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chapter 4 terms
Term | Definition |
---|---|
core | Earth center |
mantle | beyond the core |
magma | liquid crust within Earth |
plate tectonics | how forces within the planet create landforms |
continental drift | the plates slowely move across the upper mantle usually less than an inch per year |
rift valleys | in these places the crust stretches until it breaks |
abyssal plains | he worlds flattest and smoothest regions |
continental shelves | at the edges of the continental shelves the seafloor drops steeply down to the abyssal plains |
trench | the deep valley marking the plate collision |
folds | when rocks have been compressed into bends |
faults | are places where rock masses have broken apart and moved away from each other |
weathering | rocks break and decay over time in a process |
sediment | weathering breaks rocks into small particals of gravel sand and mud |
erosion | the other process changing landforms on earths surface |
glaciers | thick masses of ice |
plateau | lanform |
alluvial fan | the sediment eroded from the mountains may then be deposited at the mountains bases |
delta | there the sediment may move out into the ocean sink or the sediment may accumulate |
desalinization | the salt in the water can be romoved |
hydrologic cycle | the movement of water through the hydrosphere |
headwaters | the first and smallest streams from this runoff |
tributary | any smaller stream or river that flows into a larger stream or river |
watershed | the whole region drained by a river and its tributary |
drainage basin | the whole region drained by a river and its tributary |
estuaries | where surface water is found |
wetlands | where surface water is found |
groundwater | water found below ground |
water table | the level at which all the spaces are filled with water |