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chapter 4
Term | Definition |
---|---|
core | Earth's center , where pressures and temperatures are very high |
mantle | the section of earth's interior that lies above the outer core and has the most mass |
magma | liquid rock within Earth |
plate tectonics | the theory that Earth's crust is divided into rigid plates that slowly move across the upper mantle |
continental drift | the process by which Earth's plates slowly move across the upper mantle |
rift valleys | places on Earth's surface where the crust strecthes 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 |
glacier | thick masses of ice |
plateau | landforms |
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 | 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 |