We
The mineralized remains of organisms and rock layers in which they are found, showing when and where the long-dead organisms lived and how their bodies were structured.
FOSSIL
Study of the processes, substances and history of the Earth.
GEOLOGY
A place where two tectonic plates move toward each other and collide, forming a trench.
CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY
Process where magma from Earth’s mantle comes up at the mid-ocean ridge and creates new oceanic crust.
SEAFLOOR SPREADING
The process by which gravity, water, wind and ice remove and transport sediment from one place to another.
EROSION
System of chronological measurement that relates stratigraphy (study of rock layers) to time.
GEOLOGIC TIMESCALE
A regions typical weather conditions over a long period of time.
CLIMATE
Deep and narrow depression in the seafloor where the subducted plate moves into the asthenosphere.
TRENCH
The thin, solid, outermost layer of Earth; either continental landmasses (less dense) or Oceanic seafloors (more dense).
CRUST
Earth material that is broken down by processes of weathering; can be eroded and deposited by agents of water, wind, ice or gravity.
SEDIMENT
States that fossils located in deeper rock layers are older than the ones deposited in layers closer to the surface.
LAW of SUPERPOSITION
A crack in the crust along which sections move up or down or side to side.
FAULT
The process by which the denser plate is pushed downward beneath a less-dense plate when the plates converge\, creating a trench.
SUBDUCTION
Super volcano that is dormant (Yellowstone).
CALDERA
The mechanical or chemical process by which gravity, wind, water and ice break rocks into smaller pieces.
WEATHERING
Beds or layers of sedimentary rock having approximately the same composition throughout.
ROCK STRATA
Melted or molten rock material beneath Earth’s surface; the slower it cools, the larger the crystals.
MAGMA
A place where two tectonic plates move away from each other, creating a rift or a mid-ocean ridge.
DIVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY
A mountain or hill made by hot rocks and gasses moving to the surface of the Earth from deep inside the Earth.
VOLCANO
The surface features of a region, including how the and rises to create mountains and falls to create valleys.
TOPOGRAPHY
The study of rock layers.
STRATIGRAPHY
Huge pieces of crust that slowly move on the upper, ductile part of the mantle.
TECTONIC PLATE
An underwater mountain system created by plate tectonics; the largest single volcanic feature on Earth.
MID-OCEAN RIDGE (MOR)
The process by which gravity , water, wind and ice deposit weathered and relocated sediment.
DEPOSITION
Breaks down rocks without changing the chemical composition (ice expanding, plants rooting, a river eroding or sudden drastic changes in temperature).
MECHANICAL WEATHERING
Breaks down rock by changing its chemical composition (carbonic acid dissolving limestone or the oxidation of iron).
CHEMICAL WEATHER
When a rock (like granite) is made up of multiple minerals so the hardest (like quartz) withstand chemical weathering and create unique landforms.
DIFFERENTIAL WEATHERING
Large sheets of slow-moving ice.
GLACIER
Fertile sediments carried by flowing water that build up at the mouth of a river.
DELTA
Major geologic event that occurs when plates shift suddenly and release stored energy; a frequent occurrence between along all types of tectonic plate boundaries.
EARTHQUAKE
Plates slide past each other.
TRANSFORM BOUNDARY
Young plate boundary.
RIFT
Chain of volcanoes created on the less dense plate at a divergent boundary.
STRATOVOLCANO
Area within lower mantle that erupts periodically, as the plate moves over it.
HOTSPOT
Left over from hotspots (Hawaii, Galapagos).
SHEILD VOLCANO