sedimentary rocks, compaction and cementation, the role of fossils and sorting, foliated versus nonfoliated metamorphic rocks, contact and regional metamorphism, and how to use the Reference Tables identification charts, with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

How do rocks change from one type to another, and how do we identify an igneous rock?

Describe the rock cycle and explain how igneous rocks form from cooling magma or lava, using the Reference Tables Scheme for Igneous Rock Identification to relate texture, composition, color and density to the rock name.
A Regents answer on the rock cycle and igneous rocks: the three rock families and the processes that link them, how cooling rate controls crystal (grain) size, how the Scheme for Igneous Rock Identification relates texture, mineral composition, color and density to a rock name (granite, basalt, obsidian and others), with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →

Where do volcanoes form, and how do we read deformed and folded rock layers?

Explain where and why volcanoes form (boundaries and hot spots), describe how crustal rock is deformed by folding, faulting and tilting, and interpret evidence of crustal movement such as displaced rock layers and marine fossils on mountains.
A Regents answer on volcanoes and crustal deformation: why volcanoes form at subduction zones, divergent boundaries and hot spots, the Ring of Fire, how rock is folded, faulted and tilted, and the evidence that the crust has moved (displaced strata, tilted layers, marine fossils and rounded sediments now on mountains), with worked exam questions.
12 min answer →