Section 1
The thinnest, solid outermost layer of Earth varies in thickness under oceans and mountains.
What is the crust?
This continuous, long process describes how rocks are constantly being created and transformed from one type into another.
What is the rock cycle?
This is the name given to the singular, massive supercontinent proposed by Alfred Wegener that eventually split apart.
What is Pangaea?
A footprint is an example of this type of fossil.
What is a trace fossil?
Molten rock fluid is called this only as long as it remains trapped underground or within a volcano.
What is magma?
This specific point in Earth’s crust is where a rock breaks under immense stress, triggering an earthquake.
What is the focus?
This class of rock is formed due to the intense heat and pressure under Earth's surface.
What is metamorphic rock?
This specific type of plate boundary features two tectonic plates pulling completely away from each other.
What is a divergent boundary?
These distinct layers of sediment, formed over millions of years, provide geologists with clues about Earth's ancient environments.
That are strata?
A naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a definite chemical makeup and crystalline structure.
What is a mineral?
This fundamental has a frame that vibrates during an earthquake, while a hanging weight remains completely still to record ground movement.
What is a seismograph?
This type of rock is formed when lava cools and hardens.
What is extrusive igneous rock?
This event occurs at convergent boundaries when a denser oceanic plate is pushed down beneath a lighter continental plate.
What is subduction?
Spanning roughly 88% of Earth’s entire history, this longest geological era was dominated entirely by single-celled organisms.
What is the Precambrian era?
These two specific structural layers of the Earth combine to form the tectonic plates known as the lithosphere.
What are the crust and upper mantle?
This process involves the physical breakdown of rocks into smaller fragments without altering their composition.
What is mechanical weathering?
This identification test relies on rubbing a mystery mineral across a rough surface to observe the colour of its powder.
What is a streak test?
The four pieces of evidence Wegener used for his Theory of Continental Drift.
What are glossopteris fossils, folded mountains, glacial deposits, and coal deposites?
This geologist discovered the skull of the Albertosaurus in 1884, sparking the badland's famous dinosaur rush
Who is Joseph Burr Tyrrell?
Despite high temperatures, this layer of Earth is believed to be solid iron and nickel due to the pressure of the layers above it.
What is the inner core?
This process occurs when traveling sediments finally drop and settle in a new location.
What is deposition?
The softest mineral classified on Mohs Scale of Hardness.
What is talc?
This heat-driven process occurring inside Earth's mantle acts as the primary conveyor belt moving tectonic plates across the globe.
What are convection currents?
These widespread fossils belonged to species that only lived for a short geological timeframe, making them incredibly useful for identifying the age of rock layers.
What are index fossils?
Deltas, eskers, oxbows, and confluences are examples of this.
What are fluvial landforms?