Plate Tectonics
large, thin, relatively rigid layers in Earth's crust that constantly move in relation to one another
What are plates?
process of washing away
What is erosion?
a reaction caused by pressure building up inside Earth, forcing magma up through a volcano's vent and out of the volcano
What is eruption?
vibrations caused by the shifting of the tectonic plates of Earth's crust; often mild but sometimes very destructive
What are earthquakes?
natural mineral formations that make up most of Earth's crust
What are rocks?
a theory that states that Earth's crust is made of plates that are in constant motion
What is Plate Tectonics?
three types of cave formations and how they form
What are stalactites? These form from the ceiling of the cave.
What are stalagmites? These form from the floor of the cave.
What are columns? These form when stalactites and stalagmites join.
combination of molten rock, gas, ash, and rock from inside Earth's crust
What is magma?
cracks in the tectonic plates; responsible for many earthquakes
What are faults?
the process by which rocks are formed, altered, destroyed, and reformed by geological processes and which is recurrent, returning to a starting point
What is the Rock Cycle?
a theory that says all of Earth's continents were once joined together and have moved apart over time with the shifting of plates
What is Pangea?
the mineral that speleothems are made from
What is calcite?
magma that has been forced out of a volcano's vent to the outside of the volcano
What is lava?
instrument that measures and records the shaking, or vibrations, of Earth's crust
What is a seismograph?
a type of rock formed when loose sand, mud, and gravel deposited from moving water build up in layers and harden together
What is sedimentary rock?
the part of earth's structure that consists of tectonic plates
What is the crust?
two types of acid that erode limestone, forming many caves and caverns
What are carbonic acid and sulfuric acid?
three types of volcanoes that describe their eruption patterns
What are active, dormant, and extinct?
scale used to rate the strength of an earthquake
What is the Richter scale?
a type of rock made under the lithosphere when old rocks melt, form magma, cool, and become solid again
What is igneous rock?
when tectonic plates collide
What are convergent plate boundaries?
three types of caves
Hint: The names describe where and how the caves are formed.
What are coral caves, volcanic caves, and sea caves?
tube that connects the inside of a volcano to the deeper part of Earth's crust and the molten rock inside
What is the vent?
area on the surface of Earth just above an earthquake's focus
What is the epicenter?
a type of rock made when an existing rock is exposed to extreme temperature and pressure, causing the rock to change in form
What is metamorphic rock?