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Plate Tectonics
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Asthenosphere | the upper layer of the earth's mantle |
| Continental Drift | the gradual movement of the continents across the earth's surface through geological time. |
| Lithosphere | the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle. |
| Pangaea | hypothetical supercontinent that included all current land masses, believed to have been in existence before the continents broke apart |
| Plate | each of the several rigid pieces of the earth's lithosphere that together make up the earth's surface. |
| Plate Tectonics | a theory explaining the structure of the earth's crust and many associated phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates that move slowly over the underlying mantle. |
| Seafloor Spreading | the formation of new areas of oceanic crust, which occurs through the upwelling of magma at midocean ridges and its subsequent outward movement on either side. |
| Abyssal plains | underwater plain on the deep ocean floor |
| Trench | a long, narrow ditch. |
| Subduction zone | place where two lithospheric plates come together, one riding over the other. |
| Convection | the movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise |
| Earthquake | sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's crust |
| Epicenter | the point on the earth's surface vertically above the focus of an earthquake. |
| Fault | a crack in the Earth's crust |
| Focus | The point inside the crust where the pressure is released |
| Magnitude | the great size or extent of something. |
| Normal Fault | two blocks of rock are pulled apart, as by tension |
| Reverse Fault | two blocks of rock are forced together by compression |
| P-wave | travel through a continuum and are the first waves from an earthquake |
| S-wave | a transverse earthquake wave that travels through the interior of the earth |
| Seismograph | an instrument that measures and records details of earthquakes, such as force and duration. |
| Strike-Slip Fault | a fault in which rock strata are displaced mainly in a horizontal direction, parallel to the line of the fault. |
| Tsunami | a long high sea wave caused by an earthquake, submarine landslide, or other disturbance. |
| Batholith | a very large igneous intrusion extending deep in the earth's crust. |
| Caldera | a large volcanic crater |
| Cinder Cone Volcano | A steep, conical hill consisting of glassy volcanic fragments that accumulate around |
| Dike | a ditch or watercourse. |
| Hot Spot | a small area or region with a relatively hot temperature in comparison to its surroundings. |
| Shield Volcano | a broad, domed volcano with gently sloping sides, characteristic of the eruption of fluid, basaltic lava. |
| Sill | a tabular sheet of igneous rock intruded between and parallel with the existing strata. |
| Volcano | a mountain or hill, typically conical, having a crater or vent through which lava, rock fragments, hot vapor, and gas are being or have been erupted from the earth's crust. |
| Anticline | a ridge-shaped fold of stratified rock in which the strata slope downward from the crest. |
| Syncline | trough or fold of stratified rock in which the strata slope upward from the axis. |
| Tension | stretches rocks in two opposite directions |
| Shear | a strain in the structure of a substance produced by pressure, when its layers are laterally shifted in relation to each other. |
| Uplift | elevation of the Earth's suface |
| Fissure | a long, narrow opening or line of breakage made by cracking or splitting, especially in rock or earth. |
| Pyroclastic flow | a dense, destructive mass of very hot ash, lava fragments, and gases ejected explosively from a volcano and typically flowing downslope at great speed. |
| Geyser | a hot spring in which water intermittently boils, sending a tall column of water and steam into the air. |
Created by:
Jayden1130
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