click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Unit 9
Earth's Materials
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Asthenosphere | The somewhat fluid portion of the mantle upon which the lithosphere is located. |
Cementation | The process of binding and hardening sediments into hard rock. |
Compaction | The process by which overlying pressure from rocks and soil reduces the size or volume of sediments. |
Igneous | A type of rock formed when crystallized through melting and cooling rock. |
Lithosphere | The top most layer of the Earth, which is comprised of the crust and solid portion of the upper mantle, divided into plates, and moves a top the layer known as the asthenosphere. |
Mantle | The region inside the Earth between the core and the crust. |
Metamorphic | A type of rock formed when igneous or sedimentary rocks are put under intense heat and / or pressure in the Earth’s crust. |
Plasticity | The quality of being easily shaped or molded. |
Rock Cycle | The continual process by which rocks can be changed into different types of rock. |
Sedimentary | A type of rock formed through the accumulation, compaction, and cementation of sediment. |
Sedimentation | The deposition of solid material from being suspended in a fluid (water). |
Semi-solid | Having the qualities of both a solid and a liquid; exceptionally thick substance. |
Weathering | The process by which rocks are broken down into small grains and soil. |
Erosion | The process by which soil and rock particles are worn away and moved elsewhere by gravity, or by a moving transport agent – wind, water or ice. |
Deposition | The geological process in which sediments, soil and rocks are added to a landform or land mass. |
Minerals | The building blocks of rocks; A naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, crystalline substance which has a fixed structure and a chemical composition. |