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EES 2.1 - Nilin
EES 2.1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| thermal | relating to heat or temperature; something caused by, produced by, or involving heat. |
| mantle | the thick layer of rock between Earth’s crust and core; it is mostly solid but can slowly flow over long periods of time. |
| Continental drift | the scientific idea that Earth’s continents were once joined together and have slowly moved to their current positions over millions of years due to motions of the tectonic plates beneath them. |
| seismic waves | vibrations that travel through Earth, produced by earthquakes, volcanic activity, or explosions; scientists study them to learn about Earth’s interior. |
| geosphere | the solid part of Earth, including rocks, minerals, mountains, and the layers beneath the surface, such as the crust, mantle, and core. |
| Outer core | the liquid layer of Earth’s core that lies beneath the mantle and surrounds the inner core; it is made mostly of molten iron and nickel and is responsible for Earth’s magnetic field. |
| Transform boundary | a type of plate boundary where two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally, often causing earthquakes along the boundary. |
| Unstable isotopes | orms of an element’s atoms that have an imbalance of protons and neutrons, causing them to break down (decay) over time and release radiation. |
| earthquakes | sudden shaking or trembling of the ground caused by the movement of rocks along faults or by volcanic activity, often resulting in damage and sometimes tsunamis. |
| Richter Scale | sudden shaking or trembling of the ground caused by the movement of rocks along faults or by volcanic activity, often resulting in damage and sometimes tsunamis. |
| volcanism | the process by which molten rock (magma), gases, and ash are expelled from Earth’s interior to its surface, forming volcanoes and other volcanic features. |
| Seafloor spreading | the process by which new oceanic crust is formed at mid-ocean ridges as magma rises from the mantle and pushes older crust away, causing the ocean floor to slowly widen. |
| S (seismic) waves | secondary or shear waves produced by earthquakes that move through Earth by shaking material perpendicular to their direction of travel; they travel slower than P waves and cannot move through liquids. |
| Support for Wegener’s proposed theory | This collective evidence strengthened the concept that continents had once been joined and had drifted apart over time. |
| ridge | a long, narrow elevated landform; in geology, often refers to a mid-ocean ridge, an underwater mountain range formed by upwelling magma at divergent tectonic plate boundaries. |
| isotope | variants of a chemical element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei, giving them different atomic masses |
| convection | the movement of heat through fluids (liquids or gases) caused by warmer, less dense material rising and cooler, denser material sinking, creating a continuous circulation pattern. |
| asthenosphere | the soft, partially molten layer of the upper mantle beneath the lithosphere; it flows slowly and allows tectonic plates above it to move. |
| pangea | a supercontinent that existed about 300–200 million years ago, when all of Earth’s landmasses were joined together before they later split apart into the continents we have today. |
| fossil | the preserved remains, impressions, or traces of organisms that lived in the past, typically found in rocks and used to understand Earth’s history and ancient life. |
| density | the amount of mass in a given volume of a substance; usually described as how “packed together” the particles of a material are. |
| Divergent boundary | a type of tectonic plate boundary where two plates move away from each other, often creating new crust, such as at mid-ocean ridges. |
| subduction | the process in which one tectonic plate moves beneath another and sinks into the mantle, often forming deep ocean trenches and volcanic activity. |
| Mantle convection | the slow, circular movement of Earth’s mantle caused by the heating and cooling of rock, which helps drive the movement of tectonic plates on the surface. |
| tsunamis | large, powerful ocean waves usually caused by underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or landslides, capable of traveling long distances and causing widespread coastal damage. |
| Fault lines | fractures or zones of weakness in Earth’s crust where rocks on either side have moved relative to each other, often associated with earthquakes. |
| lava | molten rock that has erupted onto Earth’s surface from a volcano; it cools and solidifies to form igneous rock. |
| ductile | a material property describing the ability of a substance to stretch, bend, or be shaped without breaking; often used to describe rocks in Earth’s mantle that can flow slowly under pressure. |
| magnitude | a measure of the size or strength of an event, such as an earthquake; in seismology, it quantifies the energy released during the quake. |
| trench | a deep, narrow depression in the ocean floor, usually formed at a subduction zone where one tectonic plate is forced beneath another. |
| plume | a rising column of hot, solid or molten material from deep within the mantle, often causing volcanic activity at the surface. |
| half-life | the time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample of a radioactive substance to decay into a more stable form. |
| Thermal convection | the transfer of heat in a fluid (liquid or gas) caused by the movement of warmer, less dense material rising and cooler, denser material sinking, creating a circulating flow. |
| Tectonic plates | large, rigid pieces of Earth’s lithosphere that float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere and move, interacting at boundaries to cause earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation. |
| radioactivity | the spontaneous emission of energy and particles from the nucleus of an unstable atom as it decays into a more stable form. |
| Radioactive decay | the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting radiation, transforming into a more stable nucleus over time. |
| inner core | the solid, dense center of Earth, composed mainly of iron and nickel, located beneath the outer core. |
| Convergent boundary | a type of tectonic plate boundary where two plates move toward each other, often causing mountains, deep ocean trenches, or volcanic activity. |
| Rock cycle | the continuous process by which rocks are formed, broken down, and transformed into different types over time through processes like melting, cooling, erosion, and pressure. |
| Mountain formation | the process by which mountains are created, typically through tectonic forces such as the collision, folding, or faulting of Earth’s crust, or by volcanic activity. |
| seismograph | an instrument that detects and records the vibrations of Earth, such as those caused by earthquakes, producing a visual record called a seismogram. |
| epicenter | the point on Earth’s surface directly above the focus (origin) of an earthquake, where the shaking is usually strongest. |
| magma | molten rock located beneath Earth’s surface, which can cool to form igneous rock or erupt as lava. |
| P (seismic) waves | primary or pressure waves produced by earthquakes that travel fastest through Earth, moving back and forth in the direction of wave propagation; they can move through solids, liquids, and gases. |
| Alfred Wegener | a German scientist who proposed the theory of continental drift, suggesting that Earth’s continents were once joined together in a single landmass and have slowly moved apart over time. |
| slab-pull | a tectonic process where a dense oceanic plate sinks into the mantle at a subduction zone, pulling the rest of the plate along behind it and driving plate movement. |
| rift | a linear zone where Earth’s crust and lithosphere are being pulled apart, often forming valleys, volcanoes, or new ocean basins. |
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