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Vocabulary
Science and Meteorology
| Definition | Word | Definition | Word | Definition | Word |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sediment deposited by running water | Alluvium | A fossil gum from the sap of ancient plants; may contain trapped and preserved insects and spiders | Amber | On the ocean floor | Benthic |
| A giant summit depression of a volcano | Caldera | A chemical substance containing more than one element in fixed amounts | compound | A curved fracture which is characteristic of some rocks and minerals such as in quartz | Conchoidal |
| Theoretical shift of continents due to weakness in the suboceanic crust | Continental drift | The outer layer of the earth's surface | crust | to seperate from a solution or melt as a solid | crystallize |
| Triangular shape deposit at the mouth of a stream | delta | Mass of a body divided by its volume; the density of a rock determines how heavy it feels. A piece of granite has a greater density than a piece of pumice with an equal volume | density | The chemical and physical processes which transform soft sediment into consolidated rock; these take place near the earths surface at low temperatures and pressures | diagenesis |
| movement of the earths crust creating mountains, oceans and ocean basins | diastrophism | An intrusion of igneous rock in older rocks at a high angle of dip | dike | glacial hill | drumlin |
| hills of loose sand created by the wind | dunes | the part of the earth's surface that is directly above the origin of the earthquake | epicenter | a division in geologic time smaller than a period | epoch |
| gradual wearing away of the earths surface by wind, water and ice | erosion | the face or slope of a cliff | escarpment | the cracking or peeling of rocks on the surface | exfoliation |
| molten volcanic rocks which have cooled on the surface of the earth | extrusive | a break or fracture on earths crust | fault | a crack in the earths interior through which lava flows | fissure |
| a bend in the rocks state | fold | consisting of thin parallel layers as in mica | foliation | a mold, cast, or impression of all or part of ancient organism that has been preserved in earths surface the best known are of dinosaurs | fossil |
| study of the origin, history and structure of the earth | geology | energy from the heat within earths crust | geothermal energy | natureal hot springs that intermittently ejects water and steam into the air | geyser |
| a large body of slow moving ice and snow | glacier | crystals with hollowed faces such as cubes of halite | hopper crystals | organic compounds containing only hydrogen and carbon | hydrocarbon |
| the study of the effects of water on the earths surface, soil, underlying rocks and atmosphere | hydrology | rocks formed when molten material in or on earths surface cools and hardens | igneous rocks | igneous material formed among preexisting rocks below the surface | intrusive |
| a crack in a rock mass that occurs as pressure decreases on that rock mass that becomes the overlying rock and is eroded away permitting the rock mass to expand | joint | depression in a glacier deposit formed by the melting of a block of ice | kettle | molten rock that reaches the surface | lava |
| the earths rocky crust plus the rigid upper part of the mantle | lithosphere | a naturally occuring magnet, a form of magnetite | lodestone | wind deposits of dust and sand particles | loess |
| molten rock mixed with gases within the earth from which igneous rock is formed | magma | layer of earth just beneath the crust | mantle | to wander: riverbeds wander and widen as each flows through the path of least resistance | meander |
| elements that are solid having characteristic luster maliability and high electrical and heat conductivity | metals | rocks that are formed when existing rocks undergo pressure and heat for extended periods of time | metamorphic rocks | naturally occuring and organic nongaseous substances of limited chemical variability and distinctive chrystalline structures | mineral |
| two or more substances combined in any amounts | mixture | glacial deposits of gravel sands and bolders | morraine | antural mineral deposit from which a metal can be extracted | ore |
| a scientist that studies ancient life in fossilized form | palientologist | huge blocks of rocks that make up the earths crust | plates | the ends of the axis of a planet or the ends of a magnet | poles |
| forced per unit of area | pressure | a radioactive gaseous chemical element formed by the decay of uranium | radon | a sugary rock texture observed in marbles and quartzites | saccharoidal |
| coloration in certain minerals due to minute broadlike inclusions of voids iron ore and other mineral | schillerization | medium to coarse metamorphic rocks composed of parallel layers such as mica and talc | schist | rocks formed by consolidation of sediments examples are limestone, sandstone and shale | sedimentary rocks |
| an instrument that measures and records the direction, intensity and time of an earthquake | seizmograph | scientists who study earths movements | seizmologists | results when forces cause two adjacent parts of a solid to slide past one another in directions that are parallel to the plane of contact | sheering |
| most abundant group of minerals found in earths crust | silicate | solid particles larger than clay particles but smaller than sand grains | silt | a biproduct resulting from a metallurgical process which floats on molten material | slag |
| the ratio of the weight of an object to the weight of an equal volume of water | specific gravity | distinct layers of sedimentary rocks | strata | a fold in rock strata in which the layers lean together from opposite sides; opposite of anti-cline down folded rock layers | syncline |
| geology of earths structural deformation | techtonics | a strong forward motion causing a horizontal movement of earths crust | thrust | the uppermost layer of soil | top soil |
| a condensible gas | vapor | an opening on earths surface permitting the escape of gases, liquids, fumes, etc. the main lava chamber in the neck of a volcano | vent | the process that physically and chemically break apart and change rocks | weathering |
| the gravitational force that earth exerts on an object | weight | a low pressure system that develops in or near the province of Alberta in winter and moves rapidly east or southeast through Canada and/or US laying a swath of light snow | Alberta Clipper | Instrument used to measure wind speed | anemometer |
| distance above sea level | altitude | the layer of gases, water and particles surrounding the earth | atmosphere | high clouds composed of ice crystals | cirrus |
| releasing small solid particles of carbon dioxide or silver iodide into cool clouds that are heavy with moisture; moisture may form around the particles causing rain or snow | cloud seeding | the change in a state of water from a gas to a liquid | condensation | the movement of heat through liquids and gases by currents | convection |
| a cloud in the shape of individually detached white fluffy domes with a flat base | cumulous | the temperature at which water vapor in the air condenses to liquid | dew point | a warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean surface waters producing warm currents along the coast of Central and South America which sometimes are associated with significant changes over the northern hemisphere | el nino |
| the change in a state of water from a liquid to gas | evaporation | an area of contact and transition between two air masses usually at different temperatures | a front | the trapping and building up of heat by some gases in the atmosphere | Greenhouse effect |
| a brief sudden increase in wind speed | gust | the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere | humidity | a period of summerlike weather in autumn which follows a period of cool weather which has been accompanied by the first frost | Indian Summer |
| Temperature increases with altitude contrary to the normal situation temperature decreases with altitude | inversion | a line on a weather map connecting point of equal barometric pressure | isobar | a cooling of the tropical surface waters opposite of el nino | la nina |
| the science that investigates the atmosphere, its interactions and its process | meteorology | national meteorological center | nmc | national oceanic and atmospheric association | noaa |
| a form of oxygen composed of three atoms per molecule in the upper atmosphere, it filters much of the harmful radiation from the sun | ozone | water in liquid or solid form that falls from the atmosphere to the ground | precipitation | the amount of water vapor in the air compared with the total amount of water vapor that the air could hold at that temperature | relative humidity |
| a transition zone between air masses of two different temperatures that are moving slowly or not at all | stationary front | the regular rise and fall of earths surface water caused by the gravitational attraction by the moon | tides | water in the form of mist in the air when below the boiling point | water vapor |