Strictly Vocabulary
Laws and Principles
Memories from October
Which Came First?
Grab Bag
100
Two tectonic plates that are moving in opposite directions away from each other create this kind of boundary
What is a Divergent Boundary
100
This principle or law tells us that, unless major forces toppled the rock layers, the oldest layers are on the bottom
What is the Law of Superposition
100
This explains that types of rock are constantly changing over geologic time
What is the rock cycle?
100
Which is older, F or E, and why?
E is older because of the Law of Superposition
100
A fracture or zone of fractures in the Earth's crust where blocks of rock move past each other
What is a Fault?
200
A naturally occurring inorganic substance with a crystalline structure
What is a mineral?
200
This law tells us that the chunks of rock found within sedimentary rock layers have to be older than the sedimentary layers they are found within
What is the law of Inclusions?
200
These 2 processes change Igneous and Metamorphic rocks to Sedimentary Rocks
What are Erosion and Weathering?
200
Which is older A or C, and why?
A is older because of the Law of Superposition
200
A theory that Earth's rigid outer shell is broken into large, moving pieces called tectonic plates, which slowly slide over the semi-fluid layer beneath, causing earthquakes, volcanic activity, and mountain building at their boundaries.
What is the Tectonic Plate Theory
300
This is formed when magma shoots up through layers of rock strata, then cools without breaking through the surface of the earth
What is an igneous intrusion?
300
This law tells us that layer I used to be a single horizontal layer with the matching rock on the left side of the fault
What is the law of Lateral Continuity?
300
Sandstone is what type of rock?
What is Sedimentary Rock?
300
What is the oldest layer or process shown in the diagram? Why?
Layer H is the oldest because of the law of Superposition.
300
What process may have caused layers H, I, J, and K to be situated diagonally?
They were most likely forced diagonally by tectonic plates colliding, or some force that caused uplift, like a volcanic eruption.
400
Found in Road Cuts, these layers of different colored sedimentary rock are stacked on one another.
What are Rock Strata?
400
What Law or Principle tells us that C is younger than Layer K?
What is the Law of Intrusions or the Principle of Cross-cutting Relationships?
400
Obsidian is what type of rock?
What is Igneous Rock (from Lava)? It cooled so quickly that crystals could not form
400
Which came first, the E (fault) or D, and why?
D came first because of the Law of Intrusions or Cross-cutting Relationships
400
This curved line of volcanoes forms parallel to a plate boundary
What is a Volcanic Arc?
500
The geological process where new oceanic crust forms at mid-ocean ridges as magma rises from the mantle, cools, and pushes older crust away
What is Seafloor Spreading
500
What Law or Principle tells us that the diagonal layers were once horizontal?
What is the Law of Original Horizontality?
500
This is how Metamorphic rock is formed?
What is molten rock being close enough to heat the other types of rocks, changing the crystalline structure of the rock?
500
How do we know that D is older than Layers A, B, and C?
Because none of the rocks around D are metamorphosed.
500
What Law or Principle tells us that the curved line marked by the 2nd blue dot, near the top, is older than the layer of limestone above it?
What is the Law of Unconformities?