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Earth Structures
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| mineral | composed of a single element or compound |
| element | Any material that is composed of only one type of atom |
| atom | The smallest part of a substance that cannot be broken down chemically. |
| compound | a substance made from two or more different elements that have been chemically joined |
| matter | anything that takes up space and can be weighed |
| crystal | an organizational form of matter made of a building block called a unit cell |
| streak | The color of the fine powder left after rubbing a mineral on a streak plate |
| luster | the way a mineral's surface reflects light, describing its sheen or appearance |
| cleavage | tendency of a crystalline substance to split into fragments bounded by plane surfaces |
| weathering | a natural process that slowly breaks apart or changes rock |
| erosion | nature's way of moving dirt and rocks from one place to another, usually by water |
| deposition | the geological process where wind, water, or ice drops off soil, rocks, and other materials (sediments) in a new location |
| igneous rock | one of the three main types of rock (along with sedimentary and metamorphic) that form when molten (melted) rock cools and turns solid |
| sedimentary rock | formed from deposits of pre-existing rocks or pieces of once-living organism that accumulate on the Earth's surface |
| metamorphic rock | started out as some other type of rock, but have been substantially changed from their original igneous, sedimentary, or earlier metamorphic form |
| rock cycle | the processes through which the three main rock types (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary) transform from one type into another |
| uplift | post-glacial rebound following the melting of ice sheets |
| subsidence | sinking of the ground because of underground material movement |
| rift zone | the splitting apart of a single tectonic plate into two or more tectonic plates separated by divergent plate boundaries |
| crust | the outermost shell of a terrestrial planet |
| mantle | the mostly solid bulk of Earth's interior. |
| convection | the transfer of heat through the movement of fluids (liquids or gases) where warmer, less dense fluid rises and cooler, denser fluid sinks, creating a continuous current that distributes heat, like boiling water or wind |
| core | the central, innermost, or most essential part of something |
| lithosphere | the solid outer layer of the Earth, composed of rocks |
| asthenosphere | a portion of the Earth's mantle that flows like molten plastic despite being solid |
| mesosphere | the highest layer of the atmosphere in which the gases are all mixed up rather than being layered by their mass |
| pangea | a supercontinent formed during the late Paleozoic era that existed until the late Triassic era approximately 280 - 230 million years ago |
| sea-floor spreading | the usual process at work at divergent plate boundaries, leading to the creation of new ocean floor |
| plate tectonics | the scientific understanding of how large, contiguous blocks of the Earth's outermost layers—the crust and the uppermost mantle—move and interact with one another |
| tectonic plates | a massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere |
| convergent boundary | an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide |
| divergent boundary | where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other |
| transform boundary | formed where two tectonic plates pass laterally by one another |
| deformation | the change in an object's shape, size, or volume caused by applied forces (stress) |
| folding | a geologic structure that is formed by layers or beds of rock being bent or folded |
| fault | a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. |
| shear stress | the force applied to a material's surface parallel to it. |
| tension | a pulling force transmitted through a string, rope, cable, or wire when it is pulled tight from opposite sides |
| compression | the application of balanced inward ("pushing") forces to different points on a material or structure |
| earthquake | the sudden shaking or trembling of the Earth's surface, caused by a rapid release of energy in the planet's outer layer (crust) when tectonic plates slip past each other along faults |
| focus | the specific point where rays of light, sound, or other radiation converge (meet) or appear to diverge (spread out) |
| epicenter | the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates |
| tectonic plate boundary | the edges where two plates meet |
| elastic rebound | what happens to the crustal material on either side of a fault during an earthquake |
| volcano | an opening in the Earth's crust (or another planet's surface) that allows hot, molten rock (magma), ash, and gases to escape from below the surface, often forming a mountain or hill around the vent as material builds up from eruptions |
| magma | super-hot, liquid (molten) rock found beneath the Earth's surface, mixed with dissolved gases and mineral crystals, that forms igneous rocks when it cools |
| lava | molten rock ejected by volcanoes in the form of a liquid |
| vent | an opening for the escape of a gas or liquid or for the relief of pressure |
| hot spot | a large plume of hot mantle material rising from deep within the Earth |
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