| Term | Definition |
|---|
| asthenosphere | zone of mantle beneath the lithosphere that consists of slowly flowing solid rock |
| continenal drift | hypothesis stating that the continents once formed a single landmass, broke up, and drifted to their present locations |
| continental crust | material that makes up landmasses |
| convection | transfer of heat through the movement of a fluid material |
| convection current | movement in a fluid caused by uneven heating |
| convergent boundary | border formed by the direct collision of two lithospheric plates |
| divergent boundary | boundary formed by two lithospheric plates that are moving apart |
| island arc | chain of volcanic islands formed along an ocean trench |
| lithosphere | thin outer shell of the earth consisting of the crust and the rigid upper mantle |
| Mid-Atlantic Ridge | undersea mountain range w/ a steep, narrow valley along its center |
| mid-ocean ridges | system of undersea mountain ranges that wind around the earth |
| ocean trench | deep valley in the ocean floor that forms along a subduction zone |
| oceanic crust | material that makes up the ocean floor |
| Pangea | single landmass thought to have been the origin of all continents |
| Panthalassa | giant ocean surrounding pangea |
| plate tectonics | theroy that the lithosphere is made up of plates that float on the asthenosphere & that the plates possibly are moved by convection currents |
| rift valley | steep, narrow vally formed as lithospheric plates seperate |
| seafloor spreading | movement of the ocean floor away from either side of a mid-ocean ridge |
| subduction zone | region where one lithospheric plate moves under another |
| terrane | piece of land w/ a geologic history istinct from that of the surrounding land |
| theory of suspect terranes | theory that continents are a patchwork of pieces of land that have individual geologic histories |
| transform fault boundary | boundary formed where two lithpospheric plates slide past each other |
| anticline | upcurved fold in horizontal rock layers |
| compression | stress that squeezes crystal rocks togther |
| deformation | bending, tilting, and breaking of the earth's crust |
| dome mountain | landform created when molten rock pushes up rock layers on the earth's surface and the layers then are worn away in places, leaving separate high peaks |
| fault | break in a rock along which rock along which rocks on either side of the break move |
| fault plane | surface of a fault along which movement of rocks occurs |
| fault-block mountain | mountain formed where faulting breaks the earth's crust into large bocks and the blocks are uplifted and tilted |
| folded mountain | landform created when tectonic movements bend and uplift rock layers |
| folding | permanent deformation or bending of a rock under stress |
| footwall | rock below a fault plane |
| fracture | break in rock along which there is no movement |
| graben | long, narrow valley formed by faulting and downward slippage of a crustal block |
| hanging wall | rock above a normal fault plane |
| isostasy | balancing of the forces pressing up and down on the earth's crust |
| isostatic adjustment | up-and-down movements of the earth's crust |
| monocline | gently dipping bend in horizontal rock layers |
| mountain belt | group of large systems |
| mountain range | group of adjacent mountains with the same general shape and struture |
| mountain system | group of adjacent mountain ranges |
| normal fault | fault in which the hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall |
| plateau | large area of flat-topped rocks high above sea level |
| reverse fault | fault in which the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall |
| shearing | stress that pushes rocks in opposite horizontal directions |
| strain | change in shape and volume of rocks that occurs due to stress |
| stress | force that causes pressure in rocks of the earths crust |
| strike-slip fault | fault in which the rock on either side of a fault plane slides horizontally |
| syncline | downcurved fold in horizontal rock layers |
| tension | stress that pulls rocks apart |
| thrust fault | type of reverse fault in which the fault plane is nearly horizontal rather than vertical |
| volcanic mountain | mountain formed when molten rock erupts onto the earths surface |
| aftershock | tremor that follows and is smaller than a major earthquake |
| earthquake | vibration of the earth's crust |
| elastic rebound theory | theory that rocks that are strained past a certain point will fracture and pring back into their orginal shape |
| epicenter | point on the earth's surface directly above the focus of an eathquake |
| fault zone | group of interconnected faults |
| focus | area along a fault at which slippage first occurs, initiating an earthquake |
| intensity | amount of damage caused by an earthquake |
| L wave | surface or long wave; the slowest wave generated by an earthquake and the last to be recorded by a seismograph |
| mercalli scale | scale that expresses the intensity of an earthquake with a roman numeral and a description |
| microquake | earthquake wih a magnitude less than 2.5 on the richter scale |
| P wave | primary wave; the fastest wave generated by an earthquake and the first to be recorded by a seismograph |
| Pacific ring of fire | major earthquake zone that froms a ring around the Pacific Ocean |
| Richter scale | scale that expresses the magnitude of an earthquake |
| S wave | scondary wave; a wave generated by an earthquake and the second to be recorded by a seismograph |
| seismic gap | zone of rock in which a fault is locked unable to move and in no major earthquake has occured in 30years |
| seismograph | insturment used to detect and record seismic waves |
| tsunami | giant ocean wave that often occurs after an earthquake with an epicenter on the ocean floor |
| alloy | solid solution of two or more metals |
| atom | smallest unit of an element |
| atomic number | number of protons in an atom |
| chemical bond | froce that holds togther the atoms that make up a compound |
| compound | two or more atoms that have been chemically combined |
| covalent bond | bond based on the attraction between atoms that share electrons |
| covalent compound | compound fromed from atoms that share electrons |
| diatomic | consisting of two atoms |
| electron | subatomic particle with a negative electrical charge |
| electron cloud | region of space around the nucleus of an atom in which electrons may be found |
| energy level | arrangement of electrons within the electron cloud of an atom |
| gas | physical from of matter that does not have a definite volume or shape |
| ion | atom or group of atoms that carries an electrical charge |
| ionic bond | bond in which electrons are transfered from one atom to another |
| ionic compound | compound formed through the transfer of electrons |
| isotope | atom of an element that has the same atomic # but different atomic mass than another atom of that element |
| liquid | physical from of matter w/ a definite volume but no definite shape |
| mass number | sum of the numbers of protons and neutrons in an atom |
| matter | sunbstance that takes up space and has a mass |
| mixture | material that contains two or more substances that are not chemically combined |
| molecule | smallest complete unit of a compound |
| neutron | subastomic particle with no electrical charge |
| nucleus | region in the center of an atom that contains the protons and the neutrons |
| periodic table | system for classifying the elements |
| physical property | charecteristic that is observable in a substance without changing the chemical compostion of the substance |
| proton | subatomic particle w/ a positive charge |
| smog | air pollution fromed from a mixture of ust and chemicals |
| solid | physical from of matter w/ a definite shape and volume |
| solution | mixture in which one substance is uniformly dispersed in another substance |
| clevage | splitting of a mineral along smooth, flat surfaces |
| crystal | natural solid substance that has a definite geometric shape |
| density | ratio of the mass of a substance to its volume, expresses as g/cm3 |
| double refraction | property exhibited by transparent minerals that produce a double image of any object viewed through them |
| fluorescence | ability to glow under ultraviolet light |
| hardness | measure of the abiltity of a mineral to resist scratching |
| inorganic | not made up of living organisms or the remains of living organisms |
| luster | light reflected from the surface of a mineral |
| mineral | natural inorganic, crystalline solid found in the earth's crust |
| mineralogist | scientist who specializes in the study of minerals |
| Mohs harness scale | standard against which the hardness of a mineral is tested |
| nonsilicate mineral | mineral that does not contain silicon |
| phosphorescence | ability to glow during and after exposure to ultraviolet light |
| refraction | bending of a light ray as it passes from one substance to another |
| rock-forming mineral | any common mineral that froms the rocks of the earth's crust |
| silicate mineral | mineral that contains atoms of silicon and oxygen |
| silicon-oxygen tetrahedron | four oxygen atoms arranged in a pyramid with one silicon atom in the center |
| streak | color of a mineral in powder form |
| batholith | largest type of igneous intrusion, covering over 100 sq. km and reaching a depth of thousands of meters |
| breccia | elastic sedimentary rock composed of angular fragments cemented togther by minerals |
| cementation | process in which dissolved minerals left by water passing rthrough sediments bind the sediments togther |
| chemical sedimentary rock | rock formed from minerals that have been dissolved in water |
| clastic sedimentary rock | rock made up of fragments from pre-existing rocks |
| compaction | process in which air and water are squeezed out of sediments, resulting in the formation of sedimentary rock |
| concretion | nodule of rock with a different composition from that of the main rock body |
| conglomerate | sedimentary rock composed of rounded gravel or pebbles cemented togther by minerals |
| contact metamorphism | change in the structure and mineral composition of rock surrouunding an igneous intrusion |
| dike | igneous intrusion that cuts across rock layers |
| evaporties | sedimentary rocks formed from minerals left after water evaporties |
| extrusive igneous rocks | rocks fromed from molten lava that hardens on the earth's surface |
| foliated | descrining a metamorphic rock w/ visible parallel bands |
| fossil | trace or remains of a plant or an animal in sedimentary rock |
| igneous rock | rock forrmed from cooled and hardened magma |
| intrusive igneous rocks | rocks formed from the cooling a magma beneath the earth's surface |
| laccolith | flat-bottomed intrusion that oushes over lying rock layers into an arc |
| lava plateau | raised, flat-topped area made of layers of hardened lava |
| metamorphic rock | rock formed from other rocks as a result of intense heat, pressure, and chemical processes |
| metamorphism | changing of one type of rock to another by heat,pressure, and chemical processes |
| organic sedimentary rock | rock formed from the remains of orgnisms |
| porphyry | igneous rock composed of large and small crystals |
| regional metamorphism | matamorphim that affects rocks over large areas during periods of tectonic activity |
| rock cycle | series of processes in which rock changes from one tyoe to another and back again |
| sediment | fragments that result from the breaking of rocks, minerals, and organic matter |
| sedimentary rock | rock formed from hardened deposits of sediment |
| sill | sheet of hardened magma that forms between and parallel to layers of rock |
| stock | igneous intrusion w/ an area less than 100 sq. km |
| stratification | layering of sedimentary rock |
| unfoliated | describing a metamorphic rock without visible bands |
| volcanic neck | solidified centrral vent of a volcano |
| anthracite | hardest form of coal |
| bituminous coal | soft coal |
| carbonization | processin which plant materials are changed into carbon |
| crude oil | unrefined petroleum |
| fossil fuel | fuel formed from the remains of living organisms, such as coal, petroleum, and natural gas |
| gemstone | nonmetallic mineral that is brilliant and colorful when cut |
| geothermal energy | energy contained in and available from water heated by magma or gases within the earth |
| hydrocarbon | compound made up of atoms of carbon and hydrogen |
| hydroelectric energy | energy produced by running water |
| lignite | brown coal |
| lode | deposit formed by thick mineral veins |
| nonrenewable resource | substance of limited supply that cannot be replaced |
| nuclear fission | splitting of the nucleus of a large atom into smaller nuclei |
| nuclear fusion | combination of the nuclei of a small atoms to from a larger nucleus |
| ore | deposit of minerals from which metals and nonmetals can be profitably removed |
| peat | brownish-black material produced by pertial decomposition of plant remains |
| petrochemical | chemical derived from pertoleum |
| placer deposit | fragments of native metals that are concentrated in layers at the bottom of a stream bed |
| renewable resource | substance that can be replaced |
| solar collector | device for captruing solar energy |
| vein | narrow band of mineral deposits in rock |
Combine with other sets
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