Other Vocab
A rock layer that allows groundwater to flow through it and collect.
aquitard
An opening in Earth’s surface through which lava, gas, and ash escapes from magma underground.
what is a volcano?
the scientific theory explaining that the Earth's outermost shell is divided into several large, rocky plates that float on the molten asthenosphere and move at varying speeds, causing major geologic events like earthquakes, volcanoes, and the formation of mountain ranges at their boundaries
what is plate tectonics theory?
where two tectonic plates collide, causing one plate to subduct (slide beneath) the other, forming trenches, mountain ranges, and volcanoes
what is a convergent boundary?
forms from the solidification of molten rock (magma or lava) and is classified as extrusive (volcanic) if it cools quickly on Earth's surface, resulting in fine-grained textures like basalt, or intrusive (plutonic) if it cools slowly deep underground, creating coarse-grained rocks such as granite.
what is igneous rock?
Water found underground in the spaces and cracks within earth materials.
what is groundwater?
A sudden release of energy in Earth’s interior, which can cause shaking at the surface.
what is an earthquake?
The idea that the continents were once joined together to form a single continent, which over time broke up and slowly moved great distances apart.
what is continental drift theory?
where two tectonic plates move apart, allowing magma from the Earth's mantle to rise and create new oceanic crust or continental crust
what is a divergent boundary?
rocks that form when rocks are subjected to high heat, high pressure, hot mineral-rich fluids or, more commonly, some combination of these factors.
what is metamorphic rock?
Parts of rocks, shell, and dead organisms that have been worn down into small pieces.
what is sediment?
The movement of rock, soil, and other earth materials down a slope.
what is a landslide?
This person came up with the theory of continental drift
Who is Alfred Wegener?
a geological fault zone where two tectonic plates slide horizontally past each other, rather than colliding or pulling apart
what is a transform boundary?
rocks that form from the accumulation, deposition, and cementation of sediments—particles from pre-existing rocks, organic matter, or chemical precipitates—over long periods.
what is sedimentary rock?
the geological process where sediments are laid down by agents like water, wind, or ice, forming layers that eventually compact and cement into sedimentary rocks
what is deposition?
A naturally occurring event that may negatively affect people and the environment.
what is a natural hazard?
This person came up with the theory of plate tectonics
Who is Harry Hess?
The solid layer of Earth’s crust and upper mantle.
what is the lithosphere?
the natural process of rocks, soils, and minerals being broken down and weakened into smaller pieces by contact with the Earth's atmosphere, water, and living organisms
what is weathering?
A rock layer that restricts the flow of groundwater.
what is an aquitard?
The size of an earthquake.
what is the magnitude?
the fluid part of Earth that allows continents to move by convection currents
what is the athenosphere?
The weak, soft solid layer of the mantle 100–250 km below Earth’s surface.
what is the athenosphere?
the processes that form sedimentary rocks. These processes, known as lithification, involve the squeezing together of sediments and the gluing of these sediment particles by dissolved minerals
what is compaction and cementation?