Vocabulary
This word describes the study of what makes up the Earth, and of what forces change it over time.
What is geology?
These are the four layers of the Earth, named in order from outermost to innermost.
What are the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core?
This type of volcano has erupted in the past 10,000 years.
What is an active volcano?
This type of weathering breaks down larger rocks into smaller rocks WITHOUT changing the contents of the rock.
What is physical weathering?
This type of underwater mountain range is formed by erupting magma around two plates that are drifting apart. This is also the name of the longest mountain range on Earth.
What is a mid-ocean ridge?
This is the name given to Alfred Wegener's hypothesis that all of the Earth's continents were once joined together as one supercontinent, Pangaea.
What is continental drift?
Name three types of plate boundaries.
What are divergent, subduction, and colliding?
Most volcanoes form along these.
What are plate boundaries?
This type of rock is formed as a result of the weathering and erosion of other rocks, which then become cemented together in layers over millions of years.
What is sedimentary rock?
This geological feature underwater is a deep, narrow valley.
What is an ocean trench?
This word describes the process in which natural forces such as water and wind move sediments to a new location.
What is erosion?
This is the instrument that geologists use to measure seismic waves around the world.
What is a seismograph?
This type of volcano has not erupted in the past 10,000 years and is unlikely to erupt again.
What is an extinct volcano?
This type of rock is formed when magma or lava cools and solidifies.
What is igneous rock?
This is the name of the lowest-altitude place on earth.
This word describes the boundary between tectonic plates.
What is a fault?
Earthquakes that occur underwater can cause this type of gigantic wave that can move at speeds of up to 500 miles per hour and can be as tall as a four-story building!
What is a tsunami?
This type of volcano has not erupted in the past 10,000 years, but may erupt again.
What is a dormant volcano?
This type of rock forms as a result of rocks being subjected to extreme heat and pressure.
What is metamorphic rock?
Geologists use this word to refer to any underwater volcano that forms as a result of magma erupting out of oceanic crust.
What is a seamount?
This is the word scientists use to describe a finding that scientists reach ONLY after years of collecting evidence, which may also be challenged or disproven by later scientific discoveries. (Hint: 3 syllables!)
What is a conclusion?
-Similar rock formations on different continents
-Similar fossils on different continents
-The coastlines of Africa and South America fit together like puzzle pieces
-Identical mineral deposits found on different continents
-Warm-climate fossils found in Antarctica
These are the TWO types of places at or above which volcanoes, geysers, and hot springs may form.
What are plate boundaries and hotspots?
This occurs as a result of carbon dioxide or other acidic compounds in the environment, and causes rocks to break down by changing the minerals they contain.
What is chemical weathering?
These underwater geysers spew scalding hot, dark water, and are formed from water sinking down into cracks in oceanic crust. Temperatures in and around these can reach over 700 degrees Fahrenheit!
What are hydrothermal vents?