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EES 2.1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Tectonic Plates | Massive slabs of the Earth's lithosphere that move slowly over the molten asthenosphere, carrying continents and ocean floors. |
| Asthenosphere | The upper layer of the earth's mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur. |
| Lithosphere | The rigid, outermost layer of Earth, composed of the crust and the upper part of the mantle. It is broken into tectonic plates that move, causing geological events. |
| Convection Currents | The circular movement of fluids (liquids and gases) caused by differences in temperature and density. This occurs when a heated fluid becomes less dense and rises, while the cooler, denser fluid sinks to take its place, creating a continuous cycle. |
| Fault Line | A fracture or zone of fractures in the Earth's crust where tectonic plates meet and move, causing stress that can lead to earthquakes. |
| San Andreas Fault | A large fracture in California's crust where two tectonic plates, the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, slide horizontally past each other. This movement is a type of strike-slip faulting and can cause major, destructive earthquakes. |
| Boundaries | The location where two tectonic plates meet. |
| Mantle | Earth's second-largest layer, situated between the crust and the core. It is a thick layer of hot, dense, silicate rock. Driver of tectonic plate movement through convection currents |
| Crust | The Earth's outermost, solid shell of rock and minerals. Broken into tectonic plates. |
| Tsunami | Tsunamis are giant waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea. |
| Earthquake | The sudden shaking of the ground caused by the abrupt release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere, which generates seismic waves. |
| Continent | A large, continuous mass of land composed of a distinct type of Earth's crust known as continental crust. |
| Pangea | Supercontinent that incorporated almost all of Earth's landmasses into a single entity, existing approximately 335 to 175 million years ago. |
| Volcanism | The geological processes and phenomena associated with the movement of molten rock (magma) from the Earth's interior to the surface, resulting in volcanic eruptions. |
| Ridge | A long, narrow, elevated geomorphological landform or structural feature that is higher than the surrounding terrain. |
| Mountain Formation | The large-scale geological processes that create mountains and mountain ranges, primarily driven by the movement and interactions of Earth's tectonic plates. |
| Seafloor Spreading | The geological process at mid-ocean ridges where new oceanic crust is formed as tectonic plates pull apart. The magma rises from the mantle, cools, and solidifies, forming new crust. |
| Magma | Naturally occurring molten or semi-molten rock material found beneath the Earth's surface. |
| Ring of Fire | A horseshoe-shaped, 40,000-kilometer (25,000-mile) belt around the Pacific Ocean basin that is characterized by a high degree of tectonic activity, including frequent earthquakes and active volcanoes. |
| Support For Wegener's Proposed Theory | Matching continental coastlines, identical fossils on separate continents, matching rock types and geological structures across oceans, and evidence of past climates. |
| Epicenter | The point on the earth's surface vertically above the focus of an earthquake. |
| Convergent Boundary | A place where two tectonic plates collide, which can result in the buckling of the crust into mountains, the subduction of one plate under another to form a trench, or the creation of volcanoes and earthquakes. |
| Divergent Boundary | Where two plates are moving away from each other. This separation allows magma to rise from the Earth's mantle, creating new crust as it cools and solidifies. Results include mid-ocean ridges and continental rift valleys. |
| Density | Degree of consistency measured by the quantity of mass per unit volume. |
| Rift | Zone in the Earth's lithosphere where it is being actively pulled apart, stretched, and thinned due to tectonic forces. |
| Alfred Wegener | German meteorologist and geophysicist best known for proposing the theory of continental drift in the early 20th century. |
| Continental Drift | Theory that the Earth's continents have moved over geological time across the planet's surface. |
| Subduction | Process in which one tectonic plate moves beneath another and sinks into the Earth's mantle as the plates converge. |
| Thermal | Caused by or related to heat or temperature. The term is used in various contexts to describe the presence, properties, or transfer of heat within the Earth's systems. |
| Convection | Transfer of heat through the physical movement of a fluid (liquid, gas, or even soft solid, like the Earth's mantle) driven by differences in density caused by temperature variations. |
| Thermal Convection | The process of heat transfer through the physical movement of a fluid (liquid, gas, or even soft solid rock) caused by differences in temperature and density. |
| Radioactivity | Spontaneous process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting radiation (particles and energy) in order to transform into a more stable form. This process is also known as radioactive decay. |
| Seismic Waves | Energy waves that travel through the Earth's layers or along its surface as a result of a sudden release of energy, typically from an earthquake, volcanic eruption, or man-made explosion. |
| Fossil | Preserved remains, impression, or trace of a once-living organism from a past geological age. |
| Radioactive Decay | Spontaneous process by which an unstable atomic nucleus (the parent isotope) loses energy by emitting radiation to transform into a more stable nucleus (the daughter product). |
| Geosphere | All of the solid parts of the Earth, encompassing the rocks, minerals, landforms, and the physical processes that shape them. |
| Inner Core | Earth's innermost, solid layer, composed primarily of an iron-nickel alloy. It is a dense, hot sphere that remains solid despite temperatures up to 5,700°C (10,300°F) due to the immense pressure from the overlying layers. |
| Outer Core | The liquid layer of Earth's interior located between the solid mantle and the solid inner core, composed primarily of molten iron and nickel. It is responsible for generating Earth's magnetic field. |
| Transform Boundary | Tectonic plate boundary in Earth science where two plates slide horizontally past each other. This movement, driven by shear stress, occurs without the creation or destruction of the Earth's lithosphere (crust). |
| Rock Cycle | Continuous process by which rocks are created, changed from one form to another, destroyed, and then formed again over geological time. There are three main rock types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. |
| Unstable Isotopes | A variant of a chemical element with an unstable atomic nucleus due to an imbalance in the number of protons and neutrons. |
| Mantle Convection | The slow, continuous, and circular movement of the Earth's solid silicate mantle. This process is driven by heat from the Earth's core and the decay of radioactive isotopes within the mantle itself. |
| Seismograph | An instrument used to detect, measure, and record the vibrations (seismic waves) generated by earthquakes, explosions, or other ground-shaking phenomena. |
| Richter Scale | A logarithmic scale developed by Charles Richter to measure the magnitude (size) of an earthquake based on the amplitude of its largest seismic wave recorded by a seismograph. This measurement quantifies the amount of energy released by the earthquake. |
| Lava | Molten rock (magma) that has been expelled onto the Earth's surface during a volcanic eruption, through a volcano, or through a fracture in the crust. |
| Ductile | The ability of a material, particularly rocks, to deform under stress without fracturing. |
| P (Seismic) Waves | Compressional body waves that travel the fastest through Earth's layers and are the first to arrive at a seismic station after an earthquake. They can propagate through solids, liquids, and gases. Also known as primary waves. |
| S (Seismic) Waves | A type of elastic wave that moves through the interior of the Earth. They are body waves, meaning they travel through the bulk of the planet, but unlike P waves, S waves can only propagate through solid media. Also known as secondary waves. |
| Magnitude | The numerical measure of the energy released during an earthquake. |
| Trench | A long, narrow, and exceptionally deep depression in the ocean floor. These geological features are the deepest parts of the ocean and are primarily formed by the process of subduction. |
| Slab-Pull | The force exerted by a cold, dense oceanic tectonic plate as it sinks into the Earth's mantle at a subduction zone, primarily due to gravity. This gravitational force pulls the rest of the trailing plate along with it. |
| Plume | A mantle plume is a proposed narrow upwelling of hot, solid rock that rises from deep within the Earth's mantle, potentially from the core-mantle boundary. |
| Isotope | A variation of a chemical element with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. |
| Half-Life | The time required for one-half of the radioactive atoms in a sample of an unstable isotope to decay into a different, more stable element or isotope. |
Created by:
Krincon26