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PreCollege Vocab: Geology

Terms in this set (40)

core
(Liquid iron in the earth's core is the source of its magnetic force.)
(n) center, i.e. of earth
地核
mantle
(Volcanoes form deep in the Earth's mantle, the superhot layer between the planet's crust and its core.)
(n) layer between Earth's crust and core, a covering
地幔
ore
(Ancient Chinese metalworkers made bronze out of copper, tin, and lead from ores mined in the Yangtze River valley.)
(n) rock mined for its mineral content
矿石
thermal
(Iceland is able to supply most of its power needs with geothermal energy.)
(adj) relating to heat; geothermal energy comes from the earth's center
热量的
geology
(Kenya has become a center of geology, thanks to its Rift Valley, where hot rocks close to the surface produce geothermal energy.)
(n) science of Earth's physical make-up and
natural history
地质学
geologist
(According to geologists, 80 percent of California's gold is still buried in the ground.)
(n) scientist who study Earth's make-up and history
地质学家
mineral
(Uganda's chimps have begun to eat clay for its nutritious minerals.)
(n) inorganic element in the earth's crust
矿物质
accrete
(The caves contain slowly accreted rocks in which are captured the area's past climate, layer by layer.)
(v) build up, increase layer by layer
堆积
accretion
(Planets like Earth grew through a gradual process of accretion.)
(n) increase by addition; synonym: accumulation
堆积
cataclysm
(Scientists now have evidence of a great flood in the Black Sea region, a cataclysm similar to that made famous by the Biblical story of Noah's Ark.)
(n) a disastrous event that brings about great change
灾难；大洪水
cataclysmic
(Overbuilding in Florida has led to the formation of cataclysmic sinkholes known to swallow houses, cars, and even roads.)
(adj) severely destructive
灾难的
erupt
(When the underwater Axial volcano erupted, scientists were watching.)
(v) happen suddenly, burst out
爆发
eruption
(The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius devastated the city of Pompeii, burying fleeing residents in lava and preserving their bodies.)
(n) sudden disaster, i.e. explosion of a volcano
爆发
glacier
(During the Ice Age, ocean water was frozen in glaciers, lowering sea level and connecting Britain to the rest of Europe.)
(n) large, thick mass of slowly moving ice
冰川
glacial
(Hundreds of trails weave through Pacific rain forest to glacial lakes, waterfalls, and mountain tops.)
(adj) extremely cold, relating to a glacier, extremely slow moving
冰川的
debris
(The world's oceans are swimming with plastic debris- the first floating masses of trash were discovered in the 1990s.)
(n) scattered fragments, trash
残骸；碎片
molten
(When Indonesia's Mt. Tambora erupted rivers of flaming molten rock ran down its slopes, destroying tropic forests and villages.)
(adj) made liquid by heat; synonym: melted
熔化
crust
(A collision cast dust and debris and a portion of our mantle and crust into Earth's orbit, which eventually coalesced into our Moon.)
(n) outermost layer, i.e. of Earth
外壳
extract
(Fracking is the injection of large amounts of water, sand and chemicals underground at high pressure to extract gas.)
(v) to remove, take out
抽出
extractive
(Smartphones contain approximately 20 metals and minerals provided by extractive industries.)
(adj) describes industries that remove raw materials, i.e. mining
提取物
fault
(When companies inject wastewater into wells groundwater pressure is raised and stresses geologic faults.)
(n) break in the Earth's crust
断层
sediment
(Preserved plant pollen in the sediment hints at an ancient landscape populated by oak, poplar and apple trees.)
(n) material that settles on the bottom; synonym: residue
沉积物
sedimentary
(Fossils are commonly found in sedimentary rock.)
(adj) rock that forms when particles of rocks, plants or animals remains are pressed/cemented together
沉淀的
reservoir
(What California needs is snow in the Sierras, where it will melt slowly, and thus replenish its reservoirs.)
(n) lake where water is stored, large store of something, container (i.e. gas reservoir)
水库
porous
(The tiny holes in porous rocks like sandstone store groundwater.)
(adj) full of small holes or pores
多孔的
fragment
(More than two tons of fragments were collected from a meteorite that fell in Chihuahua, Mexico.)
(n) part broken off
碎片
fracture
(The Sierra Nevada Mountains were formed when an earthquake caused to Earth's crust to fracture.)
(v) to break
(n) a break
折裂
consolidate
(During its formation, the planet Earth cooled and consolidated.)
(v) form into a solid; synonym: solidify, synonym: cement
巩固；固定
deposit
(In 2009, geology researchers found 419-million-year-old DNA inside ancient salt deposits.)
(v) laid down material
(n) material that is laid down
沉积；沉淀物
strata
(60 million year old plants are buried and compressed into the largest bituminous coal strata on Earth.)
(n) layers - singular of stratum
地层
basin
(In the past decade, there have been two severe droughts in the Yangtze basin.)
(n) low area of land, sometimes containing water
盆地
fossil
(Scientists have discovered animal fossils in northeastern Brazil that date back 278 million years.)
(n) preserved traces of ancient organisms
化石
paleontology
(New technology is leading to advances in dinosaur paleontology and greater understanding of these amazing creatures.)
(n) study of fossils
古生物学
paleontologist
(Studying Pterosaurs gives paleontologists information about the evolution of feathers and flight.)
(n) scientist who studies fossils
古生物学家
earthquake
(Looking at photos of earthquake victims can trigger deep feelings of sympathy.)
(n) sudden, violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction
地震
seismic
(The mountainous region is seismically active with earthquakes, the result of the Indian subcontinent driving into the Eurasian landmass.)
(adj) relating to earthquakes
地震的
volcanic
(Volcanic ash from the eruption in Iceland grounded planes throughout Europe.)
(adj) explosively unstable, produced by a volcano
火山的
magnitude
(Scientists' ability to predict the timing, location and magnitude of earthquakes is still very weak.)
(n) greatness of size, strength, or importance, measure of energy released
震级
seep
(Harmful chemicals used in natural gas fracking can seep into local drinking water supplies.)
(v) pass through slowly, leak; synonym: ooze
渗漏
weather
(Weathering created a giant arch of rock on the coast of England.)
(v) gradual breakdown or change through contact with wind, water or other natural forces
侵蚀
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