Rock Cycle
formed from the cooling and solidification of molten (melted) rock
What are igneous rocks?
a scientific theory that explains how major landforms are created as a result of Earth's subterranean movements
What is Plate Tectonics?
point of origin of an earthquake
What is the focus?
openings, or vents in the earth's crust where lava, tephra (small rocks), and steam erupt onto the Earth's surface
rocks that are broken down by plants, animals wind and water
What is parent material?
includes sandstone, limestone, and shale
What are sedimentary rocks?
can cause the edges of one or both plates to buckle up into a mountain ranges or one of the plates may bend down into a deep seafloor trench
What is a convergent boundary?
the surface of the earth directly above the point of origin of an earthquake
What is the epicenter?
type of material including a cloud of ash, lava fragments carried through the air, and vapor
What is pyroclastic?
part of the O layer, this comes from living things that are partly decomposed
What is humus?
form when rocks are subjected to high heat, high pressure, hot mineral-rich fluids or, more commonly, some combination of these factors
What are metamorphic rocks?
occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other; along these boundaries, earthquakes are common
What is a divergent boundary?
cause of earthquakes; area where tectonic plates exceed ability to absorb stress and break
What are faults?
area with high amount of volcanic activity
What is the Pacific Rim or Ring of Fire?
regolith, partly broken down parent material can be found in this layer of the soil
What is the C horizon?
metamorphic rocks that show a distinctive layering
What are foliated metamorphic rocks?
approximately 300 million years ago, Earth's land made up this supercontinent
What is Pangea?
caused by sudden vertical displacement of the ocean floor along a fault
What is a tsunami?
hot molten rock that reaches the surface of the Earth
What is lava?
occurs when rocks break down into progressively smaller fragments without being altered by chemicals
What is mechanical weathering?
form from lava that cools on Earth's surface
What are extrusive igneous rocks?
the sideways and downward movement of the edge of a plate of the earth's crust into the mantle beneath another plate
What is subduction?
waves of energy that travel through Earth; particle motion is perpendicular to wave direction
What is an S wave?
the rising of the hot mantle, cooling and sinking as it becomes more dense, and sinking back down towards the core
What is mantle convection?
tree roots can exert pressure on rocks and cause them to break apart
What is biological weathering?