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Geology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Inner Core | Innermost layer of the earth; solid iron |
| Outer Core | Located between the inner core and the mantle; liquid |
| Mantle | Largest layer of the earth; located between the outer core and the crust |
| Crust | Outermost layer of the earth |
| Tectonic plates | Pieces of the earth's crust that are floating on the mantle |
| Convection current | Hot magma near the core rises because as it heats it gets less dense; when it gets closer to the crust it cools, becomes more dense, and sinks back down |
| Alfred Wegener | Noticed the matching coastlines of the continents and that there were similar fossils on opposite sides of the ocean; proposed theory of continental drift |
| Arthur Holmes | Noticed that there were fossils in Antartica of tropical species; proposed that convection currents were responsible for the movement of the continents |
| Harry Hess | Discovered seafloor spreading at midocean ridges by dating the rocks and seeing that the older rocks were further from the midocean ridge; new ocean crust is being created pushing tectonic plates apart from one another |
| Plate Tectonics Theory | The earth's crust is divided into plates that are floating on the mantle and are moving because of convection currents |
| Igneous Rock | Formed when magma or lava cools and crystallizes |
| Metamorphic Rock | Formed from intense heat and pressure |
| Sedimentary Rock | Formed when sediments are compacted and cemented together |
| Rock Cycle | Diagram describing how one type of rock can be transformed into another |
| Igneous Rock Clues | Glassy and shiney or lots of holes if cools quickly; small crystals if cools slowly |
| Metamorphic Rock Clues | Larger crystals; stripes or ribbonlike layers; very tough |
| Sedimentary Rock Clues | Visible pieces; fossils; breakable |
| Greenhouse Effect | Sun hits earth, and most of the energy is absorbed by land and water. Earth's surface warms up, and gives off energy called infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases trap heat and make earth warm. |
| Divergent Plate Boundary | The tectonic plates move away from each other and create mid-ocean ridge. (Magma comes to surface and pushes other rock away, creating new ocean floor as the plates separate, called rift valley) |
| Transform Plate Boundary | Tectonic plates slide past each other, creating earthquakes. |
| Convergent Plate Boundary | Tectonic plates move towards one another, creating mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, and deep ocean trenches. (The less dense tectonic plate moves above the more dense tectonic plate when they collide) |
| Relative Dating | Comparing ages of rocks or fossils to one another. |
| Law of Superposition | States that in undisturbed (not messed up) sedimentary rocks, the oldest rocks are on the bottom. |
| Rock Disturbances | Erosion (when wind and water break down rock), earthquakes, and magma. |
| Law of Crosscutting | States that if a geological feature cuts across or through another rock layer, it is younger than the rock layer. |
| Absolute Dating (Radiometric Dating) | Scientists use radioactive atoms in a rock or fossil to determine the approximate age of the rock or fossil in years. |
| Half Life | Amount of time it takes for half of the radioactive parent atoms to decay into stable daughter atoms. |
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