A
The study of Earth's composition, structure, and history is called
geology
Forces that shape Earth's surface can be divided into
chemical and physical
The two layers that make up the lithosphere are the
crust and upper mantle
The three main layers of Earth's interior are
crust, mantle, and core.
What is a mineral's hardness?
the resistance of a mineral to scratching
Intense heat, intense pressure, or reactions with hot water can modify a pre-existing rock to form a
metamorphic rock
A series of processes in which rocks are continuously changed from one type to another is called
The rock cycle
What changes are involved when mud from a lake bottom turns into a sedimentary rock and then into a metamorphic rock?
compaction and cementation, and then heat and pressure
Why was Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift originally rejected by geologists?
Wegener could not explain how the continents could move through the ocean floor.
New ocean crust is formed along
mid-ocean ridges
A subducting oceanic plate
sinks into the mantle, forming a trench
The heat that drives mantle convection comes from the gradual cooling of Earth's interior and
the decay of radioactive isotopes
Plates slide past each other, and crust is neither created nor destroyed, at
transform boundary
What is a break in a rock mass along which movement occurs?
Fault
What is the name of the location within Earth where an earthquake begins?
Focus
P Waves
cause Earth to vibrate in the direction of the wave's motion.
The amount of energy released by an earthquake is measured on the
moment magnitude scale
Geologists have inferred that Earth's outer core is liquid because
S waves cannot pass through the outer core
The area where magma collects inside a volcano before an eruption is called
a magma chamber
What causes the magna inside a volcano to rise toward the surface?
It is less dense than the surrounding rock
What determines whether a volcano erupts quietly or explosively?
the characteristics of the magma
Composite volcanoes are produced by
explosive eruptions of lava and ash
A steep-sided volcano formed entirely of ash and cinders is a
Cinder cone
The largest type of intrusive igneous feature is a
batholith
A sequence of rock layers consists of horizontal layers of sandstone, granite, and limestone. What type of intrusive igneous feature does the granite layer represent?
a volcanic neck