Science Midterm

Front 1

sod

Back 1

a thick mass of grass roots and soil

Front 2

litter

Back 2

the loose layer of dead plant leaves and stems on the surface of the soil

Front 3

humus

Back 3

dark-colored organic material ina soil

Front 4

loam

Back 4

rich, fertile soil that is made up of about equal parts of clay, sand, and silt

Front 5

bedrock

Back 5

the solid layer of rock beneath the soil

Front 6

ice wedging

Back 6

process that splits rocks when water seeps into cracks, then freezes and expands

Front 7

permeable

Back 7

characteristic of a material that is full of tiny, connected air spaces that water can seep through

Front 8

contour line

Back 8

a line on a topographic map that connects points of equa; e;evation

Front 9

contour interval

Back 9

the difference in elevation from one contour line to the next

Front 10

GPS ( Global Positioning System)

Back 10

a method of finding latitude and longitude using satellites

Front 11

erosion

Back 11

the process by which water, ice, wind, or gravity moves weathered rock and soil

Front 12

abrasion

Back 12

the grinding away of rock by other rock particles carried in water, ice, or wind

Front 13

topography

Back 13

the shape of the land determined by elevation, releif, and landforms

Front 14

relief

Back 14

the difference in elevation between the highest and lowest parts of an area

Front 15

sediment

Back 15

Earth materials deposited by erosion

Front 16

fossil

Back 16

the preserved remains or traces of living things

Front 17

fault

Back 17

a break or crack in Earth's surface

Front 18

deposition

Back 18

process in which sediment is laid down in new locations

Front 19

controlled experiment

Back 19

an experiment in which all factors except one are kept consistant

Front 20

aa

Back 20

slow moving type of lava that hardens to form rough chunks ; cooler than pahoehoe

Front 21

atoll

Back 21

the ring coral island foundn far from land

Front 22

basalt

Back 22

a dark, dense, igneous rock with a fine texture, found in oceanic crust

Front 23

base-isolated building

Back 23

a building mounted on bearings designed to absorb the energy of an earthquake

Front 24

batholith

Back 24

a mass of rock formed when a large body of magma cooled inside the crust

Front 25

caldera

Back 25

the large hole at the top of a volcanoe formed when the roof of a volcanoes magma chamber collapses

Front 26

cementation

Back 26

the process by which dissolved minerals crystallize and glue particles of sediment together into one mass

Front 27

compaction

Back 27

the process by which sediments are pressed together, under their own weight

Front 28

compression

Back 28

stress that squeezes rock until it folds or breaks

Front 29

continental drift

Back 29

the hypothesis that the continents slowly move across Earth's surface

Front 30

convection current

Back 30

the movement of a fluid, caused by differences in in temperature, that transfers heat from one part of a fluid to another

Front 31

crater

Back 31

a bowl- shaped area that forms around a volcanoe's central opening

Front 32

crust

Back 32

the layer of rock that forms Earth's outer surface

Front 33

crystal

Back 33

a solid in which atoms are arranged in a pattern that repeats again and again

Front 34

deep ocean- trench

Back 34

a deep

Front 35

deep ocean- trench

Back 35

a deep valley along the ocean floor through which oceanic crust slowly sinks towardss the mantle

Front 36

density

Back 36

the amount of mass in a given space; mass per unit volume

Front 37

dormant

Back 37

said of a volcanoe that does not show sins of erupting in the near future

Front 38

earthquake

Back 38

the shaking that results from the movement of rock beneath Earth['s surface

Front 39

epicenter

Back 39

the point on Earth's surface directlyabove an earthquakes surface

Front 40

focus

Back 40

the point beneath Earth's surface where rock breaks under stress and causes an earthquake

Front 41

fold

Back 41

a bend in rock that forms where part of Earth's crust is compressed

Front 42

foliated

Back 42

term used to describe metamorphic rocks whose grains are arranged in parallel layers or bands

Front 43

fossil

Back 43

a trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock

Front 44

geology

Back 44

the study of planet Earth

Front 45

geyser

Back 45

a fountain of water and steam that builds up pressure underground and erupts at regular intervals

Front 46

grain

Back 46

a particle or mineral or other rock that gives a rock its texture

Front 47

granite

Back 47

a usually light- colored rock that is found in continental crust

Front 48

hot spot

Back 48

an area where magma from deep within the mantle from deep within the mantle melts through the crust above it

Front 49

inorganic

Back 49

not formed from living things or the remains of living things

Front 50

liquefaction

Back 50

the process by which an earthquakes violent movement suddenly turns loose soil into liquid mud

Front 51

magma chamber

Back 51

the pocket beneath a volcano where magma collects

Front 52

mid-ocean ridge

Back 52

the undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced; a divergent plate boundary

Front 53

mineral

Back 53

a naturally occuring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition

Front 54

ore

Back 54

rock that contains a metal or economically useful mineral

Front 55

organic rock

Back 55

sedimentary rock that forms where remains of organisms are deposited in thick layers

Front 56

pangea

Back 56

the name of the single landmass that that broke apart 200million years ago and gave rise to today's continent

Front 57

plate tectonics

Back 57

the theory that peices of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle

Front 58

pyroclastic flow

Back 58

the explusion of ash, cinders, bombs, and gases during an explosive volcanic eruption

Front 59

rift valley

Back 59

a deep valley that forms where two plates move apart

Front 60

Ring of Fire

Back 60

a major belt of volcanoes that rims the Pacific ocean

Front 61

seaa- floor spreading

Back 61

the process by which molten material adds new oceanic crusts to the ocean floor

Front 62

seismograph

Back 62

a device that records ground movements caused by seismic waves as they move through earth

Front 63

shearing

Back 63

stress that pushes a mass of rock in opposite directions

Front 64

silica

Back 64

a material that that is formed from the elementsoxygen and silicon; found in magma

Front 65

sill

Back 65

a slab of volcanic rock formed when magma squeezes between lalyers of rock

Front 66

smelting

Back 66

the process by which ore is melted to seperate the useful metal from other elements

Front 67

sonar

Back 67

a device that determines the distance of an object under water by recording echoes of sound waves

Front 68

stress

Back 68

a force that acts on rock to change its shape or volume

Front 69

strike- slip fault

Back 69

a type of fault where rocks on either side movepast each other sideways with little up or down motion

Front 70

subduction

Back 70

the process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle at a convergent plate boundary

Front 71

tension

Back 71

stress that stretches rock so that it becomes thinner in the middle

Front 72

texture

Back 72

the look and feel of a rock's surface

Front 73

tsunami

Back 73

a large wave produced by an earthquake on the ocean floor

Front 74

vein

Back 74

a narrow slab of of a mineral that is sharply different from the surrounding rock

Front 75

vent

Back 75

the opening through which molten rock and gas leave a volcanoe

Front 76

volcanic neck

Back 76

a deposit of hardened magma in a volcanoes pipe

Front 77

prime meridian

Back 77

the line that makes a half circle through the atlantic ocean from the north to the south