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Chapter 4 Vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Core | Earth's center |
| Mantle | the zone that has the most of Earth's mass. |
| magma | liquid rock |
| plate tectonics | explains how froces within the planet create landforms |
| rift calleys | places on Earth's surface where the crust stretches until it breaks |
| abyssal plains | the world's flattest and smoothest regions |
| continental shelves | areas where continental surfaces extend under the shallow ocean water around the continents |
| trench | a deep valley marking a collision of plates, where one plate slides under another |
| folds | places where rocks have been compressed into bends by colliding plates |
| faults | places where rock masses have been broken apart and are moving away from each other |
| weathering | the process by which rocks break and decay over time |
| sediment | small particles of weathered rock |
| erosion | movement of surface material from one location to another by water, wind, and ice |
| glaciers | thick masses of ice, including great ice sheets and bodies of ice that flow down mountains like slow rivers |
| plateau | an elevated flatland that rises sharply above nearby land on at least one side |
| alluvial fan | fan-shaped deposit of mud and gravel often found along the bases of mountains |
| delta | accumulation of sediment at the mouth of a river |