Geol Test 1

Front 1

Scientific method

Back 1

Hypothesis, theory, scientific law

a procedure used to discover how universe works through systematic observation and experiments

Front 2

Hypothesis

Back 2

A supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation

Front 3

Theory

Back 3

Scientific idea supported by an abundance of reproducible data

Front 4

Hazard

Back 4

Natural event that is a potential threat to human life

Front 5

Disaster

Back 5

Hazardous event occurs over limited time in a defined area

Front 6

Catastrophe

Back 6

Massive disaster that requires significant amount of time and money to recover

Front 7

Natural service functions

Back 7

A benefit that arises from an event caused by nature that is also a hazard to people or the environment

Front 8

What natural hazard are we susceptible to in the US

Back 8

Volcanoes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, landslides, hurricanes

Front 9

Principle of uniformitarianism

Back 9

Concept that the present is the key to the past; we can read the geologic record by studying present processes

Front 10

Geologic cycle

Back 10

Tectonic cycle, rock cycle, hydrolic cycle, biogeochemical cycle

Front 11

Rock cycle

Back 11

Metamorphic rocks melt and cools (magma), to become igneous rocks which breaks down to become sedimentary rocks, adding heat and pressure to these creates metamorphic rocks again

Front 12

Prediction

Back 12

The advance determination of the date, time, and size of the event

Front 13

Forecast

Back 13

An announcement that states that a particular event is likely to occur during a particular time interval often with some statement of the degree of its probability

Front 14

Magnitude frequency concept

Back 14

The magnitude of a hazardous event is generally inversely proportional to the frequency of those events

Front 15

Four layers of earth

Back 15

Crust, mantle, outer core, inner core

Front 16

Inner core

Back 16

Solid and dense high temp like the surface of the sun

Hint 16

Egg yolk

Front 17

Outer core

Back 17

Liquid less pressure not as hot as inner core

Hint 17

Egg white

Front 18

Mantle

Back 18

Solid but plastic density half of core

Front 19

Crust

Back 19

Outer rock layer of earth half as dense as mantle

Hint 19

Shell

Front 20

Oceanic crust

Back 20

Denser thinner and created at the mid ocean ridge young

Front 21

Continental crust

Back 21

Older less dense thicker

Front 22

Lithosphere

Back 22

Cool, strong outermost layer or sphere or Earth

Front 23

Asthenosphere

Back 23

Hot and slowly flowing layer of relatively weak rock

Front 24

Plate tectonics

Back 24

The large scale geologic processes that deform Earth's lithosphere

Front 25

Earth' magnetic field

Back 25

Generated by electric currents in the conductive material of its core created by convention currents due to heat escaping from the core

Front 26

Seismic waves

Back 26

Used to look at the earths interior radiate out from the focus of an earthquake

Front 27

Evidence of plate tectonics

Back 27

Matching rock assemblage across continents, divergence of species following break up, explains geological phenomena, fit of continents, glaciation, bathymetry of ocean basins

Front 28

Mid ocean ridge (MOR)

Back 28

Underwater mountain range formed by plate tectonics; occurs when convention currents rise in the mantle beneath the oceanic crust and create magma where two tectonic plates meet at a divergent boundary

Front 29

Sea floor spreading

Back 29

Formation of new areas of oceanic crust, which occurs through the upwelling of magma at mid ocean ridges and its subsequent outward movement on either side

Front 30

Why do volcanoes and earthquakes occur at tectonic plate boundaries?

Back 30

Sinking ocean plates are wet and cold, plates then come in contact with hot asthenospehere plates melt to generate magma and magma rises to produce volcanoes; earthquakes occur along the path of descending plates

Front 31

Divergent boundaries

Back 31

Linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other

Front 32

Convergent boundaries

Back 32

Actively deforming region where two tectonic plates or fragment of the lithosphere move toward one another and collide

Front 33

Transform boundaries

Back 33

Occur where edges of two plates slide past each other

Front 34

Mantle convection

Back 34

Slow creeping motion of earths color silicate mantle caused by convection currents carrying heat from the interior of the earth to the surface

Front 35

Ridge push

Back 35

Proposed mechanism for plate motion in plate gravity causes the ridge to push on the lithosphere that lies farther from the ridge

Front 36

Slab pull

Back 36

Portion of motion of a tectonic plate that can be accounted for by its subduction

Front 37

Forming chain islands

Back 37

Volcanic centers caused by mantle plumes resulting from hot materials from deep in the mantle, these materials move up through mantle and overlying plates, plates move over hotspots

Front 38

Earthquakes

Back 38

Occur when rocks on a fault surface are stressed beyond their breaking strength and the fault slips

Front 39

Moment scale

Back 39

Measures the size of earthquakes in terms of the energy released each number represents a 32x amount as the number before it

Front 40

Seismometer

Back 40

Used to measure ground shaking

Front 41

Strike slip fault

Back 41

Two fault blocks are moving past each other horizontally

Hint 41

San Andreas fault

Front 42

Dip slip fault

Back 42

Two fault blocks are moving past each other vertically

Front 43

Subduction zones

Back 43

Plate tectonic boundaries where two plates converge and one plate is thrust beneath the other

Front 44

Tectonic creep

Back 44

Constant movement of certain fault blocks that allows strain energy to be released without causing major earthquakes

Front 45

P waves

Back 45

Type of seismic waves that move fast with a push and pull motion and can move through solid, liquid, and gas

Front 46

S waves

Back 46

Type of seismic waves that move slower with an up and down motion and can only travel through solids

Front 47

Surface waves

Back 47

Type of seismic waves that move along earths surface vertically and horizontally with a rolling motion and responsible for lost of the damage near an epicenter

Front 48

Material amplification

Back 48

Intensity of ground shaking that is more sever in unconsolidated materials

Front 49

Stress

Back 49

Force per unit area acting on the fault

Front 50

Recurrence internal

Back 50

Average time span between earthquake occurrences on a fault or in a source zone

Front 51

Intraplate earthquakes

Back 51

Earthquakes that occur in the interior of a tectonic plate

Front 52

Megathrust earthquakes

Back 52

Largest earthquakes that occur in subduction zones

Front 53

Scarp

Back 53

Small step or offset on the ground surface where one side of a fault has moved vertically with respect to the other

Front 54

Liquefaction

Back 54

A saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress (earthquake shaking); must be 1. Saturated with ground water 2. Composed of sand or silt sized particles 3. Compacted fairly loose

Front 55

Strain

Back 55

Defamation of the rock due to stress (not permanent)

Front 56

Elastic rebound

Back 56

Elastic rebound

Hint 56

As rocks on opposite sides of a fault are subjected to force and shift, they accumulate energy and slowly deform until their internal strength is exceeded

Front 57

Focus

Back 57

Place within the earth where the earthquake starts

Front 58

Epicenter

Back 58

Location on earths surface directly above the focus

Front 59

Mercalli scale

Back 59

Seismic scale used for measuring the intensity of an earthquake

Front 60

Magnitide

Back 60

A measure of the size of an earthquake based on the quantity of energy released

Front 61

Intensity

Back 61

Measure of the size of an earthquake based on observation of the effects of the shock at the earths surface

Front 62

Richter scale

Back 62

Defines magnitude as the logarithm of the ratio of the amplitude of the seismic waves to an arbitrary minor amplitude one number is ten times larger than the next