| Term | Definition |
|---|
| crust | the outermost and thinnest layer of earth |
| mantle | the layer of rock between the earth's crust and its core |
| core | the center of a planetary body, such as the earth |
| lithosphere | the thin outer shell of earht, consisting of the curst and the rigid upper mantle |
| plate tectonics | the theory that earth's surface s made up of larg3e moving plates |
| asthenosphere | the zone of the mantle beneath the lithosphere that consists of slowly flowing solid rock |
| magma | molten rock within the earth |
| subsuction | the process in which a tectonic plate dives beneath another plate and into the asthenosphere |
| fault | a crack in the earths created when rocks on either side of a break move |
| focus | the area along a fault at which slippage first occurs, initiating an earthquake |
| epicenter | the point on the earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake |
| P waves | primary waves the longitudinal waves generated by an earthquake |
| S waves | secondary waves the transverse waves generated by an earthquake |
| surface waves | a seismic wave that travels along earth surface |
| seismology | the study of earthquakes and related phenomena |
| richter scale | scale that expresses the relative magnitude of an earhtquake |
| vent | an opening through which molten rock flows onto earth's surface |
| minerals | a natural, inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and a characteristic internal structure |
| igneous rock | rock formed from cooled and hardened magma or lava |
| weathering | change in the physical form or chemical composition of rock materials exposed at earths' sruface |
| sedimentary rock | rock formed from compressed or cemented deposits of sediment |
| fossils | the traces or remains of a plant of an animal found in sedimentary rock |
| metamorphic rock | rock formed from other rocks as a result of heat, pressure or chemical processes |
| acid rain | precipitation that has an unusually high concentration of sulfuric or nitric acids resulting from chemical pollution in the air |
| erosion | the process by which rock and or the products of weathering are removed |
| deposition | process in which sediment is laid down |
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