Team Quest Geology Terms
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Created by:
KMcDonald309 on May 29, 2012
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35 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Constructive force | a force that builds up mountains and landmasses on Earth's surface |
| Destructive force | a force that slowly wears away mountains and other features on the surface of Earth |
| Seismic Waves | vibrations that travel through Earth carrying the energy released during an earthquake |
| Pressure | the force pushing on a surface or area |
| Crust | the thin and solid outermost composition layer of the Earth above the mantle |
| Basalt | A dark, dense, igneous rock with a fine texture, found in oceanic crust |
| Granite | A usually light colored igneous rock that is found in continental crust |
| Mantle | the composition layer of the earth between the crust and the core; it makes up 67% of Earth's mass. |
| Lithosphere | the solid part of the earth's physical layers consisting of the crust and outer mantle |
| Asthenosphere | the soft physical layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats |
| Mesosphere | The strong, lower part of the mantle between the asthenosphere and the outer core |
| Inner Core | a dense sphere of solid iron and nickel at the center of Earth |
| Outer Core | the liquid layer of the Earth's core that lies beneath the Mantle and surrounds the inner Core |
| Heat Transfer | the movement of energy from a warmer object to a cooler object |
| Radiation | the transfer of heat energy through space |
| Conduction | the direct transfer of heat from one substance to another substance that it is touching |
| Convection | the transfer of heat by the movement of a fluid (gas or liquid) |
| Density | the amount of matter in a given space |
| Convection Currents | circular movement of a substance due to changes in temperature and density; found in Earth's asthenosphere. |
| Igneous Rock | a type of rock that forms from the cooling of molten rock at or below the surface |
| Sedimentary Rock | A type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together |
| Metamorphic Rock | A type of rock that forms from an existing rock that is changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions |
| Sediment | matter deposited by some natural process |
| Erosion | condition in which the earth's surface is worn away by the action of water and wind |
| Deposition | process in which sediment is laid down in new locations |
| Compaction | The process by which sediments are pressed together under their own weight. |
| Cementation | The process in which minerals precipitate into pore spaces between sediment grains and bind sediments together to form rock. |
| Rock Cycle | a series of processes on the surface and inside Earth that slowly changes rocks from one kind to another |
| Relative Age | the age of a rock compared to the ages of rock layers |
| Absolute Age | the age of a rock given as the number of years since the rock formed |
| :Law of Superposition | The geologic principle that states that in horizontal layers of sedimentary rock, each layer is older than the layer above it and younger than the layer below it. |
| Intrusion | An igneous rock layer formed when magma hardens beneath Earth's surface. |
| Extrusion | an igneous rock layer formed when lava flows onto Earth's surface and hardens |
| Index Fossil | fossils of widely distributed organisms that lived during only one short period |
| Unconformity | a break in the geologic record created when rock layers are eroded or when sediment is not deposited for a long period of time |
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