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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 |