Geology Unit Vocabulary
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Subduction
- the area in which one part of the earth's crust (a plate) is pushed underneath another plate as the two plates collide.
- Ocean Crust
- thin parts of the earth's crust located under the oceans. Solid. Made of basalt and formed by volcanoes (more dense than continental crust)
- Upper Mantle
- the uppermost part of the mantle. Part of the lithosphere.
- Asthenosphere
- Middle level of the mantle. Flowing. Located below the lithosphere (the crust and the mantle). Sold but flows. Made of magma, hot rocks.
- Volcanoes
- formed from layers of lava and ash making a mountain or hill shape. Volcanoes shoot our lava from the magma chambers stored inside the volcano.
- Continental Crust
- thick parts of the earth's crust. Solid. Made of granite rock, formed by volcanoes (less dense than oceanic crust).
- Magma
- molten rock that rises up from the mantle underground. Stored inside volcanoes in magma chambers. It can reach the earth's surface by rising up from the mantle and shoots our of volcanoes and turns into lava. In seafloor spreading, magma moves from the asthenosphere to the crust.
- Lower Mantle
- the deepest pars of the mantle just above the core. Solid. Made of hard rock material.
- Oceanic Ridge
- newly formed region of the oceanic crust.
- Crust
- a solid. Made of dry land, ocean floor, rocks and mountains. Has soil and water. Thin layer where land is.
- Outer Core
- Liquid. Made of metal (iron and nickle). Hot (4,000-9000 degrees)
- Inner Core
- Solid. Made of metal (iron and nickle). Hot as the sun (12000 degrees)
- Seismic Wave
- the sound waves that occur during earthquakes. 2 kind of seismic waves (straight line does no damage, curvy line does do damage.)
- Seismograph
- A machine that reads seismic waves to see where the earthquake occured.
- Pangaea
- millions of years ago, our continents were all one island.
- Continental Drift
- the plates seperating from Pangaea. Moving away from each other (slow process).
- Tectonic Plates
- when the plates move (about 1-2 cm per year) or shake, they cause earthquakes. There are 12 tectonic plates covering the crust like a jigsaw puzzle.
- Trench
- a deep valley in the ocean floor where subduction occurs.
- Shield Volcano
- a nonexplosive volcano that has hard lava layers and the volcano is shaped like a dome. The lava that is in the shield volcano forms basalt.
- Cinder Cone Volcano
- a volcano that produces ash, cinders and bombs. This volcano looks like a cone shaped hill/small mountain. Layers of cinders.
- Composite Volcano
- worst kind of volcano. erupts lava, ash, cinders and bombs. Looks like a tall cone shaped mountain with layers of lava and ash.
- Caldera
- a huge hole left by volcanoes when they erupt. Took the place of the empty magma chambers.Rain water gets trapped in this hole.
- Igneous Rock
- formed from magma deep in the ground. Basalt, obsidian, granite are all forms of igneous rocks. Made from lava cooled down after the volcano exploded or when the magma leaves the magma chambers and goes off into another direction and cools down.
- Sedimentary Rocks
- formed from material that have been shifted from place to place, often many times. Made from water, ice, wind, gravity. Only possible rock that could be a fossil because it is formed on the ground and not underground.
- Metamorphic Rocks
- formed by heat and pressure and made underground.
- Lava
- melted igneous rock shooting out from the top of the volcano. (magma is in the volcano and lava is shooting out of the volcano).
- Theory of Plate Tectonics
- when plates move, they cause earthquakes, mountain ranges ect.
- Seafloor Spreading
- When the seafloor spreads apart along both sides of the mid-ocean ridge as new crust is added.
- Earthquake
- plates pressing against each other and then the plates slip and rub against each other to start an eearthquake. Cause sound waves which are seismic waves.
- Focus
- where the earthquake happened underground.
- Epicenter
- directly above where the earthquake happened (most dangerous spot)
- Transform Plates
- When two plates are rubbing against each other and then they slip and cause an earthquake.
- Diverging Plates
- When two plates are moving away from each other (seperating). Cause oceanic ridges.
- Converging Plates
- When two plates are coming together. May cause mountains or volcanoes.
- Mantle
- 3 layers. Located below the continantal and oceanic crust.