Erosion and weathering
What is the process that breaks down rocks into smaller pieces by physical forces like freezing and thawing?
Mechanical weathering
What is the name for the molten rock beneath Earth’s surface?
magma
What is the sudden shaking of the ground called?
Earthquake
What boundary type occurs where two plates move apart
divergent
Which term describes the loose, dark organic material in soil that helps plants grow?
Humus
What is the name for the chemical process that changes the minerals in rock, often producing new substances?
Chemical weathering.
What do we call molten rock that reaches Earth's surface during a volcanic eruption?
Lava
What scale or measurement tells us how strong an earthquake is
Magnitude
Which boundary type involves plates sliding past each other horizontally
transform
What is the scientific name for the solid, outermost layer of the Earth
Crust
Give one example of erosion and one example of weathering
weathering does not move erosion does
What term describes a long crack in Earth's crust where movement has occurred?
Fault
What large ocean wave, often caused by an undersea earthquake, can flood coastlines?
Tsunami
What boundary type is formed where two plates collide and one may sink beneath the other
Convergent boundary
What term describes layers of rock and soil that can trap water and allow it to move underground?
Aquifer
Explain how mechanical weathering can speed up chemical weathering
Mechanical weathering breaks rock into smaller pieces, which increases the rock’s total surface area. Greater surface area exposes more mineral surfaces to air and water, so chemical reactions (chemical weathering) happen faster.
Define seafloor spreading
New oceanic crust is created at mid-ocean ridges as magma rises, cools, and pushes plates apart.
What is a hot spot and how can it form a chain of volcanoes?
A stationary plume of hot mantle material rises and melts the crust above it, producing volcanoes. As a tectonic plate moves over the hot spot, a chain of volcanoes can form
Describe how a mid-ocean ridge forms and where you would find it.
Magma rises at a divergent boundary under the ocean, creating new oceanic crust that forms an underwater mountain chain called a mid-ocean ridge
Define stress in geology and name the three main types of stress.
Stress in geology is force per unit area acting on rocks. The three main types of stress are: compression, tension (extension), and shearing.
The principle that the geological processes we observe today (like erosion, sedimentation, volcanism, and plate motions) have operated throughout Earth’s history
Uniformitarianism
Describe subduction and explain what happens to the subducting plate
At a convergent plate boundary, one plate (usually denser oceanic crust) sinks beneath another plate into the mantle. The subducting plate is recycled and partly melts, which can form volcanic arcs and cause deep earthquakes.
Explain how an earthquake can cause a tsunami
An undersea earthquake can displace a large volume of the seafloor suddenly. This vertical movement pushes the overlying water column, generating waves that travel across the ocean as a tsunami; waves grow taller and become destructive near coastlines.
Compare and contrast convergent and divergent boundaries in terms of landforms and activity
Explain what an ocean trench is and how it forms
A deep, narrow depression in the seafloor formed at a convergent boundary where one tectonic plate subducts beneath another. Trenches are the deepest parts of the ocean.