Earth's Landforms

Front 1

bay

Back 1

an area of water that is partly surrounded by land

Front 2

caldera

Back 2

the large hole formed at the top of a volcano when the roof of a volcano's magma chamber collapses

Front 3

cinder cone

Back 3

a steep, cone-shaped hill or mountain made of volcano ash and cinders piled up around a volcano's opening

Front 4

cleavage

Back 4

the breaking up of mineral along a smooth flat surface

Front 5

continental shelf

Back 5

the gently sloping underwater part of a continent

Front 6

continental slope

Back 6

the sharp drop at the edge of the underwater part of a continent

Front 7

core

Back 7

the center of the earth; made of solid metals

Front 8

crater

Back 8

a bowl-shaped structure at the top of a volcano or on a planet or moon

Front 9

crest

Back 9

the highest part of a wave

Front 10

crust

Back 10

earth's outer layer; made of rock

Front 11

crystal

Back 11

a solid material found in nature that has straight edges and flat sides; can also break into pieces with straight edges and flat sides

Front 12

continental drift

Back 12

an early theory that described the movement of continents, later was replaced by the plate tectonic theory

Front 13

deposition

Back 13

the process in which materials are deposited during erosion

Front 14

earth science

Back 14

the study of earth and space

Front 15

earthquake

Back 15

a shaking of the earth's crust caused by slabs of rock moving against each other deep in the earth's crust

Front 16

element

Back 16

a pure substance made of only one kind of atom

Front 17

elevation

Back 17

the land's height above sea level. also called altitude

Front 18

epicenter

Back 18

the point of the earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake

Front 19

equator

Back 19

an imaginary line that circles the earth halfway between the north and south poles

Front 20

erosion

Back 20

the movement of weathered materials by water, ice, or wind

Front 21

estuary

Back 21

a place where fresh water from a river empties into the ocean and mixes with it

Front 22

extrusive

Back 22

igneous rock that forms from lava on the earth's surface

Front 23

fault

Back 23

a crack in the earth's crust

Front 24

fault-block mountains

Back 24

mountains that formed when blocks of solid rock slid upward or downward along a fault

Front 25

folded mountains

Back 25

mountains that formed when land was squeezed together

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fossil

Back 26

the remains or traces of an organism that lived a long time ago

Front 27

fracture

Back 27

the breaking of a mineral along a rough or jagged surface

Front 28

glacier

Back 28

a large body of moving ice that stays frozen all year

Front 29

geologist

Back 29

a person who studies earth

Front 30

groundwater

Back 30

water that collects underground in cracks and spaces in rock

Front 31

icecaps

Back 31

sheets of ice that covers areas around the north and south poles

Front 32

igneous rock

Back 32

rock that is formed from cooled magma or lava

Front 33

inner core

Back 33

the center of the earth; made of metals

Front 34

intertidal zone

Back 34

the part of the land that is covered and uncovered by tides every day

Front 35

lake

Back 35

a large body of still water surrounded by land

Front 36

landfill

Back 36

a place where garbage is dumped

Front 37

landform

Back 37

a natural structure on the earth's surface

Front 38

landslide

Back 38

the sudden downhill movement of a huge mass of rock, soil, and mud

Front 39

lava

Back 39

melted rock that flows out of the ground onto the earth's surface

Front 40

lithosphere

Back 40

earth's rocky surface

Front 41

magma

Back 41

melted rock below the earth's surface

Front 42

mantle

Back 42

the earth layer below the lithosphere(crust). made of melted rock

Front 43

mass movememt

Back 43

a sudden downhill movement of rock or soil, such as a landslide

Front 44

metamorphic rock

Back 44

a rock that is formed when a sedimentary rock undergoes extreme heat and pressure

Front 45

mineral

Back 45

a solid natural material that has a crystal form and its own set of properties

Front 46

normal fault

Back 46

a crack in the earth's crust where a block or rock dropped downward

Front 47

ocean

Back 47

the vast body of saltwater that covers almost 3/4 of the earth's surface

Front 48

outer core

Back 48

the earth layer below the mantle, made of liquid metals

Front 49

pangea

Back 49

a continent that existed millions of years ago and was made of all of today's separate continents joined together

Front 50

petrified fossil

Back 50

a fossil that formed when the hard parts of an organism were replaced by minerals

Front 51

plate

Back 51

a huge piece of earth's crust that moves very slowly

Front 52

plate boundaries

Back 52

a crack in the lithosphere (earth's crust) where two of earth's plates meet

Front 53

plate tectonic theory

Back 53

a theory that explains how part of earth's crust has moved over time

Front 54

pond

Back 54

a small still body of water surrounded by land

Front 55

quarry

Back 55

a place where rocks are taken from the earth to be used for building

Front 56

reverse fault

Back 56

a crack in the earth's crust where rock was pushed up`

Front 57

rift valley

Back 57

a deep valley that runs down the middle of a mid-ocean ridge

Front 58

river

Back 58

a wide body of slow moving water

Front 59

rock

Back 59

a solid mixture of minerals that formed in the earth's crust

Front 60

rock cycle

Back 60

the process of rocks changing into other kinds of rock

Front 61

sanitary landfills

Back 61

a place where garbage is buried, packed down, and covered with soil; keeps harmful chemicals and gases from leaking out

Front 62

sedimentary rock

Back 62

rock that formed when sediments were pressed and cemented together

Front 63

sediments

Back 63

bits of rock, soil, sand, and the remains of organisms

Front 64

seismograph

Back 64

a scientific tool that measures the magnitude of earthquakes

Front 65

shear

Back 65

stress that pushes a mass of rock in opposite directions

Front 66

shoreline

Back 66

the area where the ocean meets the land

Front 67

stream

Back 67

a narrow body of flowing water

Front 68

strike-slip fault

Back 68

a crack in the earth's crust where blocks of rock move sideways past each other

Front 69

trace fossil

Back 69

a footprint, a track, or burrow made by an organism and preserved in rock

Front 70

trench

Back 70

a steep crack in the ocean floor

Front 71

tributary

Back 71

a stream or smaller river that flows into a larger river

Front 72

vent

Back 72

an opening in a volcano that magma, gases, and other materials come out of

Front 73

volcanic island chain

Back 73

a group of islands made of volcanoes that built up from the ocean floor

Front 74

volcano

Back 74

a mountain built up from hardened lava, rocks, and ash that erupted out of the earth

Front 75

weathering

Back 75

the breaking down and wearing away of rock

Front 76

ancient seas

Back 76

prehistoric seas

Front 77

atmosphere

Back 77

the air that surrounds earth

Front 78

carbon cycle

Back 78

the movement of carbon dioxide and oxygen between organisms and the air

Front 79

inexhaustible

Back 79

something that never runs out

Front 80

lunar

Back 80

moon

Front 81

nitrogen cycle

Back 81

the movement of nitrogen between organisms and their surroundings

Front 82

nonrenewable resources

Back 82

resources that nature cannot replace quickly enough to meet people's needs

Front 83

orbit

Back 83

the path that one object in space takes around another object in space

Front 84

precipitation

Back 84

water that falls to earth's surface in the form of rain, snow, sleet, or hail

Front 85

renewable

Back 85

things that can be made again and again

Front 86

water cycle

Back 86

the change of water from one state to another as it moves between earth's surface and the atmosphere