Vocabulary Ch. 3

Front 1

Granite

Back 1

crystalline igneous rock consisting of alkali feldspar and quartz.

Hint 1

Characteristics of continental crust

Front 2

Basalt

Back 2

Fine grained igneous rock black and greenish black Rock in iron magnesium and calcium

Hint 2

characteristics of the ocean crust

Front 3

Isostasy

Back 3

A condition of Equilibrium comparable to buoyancy in which the rigid crustal units float on the under lying mantle

Front 4

Absolute Dating

Back 4

the use of radio isotope half lines the determining the age of rock unit in years

Front 5

Radioactive Dating

Back 5

a technique used to date materials such as rock or carbon based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a natural occurring radioactive isotope and its decay rates

Front 6

Radiometric Dating

Back 6

The process of determining the age of rock from the decay of their radioactive elements

Front 7

Half life

Back 7

Time required for the decay of one half the atoms of a radioactive substance

Front 8

Relative dating

Back 8

The determination of whether certain rock and units are older or younger than others by the use of fossil assemblages

Front 9

Lithosphere

Back 9

The outer layer of Earth structure including the crust and the upper mantle. It is this layer that breaks into plates that are the major elements of the theory of plate tectonics

Front 10

Asthenosphere

Back 10

Upper zone of Earth's mantle extending from the base of the lithosphere to about 250 kilometers beneath continents and ocean basins that allow lateral movement of lithospheric plates and isostatic adjustments

Front 11

Convection cell

Back 11

A distant volume of circulating fluid in a fluid medium under gravity that is heated from below and cooled from above usually found in large groupings

Front 12

Global plate tectonics

Back 12

Global geology theory of global dynamics having to do with the movement of a small number of semi Ridge sections of earth crust with seismic activity and volcanism occurring primarily at the margins of these sections

Front 13

Alfred Wegener

Back 13

A German meteorologist and geophysicist was the first to advance the idea of mobile continent in 1912. He envisioned that the continents were slowly drifting across the globe and called this idea a continental drift

Front 14

Harry Hess

Back 14

American geologist and United States Navy officer during World War 2 who is responsible for creating the theory of seafloor spreading. He suggested that new ocean crust was created at the ridges, split apart, moved away from the ridges and later disappeared back into deep earth trenches

Front 15

Continental drift

Back 15

A theory that the continents had once formed a single landmass before breaking apart and drifting to their present locations. The movement of continental masses drifted across the Earth's surface.

Front 16

Fossil

Back 16

Any remains, trace or imprint of an organism that has been preserved in rocks

Front 17

Laurasia

Back 17

A proto continent of the Northern which is composed of what are now North America Europe and Asia

Hint 17

North, Supercontinent

Front 18

Gondawanaland

Back 18

A proto continent or supercontinent of the southern hemisphere composed of what are now South America Africa India Australia and Antarctica

Hint 18

South, supercontinent

Front 19

Pangaea

Back 19

An ancient super continent of the geologic past that contained all Earth's continents

Hint 19

one earth, protoearth

Front 20

Panthalasia

Back 20

A large ancient ocean that surrounded Pangaea

Hint 20

one ocean, proto ocean

Front 21

Tethys Sea

Back 21

In ancient body of water that separated lower Asia to the North and Gandawanaland to the South

Front 22

Divergent

Back 22

A lithospheric plant boundary where adjacent plates diverge producing an oceanic ridge or rise (spreading center)

Hint 22

two plates move away from each other CONSTRUCTIVE BOUNDARY

Front 23

Convergent

Back 23

A lithospheric plate boundary where adjacent plates converge producing ocean trench island are systems or volcanic arcs or folded mountain ranges

Hint 23

When two tectonic plates move toward each other and collide- one plate subducts beneath the other DESTRUCTIVE BOUNDARY

Front 24

Transform

Back 24

The boundary between two lithospheric plates formed by a transform fault.

Hint 24

Where lithospheric plates slowly grind past one another SHEAR BOUNDARY

Front 25

Spreading Center

Back 25

A divergent plate boundary the axis of the mid ocean Ridge where seafloor spreading occurs

Front 26

Subduction

Back 26

A process by which one lithospheric plate descends beneath another

Front 27

Seafloor Spreading

Back 27

A process producing the lithospheric when convection upwelling of magma along the oceanic ridges moves the ocean floor away from the Ridge axis at rates between 2 to 12 centimeters (0.8 to 5 in.) per year

Hint 27

new ocean floor is split in two and carried away from the axis, replaced by the upwelling of volcanic material that folks the void with new strips of sea floor

Front 28

Transform Fault

Back 28

A fault characteristics of oceanic ridges along which they are offset

Hint 28

two tectonic plates slide past one another

Front 29

Hawaiin Islands

Back 29

An undersea mountain range in the Pacific Ocean that reaches above sea level consisting of shallows banks and reefs and contains so identified undersea volcanoes

Front 30

Iceland

Back 30

A Nordic County that lies on the divergent boundary between the Eurosian plate and the North American plate it also lies above a hotspot the Iceland plume which is believed to have caused the formation of Iceland itself

Front 31

Hotspot

Back 31

The relatively stationary surface expression of a persistent column of molten mantle material rising to the surface

Front 32

Island Arc

Back 32

A linear arrangement of Islands many of which are volcanic usually curved so that the concave side faces a seas separating the Islands from a continent

Front 33

Continental VOLCANIC Arc

Back 33

A volcanic arc confined to the margin of a continent and associated with an ocean trench

Front 34

Oceanic Ridge

Back 34

A portion of the global mid ocean Ridge system that is characterized by slow spreading and step slopes.

Hint 34

slow spreading

Front 35

Oceanic Rise

Back 35

A portion of the global mid ocean Ridge system that is characterized by fast spreading and gentle slopes

Hint 35

fast spreading

Front 36

Mid Atlantic Ridge

Back 36

A slow spreading divergent plate boundary running North-South and bisecting the Atlantic Ocean

Front 37

East Pacific Rise

Back 37

A fast spreading divergent plate boundary extending southward from the Gulf of California through the Eastern South Pacific Ocean

Front 38

Trench OCEAN

Back 38

A long narrow and deep depression on the ocean floor with relatively step sides that is caused by plate convergence

Front 39

San Andreas Fault

Back 39

A transform fault that cuts across California from the Northern end of the Gulf of California to point arena North of San Francisco

Front 40

Paleogeography

Back 40

Branch of geography pertaining to the shapes and positions of ancient continents and oceans

Front 41

Paleoceanogeaphy

Back 41

Branch of oceanography pertaining to the biological and physical character of ancient oceans

Front 42

Paleomagnetism

Back 42

The study of Earths ancient magnetic field

Front 43

Magma Chamber

Back 43

A version of molten rock that lies underground, found beneath segments of the mid ocean Ridge

Front 44

Marine Transgression

Back 44

1. Result of global warming (Greenland & Antarctica)
2. Ice on land melts
3. Sea level rises
4. Shoreline migrates inland
5. Percentage coverage of ocean increases (<71%)

Hint 44

to move forward

Front 45

Marine Regression

Back 45

1. Result of global cooling
2. Ice forms on land (due to snow)
3. Sea level falls (decreases)
4. Shoreline migrates seaward
5.Percent coverage of ocean decreases (>71%)

Hint 45

to go back