Vocabulary 1
What is a theory?
An idea based on evidence
What is a tsunami?
a gigantic wave of seawater caused by an earthquake in oceanic crust
Who was the scientist that made the continental drift hypothesis?
Alfred Wegener
What is the name of the area where two tectonic plates meet?
Plate boundary
What causes a tsunami?
An earthquake in the oceanic crust
What is the difference between magma and lava?
Magma is found in the mantle
Lava is found on the earth's crust
What is an aftershock?
A smaller, weaker earthquake that often happens after a large earthquake
Which is denser-- an oceanic plate or a continental plate?
An oceanic plate
Why do the tectonic plates move?
The liquidy part of the mantle is always moving.
What part of speech is "dense"?
Adjective
How is basalt made?
Lava hardens and cools into a heavy, dense rock
What are the two types of crust?
Oceanic and continental crusts
How did scientists find evidence for the earth's layers?
Measuring earthquake vibrations
Name the 3 kinds of plate boundaries.
Convergent (coming together)
Divergent (drifting apart)
Transform (sliding alongside each other)
The suffix -LY turns adjectives into...
Adverbs
What is a fault?
A crack in Earth's crust, often where tectonic plate boundaries meet
What are the layers of earth?
Inner core, outer core, mantle, crust
How did the continents move apart?
The tectonic plates moved, mainly due to divergent plates separating and magma filling the gaps to create a new crust
What is an ocean rift?
A divergent plate boundary where plates are coming apart and magma from the mantle is filling in the gaps in the crust, creating basalt
What is a seismic wave?
A surge of energy traveling out from the epicenter of an earthquake
Describe the plate tectonics theory.
Earth's crust and the solid part of the mantle are broken into sections and move around
Which layers of earth are solid and which are liquid?
Inner core - solid
Outer core - liquid
Mantle - some solid, some not solid or liquid
Crust - solid
Name 3 pieces of evidence that support the theory of Pangaea.
- fossils of the same plants/animals were found in different continents
- it looks like the continents fit like a puzzle
- the same rock layers were found in different continents
- tropical plant fossils were found in Antarctica
Why do scientists compare multiple seismographs to determine an earthquake's epicenter?
Scientists look at patterns to map out how far away the earthquake is from each seismograph. This allows them to pinpoint where the epicenter is.
Define geology.
The scientific study of the physical features of the earth and the forces and processes that shape and change it.