Structure of the Earth Pt1
study of the Earth.
What is Geology?
Earth's outer layer made of solid rock
What is the crust?
The study of earthquakes
What is seismology?
Instrument used to record the vibrations caused by an earthquake
What is a seismograph?
molten rock beneath the surface of the Earth
What is Magma?
Type of mountain forms when molten rock erupts from a hole in the earth's crust
What is a volcanic mountain?
Lava that solidifies almost instantaneously under water and resembles round soft pillows
What is Pillow Lava?
The middle of the earth's three main layers
What is the Mantle?
The bottom of the mantle
What is the core-mantle boundary or Gutenberg discontinuity?
The point on the earth's surface directly above where an earthquake begins
What is the epicenter?
The point deep in the earth where an earthquake begins
Hypocenter/ Focus
Volcano that pours out large quantities of highly fluid lava in rather mild eruptions producing a broad, gently sloping cone
What is a Shield volcano?
volcano that probably will not erupt again
What is an extinct volcano?
Lava that hardens into rough jagged rocks with crumbly texture; "blocky" lava
What is aa?
The area between the upper mantle and the lower mantle
What is the transition zone?
What the inner core of the earth thought to be made of
What is solid material?
the belt on which 80% of the world's earthquakes occur
What is the Circum-Pacific Belt?
The earthquake zone stretches from southern Europe to Indonesia
What is the Alpide belt?
volcano that is inactive but can erupt again
What is a dormant volcano?
The underground actual source of a volcanic eruption
What is a magma chamber?
large, irregularly shaped lump made of lava that hardened before being thrown out of a volcano
What are volcanic blocks?
The most abundant element in the earth's crust
What is oxygen?
Type of fold occurs when rocks buckle up to form an arch-like structure
What is Anticline?
The scale is considered the most reliable method for measuring the energy released by an earthquake
What is the Moment Magnitude Scale?
The fastest type of earthquake wave
What is a P-Wave?
consists primarily of erupted volcanic ash and rock fragments held loosely together
What is a Cinder-cone Volcano?
formed partly by explosive eruptions of ash and rock fragments and partly by mild lava flows
What is a Composite Volcano or Stratovolcano?
Lava that hardens to form either a smooth or ropey surface
What is Pahoehoe?
The deposits of sand and mineral fragments, usually laid down by water.
What are sediments?
Type of mountain is formed when the edges of two adjacent Tectonic plates push up against each other
What is a folded mountain?
scale is used to measure the damage an earthquake does
What is the Modified Mercalli Scale?
Type of earthquake wave that often has movement similar to ocean waves.
What is a surface wave?
The channel in a volcano through which gases, ash, and molten rock are ejected from the earth's interior
What is a vent?
bowl-shaped hollow formed by the collapse of an underground magma chamber
Pyroclastic particle less than 2mm in diameter
What is volcanic ash?
The boundary line between the crust and the mantle
What is the Moho Layer?
The major type of fault that occurs when rocks on one side of the fault is shoved over the rocks on the other side
What is a thrust fault?
These kind of earthquakes consist of 85% of all earthquakes
What are Shallow Focus earthquakes?
Earthquake waves can provide us with information about Earth's _________
What is interior?
The general name for a mass of underground volcanic rock
What is an Igneous intrusion?
Particle or block of solid volcanic ejecta
What are pyroclasts?
Superheated cloud of gas and small particles that travel as an avalanche
What is a pyroclastic flow?
The plastic rock on which the tectonic plates float on
What is the Asthenosphere?
The fracture zone between stationary and moving rocks
What is a fault?
Scientists determine the point where an earthquake begins by __________________________.
... by measuring travel time of seismic waves
kind of earthquake caused by sudden movements of rock beneath the earth's surface
What is tectonic earthquake?
An underground channel that formed when surface lava hardened before the lava underneath it?
What is a Lava Tunnel?
What is most likely to cause a volcanic eruption to be more violent?
large amount of dissolved gas
Lava thrown high into the air in a liquid or half liquid state forming tear drop or almond shaped rocks
What are Volcanic bombs?
the idea that rapid movement of tectonic plates during the Flood is responsible for most of Earth's features
What is catastrophic plate tectonics?
The computer system that stores and processes geographic data from various sources
What is the Geographic Information System (GIS)?
Smaller earthquakes that often follow a larger earthquake at frequent intervals
What are Aftershocks?
The idea that rocks on either side of a fault spring to a position of little or no stress after an earthquake
What is the Elastic Rebound Theory?
A mass of underground volcanic rock that is similar to a laccolith much larger
What is a Batholith?
scale is used to measure the strength of a volcanic eruption
What is a Volcanic Explosivity Index (or VEI)?
solid ejecta that is between 2mm and 64mm in diameter
What is lapilli?