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78 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Geology
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The Earth science that is concerned with the composition and structure of Earth’s interior.
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Crust
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Earth’s surface layer, consisting of oceanic and continental crust.
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Mantle
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A layer of thick, hot rock between the crust and core.
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Core
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Earth’s innermost layer, which is mostly iron and includes the inner core and outer core.
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Density
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The amount of mass an object or material has compared to its volume.
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Lithosphere
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Earth’s outermost structural layer, consisting of cool, rigid rock.
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Asthenospere
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A layer of weak, warm rock that flows slowly over geologic time.
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Lower Mantle
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The lowest portion of mantle, a zone of rigid rock.
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Outer Core
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A shell of hot, liquid metal beneath the mantle and above the inner core.
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Inner Core
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A solid sphere of hot metal, mostly iron, at the center of Earth.
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Magma
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Molten rock inside Earth.
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Continental Drift
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The hypothesis that the world’s continents move slowly over Earth’s surface.
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Convergent Boundary
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Places where tectonic plates are coming together.
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Divergent Boundary
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Places where plates are pulling apart.
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Tension (Stress)
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A stretching force on rock.
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Compression (Stress)
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A squeezing force on rock.
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Folds
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A bend in layers of rock.
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Faults
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A crack in Earth’s crust along which different sections of rock have shifted.
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Folded Mountains
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A mountain produced by the folding of rock.
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Fault Block Mountains
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A mountain produced by normal faulting and the uplifting of blocks of rock.
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Volcanoes
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A mountain that is the accumulation of lava or other erupted materials. A mountain that forms when lava or pyroclastic materials pile up around a volcano vent.
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Upward Mountains
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A dome-shaped mountain produced by a broad arching of Earth’s crust.
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Plains
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Broad, flat areas of land that don’t rise much above sea level.
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Plateaus
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Flat areas of land more than 600 m above sea level.
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Subduction
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The sinking of oceanic lithosphere into the asthenosphere.
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Plate Tectonics
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The theory that states that Earth’s lithosphere is divided into large plates that slowly move around the globe.
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Sea Floor Spreading
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The process by which new lithosphere is created at midocean ridges as older lithosphere moves away.
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Transform Boundary
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Places where tectonic plates slide along beside one another as they move.
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Rock
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A solid mixture of one or more kinds of minerals.
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Igneous Rock
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Rock that forms from magma that cools.
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Intrusive Igneous Rock
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Igneous rock that forms from magma that cools underground.
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Extrusive Igneous Rock
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An igneous rock that forms at Earth’s surface.
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Sedimentary Rock
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Rock that forms over time as rock is pressed together.
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Strata
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Parallel layers of sedimentary rock.
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Metamorphic Rocks
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Rock that has formed from existing rock that has changed because of temperature, pressure, or reactive chemicals.
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Foliated Rocks
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Rocks that contain crystals that are arranged in parallel bands.
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Weathering
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The disintegration or decomposition of rock at or near Earth’s surface.
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Erosion
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The removal and transport of pieces of preexisting rock.
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Deposition
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The process of laying down eroded material in new locations.
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Soil
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A mixture of fine, weathered rock particles and air, water, and organic matter such as dead animals and plants and animal excrement.
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Rock Cycle
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A series of processes by which rock is formed, breaks down, and transforms into different kinds of rock.
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Water Cycle
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The continuous movement of water in all its phases among Earth’s reservoirs.
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Evaporation
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A transformation from a liquid to a gas.
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Precipitation
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Water in the liquid or solid state that returns to Earth’s surface from the atmosphere.
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Runoff
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Precipitation that is not absorbed by the ground or evaporated and that runs over Earth’s surface.
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Evapotranspirtation
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the process of transferring moisture from the earth to the atmosphere by evaporation of water and transpiration from plants.
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Watershed
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The land area that drains into a particular stream.
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Ground Water
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The water that resides in a saturated zone.
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Aquifer
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An underground layer of permeable rock, sediment (usually sand or gravel), or soil that yields water.
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Condensation
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A transformation from a gas to a liquid.
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Sublimation
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The process of changing from a solid to a gas without passing through an intermediate liquid phase.
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Water Table
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The upper boundary of the saturation zone.
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Permeability
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The ease with which fluid can flow through rock.
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Porosity
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The proportion of rock that consists of pore spaces.
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Glacier
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A large mass of dense ice formed from snow.
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Reservoir
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A location where water or other material that transfers from place to place in a cyclical manner is stored.
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Residence Time
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The average length of time that any given atom will stay in a particular reservoir, such as the ocean or atmosphere.
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Weather
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The state of the atmosphere at a particular time and place.
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Climate
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The general pattern of weather that occurs over a period of time.
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Atmosperic Pressure
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The weight of all the air molecules in the atmosphere pressing down on Earth’s surface.
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Atmosphere
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The thin envelope of gases surrounding the solid planet.
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Solar Radiation
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Electromagnetic energy given off by the Sun.
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Terrestrial Radiation
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Infrared radiation emitted by Earth’s surface.
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Greenhouse Effect
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The process by which certain gases warm the atmosphere by trapping infrared radiation.
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Solar Intensity
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Solar radiation per area.
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Latitude
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A measure of relative position north or south on the Earth's surface, measured in degrees from the equator, which has a latitude of 0°, with the poles having a latitude of 90° north and south.
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Longitude
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A measure of relative position east or west on the Earth's surface, given in degrees from a certain meridian, usually the prime meridian at Greenwich, England, which has a longitude of 0°.
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Wind
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Air flowing horizontally from an area of high pressure to one of lower pressure.
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Wind Chill
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the apparent temperature felt on the exposed human body owing to the combination of temperature and wind speed.
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Coriolis Effect
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The tendency of moving bodies not attached to Earth (such as air molecules) to move to their right in the Northern Hemisphere and to their left in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Surface Currents
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A wind-driven, shallow ocean current.
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Humidity
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The mass of water in a given volume of air.
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Relative Humidity
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The ratio of the water vapor actually in the air compared with the maximum water vapor air can hold at that temperature.
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Dew Point
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The temperature at which the air becomes saturated.
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Air Masses
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A large pool of air that has similar temperature and moisture characteristics throughout.
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Fronts
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(or weather front) A boundary along which air masses meet.
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Cyclone
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(or a low-pressure system or simply alow) A weather system organized around an area of low pressure.
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Anticyclone
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(or a high-pressure system or simply ahigh) A weather system organized around an area of high pressure.
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