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Def. for EVERYTHING!
Definitions for everything in all your textbooks! Want a word? We got it!
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| aa | slow-moving type of lava that hardens to form rough chunks; cooler than pahoehoe |
| abrasion | the grinding away of rock by other rock particles carried in water, wind, or ice |
| absolute age | the age of a rock given as the number of years since the rock formed |
| absolute brightness | the brightness of a star if it were a standard distance from Earth |
| abyssal plain | a smooth, nearly lat region of the ocean floor |
| acid rain | rain that contains more acid than normal |
| aftershock | earthquake that occurs after a larger earthquake in the same area |
| air mass | huge body of air that has same pressure, temperature, and humidity throughout |
| air pressure | the pressure caused by the weight of a column of air pushing down on one area |
| alloy | a solid mixture of two or more elements, at least one of which is metal |
| alluvial fan | wide, sloping deposit of sediment formed where a stream leaves a mountain range |
| altitude | elevation above sea level |
| amphibian | vertebrate that lives part of ts life on land and part of its life in water |
| anemometer | an instrument used to measure wind speed |
| aneroid barometer | instrument that measures changes in air pressure without using a liquid |
| anticline | an upward fold in rock formed by compression of Earth's crust |
| anticyclone | high pressure center of dry air |
| apparent brightness | the brightness of a star as seen from Earth |
| aquaculture | the farming of saltwater and freshwater organisms |
| aquifer | underground layer of rock or sediment the holds water |
| artesian well | well in which water rises because of pressure within the aquifer |
| asteroid | rocky object revolving around the sun that are too small and numerous to be considered planets |
| asteroid belt | region of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter,where many asteroids are found |
| asthenosphere | soft layer of mantle on which the lithosphere floats |
| astronomer | scientist who studies the universe beyond Earth |
| astronomy | study of the moon,the stars, and other objects in space |
| atmosphere | envelope of gases that surrounds Earth |
| atoll | ring-shaped coral reef that surrounds a shallow lagoon |
| atom | smallest particle of an element |
| axis | imaginary line that passes through Earth's center and the North and South Poles, about which Earth rotates |
| baometer | instrument used to measure changes in air pressure |
| basalt | dark, dense, igneous rock with a fine texture, found in oceanic crust |
| base-isolated building | building mounted on bearings to absorb the energy of an earthquake |
| batholith | mass of rock formed when a large body of magma cools inside the crust |
| beach | wave-washed sediment along a coast |
| bedrock | solid layer of rock beneath the soil |
| benthos | organisms that live on the bottom of the ocean or other body of water |
| Big Bang Theory | initial explosion that resulted information and expansion of the universe |
| binary star | star system with two stars |
| bioluminescence | production of light by living things |
| biomass fuel | fuel made from living things |
| black hole | object whose gravity is so strong that nothing, not even light can escape |
| caldera | large hole at the top of a volcano formed when the roof of a volcano's magma chamber collapses |
| carbon film | type of fossil consisting of an extremely thin coating of carbon on rock |
| cast | fossil that is a copy of an organism's shape, formed when minerals seep into mold |
| cementation | process by which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together into one mass |
| chemical property | any property of a substance that produces a change in the composition of matter |
| chemical rock | sedimentary rock that forms when minerals crystallize from a sollution |
| chemical weathering | process that breaks down rock through chemical changes |
| chlorofluorocarbons | chlorine compounds that are the main cause of ozone depletion |
| chromosphere | middle layer of a sun's atmosphere |
| cinder cone | steep, cone-shaped hill or small mountain made of volcanic ash, cinders, and bombs piled up around a volcano's opening |
| cirrus | wispy, feathery made mostly of ice crystals that form at high levels |
| clastic rock | sedimentary rock that forms when rock fragments are squeezed together under high pressure |
| cleavage | mineral's ability to to split easily along flat surfaces |
| climate | average, year after year conditions of precipitation, temperature, winds, and clouds in an area |
| cloud seeding | process of producing rain during droughts by sprinkling silver iodide crystals and dry ice into clouds from airplanes |
| coagulation | process by which particles in a liquid clump together |
| coliform | type of bacteria found in human and animal wastes |
| coma | fuzzy outer layer of a comet |
| combustion | process of burning fuel |
| comet | loose collection of ice, dust, and small rocky particles, typically with a long, narrow orbit of the sun |
| compaction | process by which sediments are pressed together under their own weight |
| composite volcano | tall, cone shaped mountain in which layers of lava alternate with layers of ash and other volcanic materials |
| compound | substance in which two or more elements are chemically joined |
| compression | stress that squeezes rock until it folds or breaks |
| concentration | amount of one substance in a certain volume of another substance |
| condensation | process by which molecules of water vapor in the air become liquid water |
| conduction | direct transfer of thermal energy from one substance to another substance that is touching |
| conservation | practice of using less of a resource so that it will not be used up |
| conservation plowing | soil conservation method in which the dead stalks from the previous year's crop are left in the ground to hold the soil in place |
| constellation | imaginary pattern of stars in the sky |
| constructive force | force that builds up mountains and landmasses on Earth's surface |
| continental (air mass) | dry air mass that forms over land |
| continental climate | climate of the centers of continents , with cold winters and warm or hot summers |
| continental drift | the hypothesis that the continents slowly move across earth's surface |
| continental glacier | glacier that covers much of a continent or a large island |
| continental shelf | gently sloping shallow area of the ocean floor that extends outward from the edge of a continent |
| continental slope | steep incline of the ocean floor leading down from the edge of a continental shelf |
| contour interval | difference in elevation from one contour line to the next |
| contour line | line on a topographic map that connects points of equal elevation |
| contour plowing | plowing fields along the curves of a slope to prevent soil loss |
| control rod | cadmium rod used in a nuclear reactor to absorb neutrons from fission reactions |
| controlled experiment | experiment in which only one variable is manipulated at a time |
| convection | transfer of thermal energy by the movement of a fluid |
| convection current | movement of a fluid, caused by differences in temperature, that transfers heat from one part of the fluid to another |
| convection zone | outermost layer of the Sun's interior |
| convergent boundary | plate boundary where two plates move towards each other |
| convex lense | piece of transparent glass that is curved so the the middle is thicker than the edges |
| coral reef | structure of calcite skeletons built up by coral animals in warm, shallow water |
| core | central region of the sun, where nuclear fusion takes place |
| Coriolis effect | effect of Earth's rotation on the direction of winds and currents |
| corona | outer layer of the sun's atmosphere |
| cosmic background radiation | electromagnetic radiation left over from the big bang |
| crater | bowl-shaped area that forms around a volcano's central opening |
| crop rotation | planting of different crops each year to maintain the soil's fertility |
| crust | outer layer of rock that forms Earth's surface |
| crystal | solid in which the atoms are arranged in a pattern that repeats again and again |
| crystallization | process by which atoms are arranged to form a material with a crystal structure |
| cumulus | fluffy white clouds usually with flat bottoms that look like rounded piles of cotton |
| current | large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans |
| cyclone | swirling center of low air pressure |
| dark energy | mysterious force that seems to be causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate |
| dark matter | matter that does not give off electromagnetic radiation but appears to be quite abundant in the universe |
| data | facts, figures, and other devices gathered through observation |
| decomposer | soil organism that breaks down the remains of organisms and digests them |
| deep-ocean trench | deep valley along the ocean floor beneath which oceanic crust slowly sinks toward the mantle |
| deflation | wind erosion that removes surface materials |
| degree | unit used to measure distances around a circle, one degree equals 1/360 of a full circle |
| delta | landform made of sediment that is deposited where a river flows into an ocean or lake |
| density | amount of mass of a substance in a given volume; mass per unit volume |
| deposition | process in which sediment is deposited in new locations |
| desert | arid region that on average receives less than 25 centimeters per year |
| destructive force | force that slowly wears away mountains and other features on the surface of the Earth |
| dew point | temperature in which condensation begins |
| digitizing | converting information to numbers for use by a computer |
| dike | slab of volcanic rock formed when magma forces itself across rock layers |
| divergent boundary | plate boundary where two plates move away from each other |
| divide | ridge of land that separates one watershed from another |
| dormant | volcano that is not currently active, but may become active in the future |
| drought | long period of low precipitaion |
| Dust Bowl | area of the Great Plains where wind erosion caused soil loss during the 1930s |
| Earth science | science that focuses on planet Earth and its place in the universe |
| earthquake | shaking that results from the movement of rock under earth's surface |
| eclipse | partial or total blocking of one object in space by another |
| eclipsing binary | binary star system in which one star periodically blocks the light from another |
| effeciency | percentage of energy used to perform work |
| El Nino | climate event that occurs every two to seven years in the Pacific Ocean during which winds shift and push warm water toward the coast of South America |
| electromagnetic radiation | energy that travels through space in the form of waves |
| electromagnetic wave | waves that can transfer electric and magnetic energy through the vacuum of space |
| element | substance in which all the atoms are the same and cannot be broken down into other substances |
| elevation | height above sea level |
| era | one of three long units of geologic time between the Precambrian and the present |
| ellipse | oval shape which may be elongated or nearly circular |
| elliptical galaxy | galaxy shaped like a round or flattened ball, generally ball, generally containing old stars |
| energy | ability to do work or cause change |
| energy conservation | practice of reducing energy use |
| energy transformation | change from one form of energy to another |
| engineer | person who is trained to use both technological and scientific knowledge to solve practical problems |
| environmental scientist | scientist who studies the effects of human activities on Earth's land, air, water, and living things and also tries to solve problems relating to the use of resources |
| epicenter | point on Earth's surface directly above the focus |
| equator | imaginary line the circles Earth halfway between the North and South Poles |
| equinox | two days of the year in which neither hemisphere is titled towards or away from the sun |
| era | one of the three long units of geologic time between the Precambrian and the present |
| erosion | process by which water, ice, wind, or gravity move rock or soil |
| escape velocity | velocity a rocket must reach to fly beyond a planet's or moon's gravitational pull |
| estuary | coastal inlet or bay where fresh water from rivers mixes with salty ocean water |
| evacuate | to move away from an area temporarily to avoid hurricane and other weather conditions |
| evaporation | process by which water molecules in liquid water escape into the air as water vapor |
| evolution | process by which all the different kinds of living things have changed over time |
| exosphere | outer layer of the thermosphere |
| extinct | volcano that is no longer active and s unlikely to erupt again; describes a type of organism that no longer exists anywhere on Earth |
| extraterrestrial life | life that exists other than that on Earth |
| extrusion | igneous rock layer formed when lava flows onto Earth's surface and hardens |
| extrusive rock | igneous rock that forms from lava on Earth's surface |
| fault | break or crack in Earth's lithosphere along which rocks move |
| fertility | measure of how well soil supports plant growth |
| filtration | process of passing water through a series of screens that allow the water through, but not larger solid particles |
| flood plain | wide valley through which a river flows |
| focus | point beneath Earth's surface where rock breaks under stress and causes an earthquake |
| foliated | term used to describe metamorphic rocks that have grains arranged in parallel layers or bands |
| food web | feeding relationships in a habitat |
| footwall | block of rock that forms on lower half of fault |
| force | push or pull exerted on an object |
| fossil | trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock |
| fossil fuel | energy rich substance(such as coal, oil, or natural gas) formed from the remains of organisms |
| fracture | the way a mineral looks when it is broken in an irregular way |
| frequency | number of waves that pass a specific point in a given amount of time |
| friction | force that opposes the motion of one surface as it moves across another |
| front | boundary line where air masses meet but do not mix with each other |
| fuel | substance that provides energy as the result of a chemical change |
| fuel rod | uranium rod that undergoes fission in a nuclear reactor |
| galaxy | huge group of single stars, star systems, star clusters, dust,and gas bound together by gravity |
| gas giant | name often given to the first four outer planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune |
| gasohol | mixture of gasoline and alcohol |
| gemstone | hard colorful mineral that has brilliant or glassy luster and is valued for its appearance |
| geocentric | model of the universe in which Earth is at the center of the revolving planets |
| geode | hollow rock in which mineral crystals have formed |
| geologic time scale | record of geologic events and life forms in Earth's history |
| geologist | scientist who studies the forces that make and shape planet Earth |
| geothermal activity | heating of underground water by lava |
| geothermal energy | heat from Earth's interior |
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