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Internal Structure
Earth and Space
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| lithosphere | Earth's crust AND top of the mantle together make up the lithosphere. This is what makes up tectonic plates. |
| asthenosphere | layer within upper mantle of hotter softer rock. Soft enough to flow like hot tar |
| magnetic field | a region around a magnetic material or a moving electric charge within which the force of magnetism acts. |
| Hydrosphere | all the waters on the earth's surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including water over the earth's surface, such as clouds. |
| Magnetosphere | the region surrounding the earth or another astronomical body in which its magnetic field is the predominant effective magnetic field. |
| Atmosphere | the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet. |
| dynamo effect | a geophysical theory that explains the origin of the Earth's main magnetic field in terms of a self-exciting (or self-sustaining) |
| continental drift hypothesis | the idea that continents slowly move over earth's surface |
| subduction zone | biggest crash scene on Earth. These boundaries mark the collision between two of the planet's tectonic plates. |
| lamproites | ultrasonically mantle-derived volcanic and sub-volcanic rocks. |
| transform plate boundaries | two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally |
| divergent plate boundaries | two tectonic plates separate |
| convergent plate boundaries | two tectonic plates collide |
| conduction | the process by which heat or electricity is directly transmitted through a substance when there is a difference of temperature or of electrical potential between adjoining regions, without movement of the material. |
| convection | heat transfer by the movement of a heated fluid |
| radiation | the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or as moving subatomic particles, especially high-energy particles that cause ionization |
| plasma | an ionized gas consisting of positive ions and free electrons in proportions resulting in more or less no overall electric charge |
| Geomagnetic reversals | a change in a planet's magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south are interchanged, while geographic north and geographic south remain the same. |
| Coriolis effect | an effect whereby a mass moving in a rotating system experiences a force (the Coriolis force ) acting perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation. |
| ophiolite | an igneous rock consisting largely of serpentine, believed to have been formed from the submarine eruption of oceanic crustal and upper mantle material. |
| Global warming | a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants. |
| plate tectonics | the geological theory that states that pieces of earth's lithosphere are in constant, slow motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle |
| Doppler Effect | an increase (or decrease) in the frequency of sound, light, or other waves as the source and observer move toward (or away from) each other. |
| Greenhouse Effect | the trapping of the sun's warmth in a planet's lower atmosphere due to the greater transparency of the atmosphere to visible radiation from the sun than to infrared radiation emitted from the planet's surface. |
| Mantle | Earth's thickest layer. Very top of mantle is cool and rigid, just below that rock is hot and soft enough to move like a thick paste. |
| seismograph | used to record vibrations in earth and determines the strength of the earthquake |
| seismic waves | waves of energy that that travels through the earth (body waves) |
| sea-floor spreading | the process by which new oceanic lithosphere forms as magma rises toward the surface and solidifies |
| xenolith | a piece of rock within an igneous rock that is not derived from the original magma but has been introduced from elsewhere |
Created by:
andrew.ellis
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