Principles of Geology
In a sequence of sedimentary rock layers, each layer must be younger than the one below, and older than the one above.
What is the principle of superposition?
A significant portion of the Earth's interior that can be further differentiated by its physical state
What is the core? What is the inner/outer core?
This type of rock is formed by increasing pressure and/or temperature, resulting in chemical and physical changes.
What is a metamorphic rock?
At this plate boundary, plates are pushed apart from each other and new crust is created.
What is a divergent boundary?
A long, curving chain of subaerial volcanoes on the margin of a continent adjacent to a subduction zone
What is a continental volcanic arc?
If one geologic feature cuts across another, the feature that has been cut is older.
What is the principle of cross-cutting relations?
The outermost and most rigid layer of the Earth, that consists of the crust and a more ductile layer below.
What is the lithosphere?
A rock that forms by either the cementing of clasts together, or precipitation of minerals from water solutions.
What is a sedimentary rock?
A calculation of how often an event occurs for a given time span.
What is a recurrence interval?
This type of magma is effusive, has a low viscosity, and low gas content.
What is mafic/basaltic magma?
Layers of sediment, when originally deposited, are fairly horizontal.
Principle of original horizontality.
This type of seismic wave changes its speed when it crosses the mantle-core boundary due to difference in densities
What is a p-wave?
This type of rock cools over a long period of time and forms large, interlocking crystals.
What is an intrusive igneous/plutonic rock?
An example of this plate boundary is the San Andreas Fault, located in California.
What is a transform boundary?
The more of this in your magma, the more viscous the magma will be.
What is silicon (Si)?
What is the principle of fossil succession?
This compositional layer of the Earth has the greatest proportion of the element Si.
What is continental crust?
These two processes explain how rocks break apart.
What is physical & chemical weathering?
At this plate boundary, you might find a deep trench, an accretionary wedge, and volcanism.
What is a subduction zone?
This type of volcano forms from a hot spot beneath continental crust.
What is a caldera?
The physical processes we observe today also operated in the past in the same way.
What is the principle of uniformitariansim?
This effect is observed when an earthquake occurs across the world, then seismic stations pick up p-waves, but not s-wave signals.
What is a shadow zone?
This type of sedimentary rock is very coarse grained, has rounded clasts, and forms in high energy environments.
What is a conglomerate?
This is a sloping band of seismicity defined by intermediate and deep focused earthquakes.
What is the Wadati-Benioff zone?
This type of melting occurs when hot mantle rock rises to shallower depths in the Earth
What is decompression melting?