Rocks and Minerals
This mineral, the hardest on the Mohs scale, is commonly used in industrial cutting tools.
What is a diamond
This boundary type is responsible for the creation of new oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges.
What is a divergent boundary
This principle states that younger rock layers are deposited on top of older ones.
What is the Law of Superposition
A U-shaped valley is most commonly formed by this erosional process.
What is a glacier erosion
This term describes a solid in which atoms are arranged in an orderly, repeating three-dimensional pattern.
What is a crystal
Obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass, forms from this type of cooling process.
What is rapid cooling of lava
The Richter scale measures this characteristic of an earthquake.
What is magnitude
The largest mass extinction in Earth’s history occurred at the end of this geologic period.
What is the Permian
The point on Earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake is called this.
What is the epicenter
This crystal is known as a symbol to bring love in all forms
What is rose quartz
Granite is composed mainly of quartz, feldspar, and this dark-colored mineral.
What is biotite
The layer of the Earth where convection currents drive plate tectonics.
What is the mantle
The oldest known fossils are found in rocks dating to this eon.
What is the Archean Eon?
The Himalayas are still rising today due to the collision of these two tectonic plates.
What are the Indian and Eurasian plates
Quartz and feldspar both belong to this group of minerals, which make up about 90% of Earth’s crust.
What are silicates?
The process that transforms sediments into sedimentary rock is known as this.
What is lithification
The San Andreas Fault is an example of this type of plate boundary.
What is a transform boundary
This dating method uses the decay of radioactive isotopes to determine rock age.
What is radiometric dating?
A large exposed body of intrusive rock, such as the one that forms much of the Sierra Nevada.
What is a batholith
This property describes how a crystal reflects light, with examples like metallic, vitreous, and pearly.
What is luster
This eight-letter word means a deposit of clay, silt, sand, and gravel left by flowing streams in a river valley or delta.
What is alluvium
The primary force responsible for creating the deep gorge of the Grand Canyon over millions of years.
What is water erosion (or the Colorado River)
Dead organisms' hard body parts fossilize in this type of rock.
What is sedimentary rock?
The type of mountain range that forms where two continental plates collide and buckle upward.
What are folded mountains
When a mineral breaks along planes of weakness in its crystal structure, this physical property is being demonstrated.
What is cleavage