Geology Unit Vocabulary

Front 1

Subduction

Back 1

the area in which one part of the earth's crust (a plate) is pushed underneath another plate as the two plates collide.

Front 2

Ocean Crust

Back 2

thin parts of the earth's crust located under the oceans. Solid. Made of basalt and formed by volcanoes (more dense than continental crust)

Front 3

Upper Mantle

Back 3

the uppermost part of the mantle. Part of the lithosphere.

Front 4

Asthenosphere

Back 4

Middle level of the mantle. Flowing. Located below the lithosphere (the crust and the mantle). Sold but flows. Made of magma, hot rocks.

Front 5

Volcanoes

Back 5

formed from layers of lava and ash making a mountain or hill shape. Volcanoes shoot our lava from the magma chambers stored inside the volcano.

Front 6

Continental Crust

Back 6

thick parts of the earth's crust. Solid. Made of granite rock, formed by volcanoes (less dense than oceanic crust).

Front 7

Magma

Back 7

molten rock that rises up from the mantle underground. Stored inside volcanoes in magma chambers. It can reach the earth's surface by rising up from the mantle and shoots our of volcanoes and turns into lava. In seafloor spreading, magma moves from the asthenosphere to the crust.

Front 8

Lower Mantle

Back 8

the deepest pars of the mantle just above the core. Solid. Made of hard rock material.

Front 9

Oceanic Ridge

Back 9

newly formed region of the oceanic crust.

Front 10

Crust

Back 10

a solid. Made of dry land, ocean floor, rocks and mountains. Has soil and water. Thin layer where land is.

Front 11

Outer Core

Back 11

Liquid. Made of metal (iron and nickle). Hot (4,000-9000 degrees)

Front 12

Inner Core

Back 12

Solid. Made of metal (iron and nickle). Hot as the sun (12000 degrees)

Front 13

Seismic Wave

Back 13

the sound waves that occur during earthquakes. 2 kind of seismic waves (straight line does no damage, curvy line does do damage.)

Front 14

Seismograph

Back 14

A machine that reads seismic waves to see where the earthquake occured.

Front 15

Pangaea

Back 15

millions of years ago, our continents were all one island.

Front 16

Continental Drift

Back 16

the plates seperating from Pangaea. Moving away from each other (slow process).

Front 17

Tectonic Plates

Back 17

when the plates move (about 1-2 cm per year) or shake, they cause earthquakes. There are 12 tectonic plates covering the crust like a jigsaw puzzle.

Front 18

Trench

Back 18

a deep valley in the ocean floor where subduction occurs.

Front 19

Shield Volcano

Back 19

a nonexplosive volcano that has hard lava layers and the volcano is shaped like a dome. The lava that is in the shield volcano forms basalt.

Front 20

Cinder Cone Volcano

Back 20

a volcano that produces ash, cinders and bombs. This volcano looks like a cone shaped hill/small mountain. Layers of cinders.

Front 21

Composite Volcano

Back 21

worst kind of volcano. erupts lava, ash, cinders and bombs. Looks like a tall cone shaped mountain with layers of lava and ash.

Front 22

Caldera

Back 22

a huge hole left by volcanoes when they erupt. Took the place of the empty magma chambers.Rain water gets trapped in this hole.

Front 23

Igneous Rock

Back 23

formed from magma deep in the ground. Basalt, obsidian, granite are all forms of igneous rocks. Made from lava cooled down after the volcano exploded or when the magma leaves the magma chambers and goes off into another direction and cools down.

Front 24

Sedimentary Rocks

Back 24

formed from material that have been shifted from place to place, often many times. Made from water, ice, wind, gravity. Only possible rock that could be a fossil because it is formed on the ground and not underground.

Front 25

Metamorphic Rocks

Back 25

formed by heat and pressure and made underground.

Front 26

Lava

Back 26

melted igneous rock shooting out from the top of the volcano. (magma is in the volcano and lava is shooting out of the volcano).

Front 27

Theory of Plate Tectonics

Back 27

when plates move, they cause earthquakes, mountain ranges ect.

Front 28

Seafloor Spreading

Back 28

When the seafloor spreads apart along both sides of the mid-ocean ridge as new crust is added.

Front 29

Earthquake

Back 29

plates pressing against each other and then the plates slip and rub against each other to start an eearthquake. Cause sound waves which are seismic waves.

Front 30

Focus

Back 30

where the earthquake happened underground.

Front 31

Epicenter

Back 31

directly above where the earthquake happened (most dangerous spot)

Front 32

Transform Plates

Back 32

When two plates are rubbing against each other and then they slip and cause an earthquake.

Front 33

Diverging Plates

Back 33

When two plates are moving away from each other (seperating). Cause oceanic ridges.

Front 34

Converging Plates

Back 34

When two plates are coming together. May cause mountains or volcanoes.

Front 35

Mantle

Back 35

3 layers. Located below the continantal and oceanic crust.