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CAVA_EScience_Unit_3
Earth Science Words for Unit 3 for CAVA Students
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| aggreate | a mass or body of rock particles, mineral grains, or a mixture of both |
| asthenosphere | the upper part of the earth´s mantle |
| chemical | describes a process of sedimentary rock formation whereby minerals in water are left, or precipitated, when the water evaporates away |
| chemical composition | the elements that make up a rock or a mineral |
| clastic | a rock or sediment made up of fragments derived from preexisting rocks or minerals and that have been transported from their place of origin |
| clevage | (KLEE-vij) the tendency of a mineral to break along one or more distinct planes |
| covalent bonding | a chemical bond produced by the sharing of electrons |
| crystal structure | the regular, orderly, and repeated arrangement of atoms in a crystal |
| electron | a tiny part of an atom with a negative electrical charge |
| compounds | substances containing atoms of two or more elements |
| erosion | the gradual removal of the surface of the land by water, wind, or glaciers |
| extrusive | describes igneous rock formed when lava solidifies on earth's surface |
| felsic | light-colored igneous rock, or molten rock, with high silica content |
| foliation | texture in metamorphic rock characterized by layers or sheets of minerals |
| fossil | the trace or remains of an organism preserved in rock |
| fracture | (FRAK-chuhr) the tendency of a mineral to break unevenly |
| humus | (HYOO-muhs) organic matter in soil produced from the decompositon of plants and animals |
| igneous rock | rock formed by the cooling and solidification of hot liquid magma or lava |
| intrusive | coarse-grained igneous rock that cools slowly underground; also called plutonic rock |
| ionic bonding | iy-AHN-ik) a bond that forms between a positively charged ion and a negatively charged ion |
| lithosphere | (LIH-the-sfir) the rocky outer layer of the solid earth, averaging about 100 km in depth; the lithosphere includes the continents, islands, and the entire ocean floor |
| mafic | dark-colored igneous rock, or molten rock, with low silica and high iron-magnesium content |
| metamorphic rock | (meh-tuh-MOR-fik) rock that has undergone change, caused by intense heat and pressure, from an earlier form, without melting |
| mineral | any naturally occurring inorganic solid substance with a fixed chemical composition and crystal structure |
| neutron | a neutral particle with approximately the same mass as a proton, found in nuclei of atoms along with protons |
| ore | a rock that contains a mineral that can be mined for profit |
| organic | living or derived from living organisms |
| pegmatitic texture | (peg-muh-TIH-tik) describes the texture of very coarse-grained igneous rocks, having crystals larger than 3 cm |
| porphyritic texture | (por-fuh-RIH-tik) describes the texture of igneous rocks that have large crystals embedded in a finer-grained matrix |
| proton | a positively charged particle found in the nuclei of atoms |
| sedimentary rock | rock formed when sediments are compressed together and lithified (turned to stone; that is, consolidated from loose sediment to solid rock) |
| stratification | strah-tuh-fuh-KAY-shuhn) the fornmation, accumulation, or deposition of material in layers; specifically the arrangement of sedimentary rocks in strata (layers) |
| uniformitarianism | YOO-nuh-for-muh-TEHR-ee-uh-nih-zuhm) the idea that processes at work today on earth are the same processes that worked on earth in the past; accounts for geologic features and geologic changes |
| vent | an opening in the earth´s surface through which volcanic materials extrude; also the conduit through which they pass |
| inorganic | derived from nonliving things |
| ions | (IY-ahn) an atom that has unequal numbers of protons and electrons, and is therefore positively or negatively charged |
| Mohs scale | a standard of ten minerals by which the hardness of all minerals may be rated |
| weathering | the process by which a rock or mineral is broken down |
| lithification | (lih-thuh-fuh-KAY-shuhn) the process of converting sediments to solid rock, generally by cementing or compacting them |
| volcanic neck | an isolated, steep remnant of lava that once occupied the vent of a volcano |