Question | Answer |
Biosphere | planet Earth and its life: (Bio=life) the whole area of Earth's surface, atmosphere, and sea that is inhabited by living things |
Lithosphere | solid portion of Earth: the solid outer layer of the Earth above the asthenosphere, consisting of the crust and upper mantle |
Hydrosphere | all water on earth: (Hydro=water)the portion of Earth's surface that is water, including the seas and water in the atmosphere |
Atmosphere | gas around the earth: the mixture of gases that surrounds an astronomical object such as the Earth |
Convection current | Circulatory motion in liquid or gas. It is the up and down movement of gases and liquids caused by heat transfer. As a gas/liquid is heated, it warms, expands and rises because it is less dense. When it cools, it becomes denser and falls. |
Conduction | transmission of heat energy: transfer of heat between substances that are in direct contact with each other. |
Radiation | Energy emitted in rays or waves. When electromagnetic waves travel through space and come into contact with an object - the waves transfer the heat to that object. i.e. The sun warms the earth through the radiation of electromagnetic waves |
water cycle | natural circulation of water on Earth: the constant circulation of water between atmosphere, land, and sea by evaporation, precipitation, and percolation through soils and rocks |
Climate | typical weather in region: the average weather or the regular variations in weather in a region over a period of years |
Latitude | imaginary lines around Earth: an imaginary line joining points on Earth's surface that are all of equal distance north or south of the equator. |
Biome | A large geographical area of distinctive plant and animal groups, which are adapted to that particular environment. The climate and geography of a region determines what type of biome can exist in that region. |
Tornado Alley | A region of the United States where Tornados are likely to occur: including the low-lands of the Mississippi, Ohio and lower Missouri River valleys. |
Erosion | wearing away of rock: the gradual wearing away of rock or soil by physical breakdown, chemical solution, and transportation of material, as caused, e.g. by water, wind, or ice |
Weathering | effect of weather on rocks: the disintegration and decomposition of rocks and minerals by natural processes such as the action of freezing or the effects of streams and rivers. |
Crust | Part of Earth's crust underlying continents. It is the part of the outer shell of Earth that constitutes the continents and the rocks beneath them down to the level of the mantle. |
Mantle | central part of Earth: the part of Earth or another planet that lies between the crust and core |
Lithosphere | outer solid part of the earth, including the crust and uppermost mantle. |
Asthenosphere | weak part of earth's mantle: a weak zone in the upper part of the Earth's mantle where rock can be deformed in response to stress, resulting in movement of the overlying crust |
Core | center of Earth: the central part of Earth, or the corresponding part of another astronomical object. Earth's core is molten in parts and is composed of an alloy of iron and nickel |
Plate Tectonics | movement of earth's crust: a theory that is based on continental drift, volcanic and seismic activity, and the formation of mountain belts to moving plates of the Earth's crust supported on less rigid mantle rocks |
Continental Drift | A theory that explains the formation and extremely slow movement of the continents across the Earth's crust. The continents are thought to have been formed from one large landmass (Pangaea) that split, drifted apart, and in places collided again. |
Sea-floor Spreading | Two plates move apart. As the plates move apart, the rocks break and form a crack between the plates. Earthquakes occur along the plate boundary. Magma rises through the cracks and seeps out onto the ocean floor like a long, thin, undersea volcano. |
Pangaea | a hypothetical ancient supercontinent incorporating all the Earth's major landmasses. It is thought to have begun splitting up about 200 million years ago. |
Convergent Boundaries | where two plates are both moving into each other, neither subducting under the other, but pushing up the crust. |
Divergent Boundaries | occurs at the point where two plates are moving away from each, creating more crust at the point of separation |
Transform Boundaries | occur when two plates are sliding along each other in opposing directions. Due to friction when the plates buckle and shift, they often cause earthquakes |
Subduction Zone | an area of tectonic plate collision where the more dense plate follows a path underneath, the less dense plate |
Oceanic Plate | part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or sima, which is rich in iron and magnesium…called Basalt (a dense igneous rock) |
Continental Plate | part of Earth's lithosphere which is exposed on the surface and is thicker and less dense than the Oceanic Plate. |
Folds | layered rock that exhibits bends. The layered rock was at one time uniformly straight but was stressed to develop a series of arches and troughs |
Fault | displacement in Earth's crust: a displacement of rock layers in the Earth's crust in response to stress, accompanied by a break in the continuity of the rocks on each side of the fault line |
Magma | molten rock: molten rock deep within the Earth from which igneous rock is formed by solidification at or near the Earth's surface |
Igneous | formerly molten: describes rock formed under conditions of intense heat or produced by the solidification of volcanic magma on or below the Earth's surface |
Geyser | spring gushing hot water and steam: a spring that throws a jet of hot water or steam into the air at intervals |
Ring of Fire | An extensive zone of volcanic and seismic activity that coincides roughly with the borders of the Pacific Ocean |
Hot Spot | a place where magma reaches the surface of a crustal plate |
Permeable | allowing substances through: allowing liquids, gases, to pass through |