| Term | Definition |
|---|
| lithosphere | The solid part of the Earth, it is made up of the crust and upper mantle. |
| Cinder Cone | A type of volcano that is small with steep sides and violent eruptions of mostly cinder and ash. |
| Shield Cone | A type of volcano that has a wide base and fairly steep sides. Eruptions are quieter and tend to have gentle lava flows. |
| Composite Cone | This is the most dangerous type of volcano because it is so unpredictable. Eruptions can be either quiet and gentle or very explosive. |
| magma | Hot liquid rock under the Earth's surface. |
| lava | Hot liquid rock above the Earth's surface. |
| Volcanologist | A scientist that studies volcanoes. |
| Hot Spot Volcano | A volcano that forms when a tectonic plate moves slowly over an area of hot magma that pushes up through the crust. |
| Active | A classification of volcanoes that erupt almost constantly. |
| Dormant | A classification of volcanoes that are considered to be sleeping. They have not erupted in a long time, but could erupt in the future |
| Intermittent | A classification of volcanoes that erupt for awhile and then stop for a period of time before erupting again. |
| Vent | An opening of a volcano. Lava, dust, ash, and gases come out of it. |
| Volcano | A mountain formed from lava flowing through an opening in the Earth's crust. |
| Dangers of a volcano | Lava flow, poisonous gases,dust & ash, mudslides, and earthquakes |
| Benefits of a volcano | New land, rich farmland, deposits of minerals and metals, natural beauty, knowledge of the Earth |
| Dust & ash | Can effect weather patterns by blocking out the sun which decrease temperatures and increases rainfall. |
| Focus (hypocenter) | The starting point of an earthquake. |
| Hypocenter (focus) | The starting point of an earthquake. |
| Epicenter | The location on the Earth's surface that is directly above the focus. It is the area hardest hit by the earthquake. |
| Seismic waves | The vibrations or energy from an earthquake that travels away from the focus in all directions. The reason why earthquakes are so destructive. |
| Seismograph | The machine used to measure the movement or shaking of the lithosphere. |
| Seismologist | A scientist that studies earthquakes. |
| Earthquake | The sudden shaking of the lithosphere, often times caused by tectonic plate movement. |
| Tremor | A fairly small earthquake. |
| Richter Scale | Used to determine the magnitude of an earthquake. Numbers are from 1 to 10, 10 being the strongest earthquake. |
| Aftershock | Small earthquakes that take place after the strongest quake hits. It is caused by the settling of the rock in the lithosphere. |
| San Andreas fault | A famous fault located in California caused by a transform fault boundary. |
| Tsunami | A large destructive wave caused by an underwater earthquake. |
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