Unit 1
The three types of tectonic plate boundaries.
A rock formed when lava or magma solidifies.
What is an igneous rock?
A measurement of distance North or South from the equator.
What is latitude?
A resource that does not replenish itself or does so over a long period of time.
What is a nonrenewable resource?
What is carbon dioxide?
What is the outer core?
Breaking a rock physically into smaller pieces.
What is mechanical weathering?
A gas that traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere, causing it to heat up.
What is a greenhouse gas?
Name two examples of renewable resources.
Possible answers: wind, solar, biofuel, water
What is eccentricity?
The edge of the Pacific tectonic plate, which has a high number of volcanoes
What is the Ring of Fire?
Small pieces of rock, sand, dirt, etc.
What are sediments?
A species introduced from outside of a habitat, often with a negative effect on that habitat.
What is an invasive or nonnative species?
Forcing liquid into rock to create cracks that release natural gas
What is fracking?
The ongoing movement of ocean water around the globe in predictable patterns, following changes in temperature (and density).
What is the ocean conveyor belt?
Explains the movement and interactions of the lithospheric plates.
What is the theory of plate tectonics?
What is a metamorphic rock?
A place on Earth's surface where one tectonic plate is being pushed underneath another one.
What is a subduction zone?
Use of organic waste to generate energy- often includes peat, manure, wood, etc.
What is biofuel/biomass?
Heat energy stored in the Earth's atmosphere, trapped by greenhouse gasses.
What are infrared waves?
The primary source of heat driving Earth's internal dynamics, including plate tectonics.
What is radioactive decay?
The repeated freezing and thawing of water that leads to physical weathering of rocks.
What is frost wedging?
The metals that make up the Earth's inner and outer core.
What are iron and nickel?
Planting only one variety of the same crop.
What is monoculture (farming)?
A measurement of how much sunlight is reflected by a surface, lower on darker surfaces and higher on lighter surfaces.
What is albedo?