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| The layers of gases surrounding Earth or other celestial object; earth's atmosphere is divided into layers according to differences in chemical and physical properties |
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| the smallest part of matter or an element which can't be separated by most chemical or physical processes |
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| The plastic, partly solid, partly liquid layer of earth's mantle |
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| an imaginary line through earth from the north to the south poles, about which earth rotates; all rotating celestial bodies have an axis |
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| Bioclastic sedimentary rocks |
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| any rock made by living organisms or mostly composed of materials from life forms; also known as organic sedimentary rock |
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| Chemical Sedimentary rocks |
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| a rock composed of interconnected crystals fo just one mineral that form by evaporation and/or precipitation of dissolved minerals; include rock salt and gypsum; AKA evaporite |
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| The grouping together of similar observations and inferences to make the study of objects and events in the environment more meaningful and easier to understand |
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| rock that is largely composed of solid sediments, such as sand in sandstone |
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| the tendency of a mineral to break along the zones of weakness and form smooth to semi-smooth parallel surfaces |
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| process in which older rocks come in contact with the magma of an intrusion or lava of an extrusionand the heatand mineral fluids of the liquid rock alter the older rock by recrystallization |
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| the part of Earth's crust (Upper lithosphere) that makes up the continents and larger islands; thicker and lower in density than the oceanic crust, and granitic rather than basaltic in composition |
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| An isoline on a topographic, or countour; map that connects points of equal elevation on the surface of any celestial body, such as earth |
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| Convergent Plate Boundary |
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| The boundary between two colliding plates; often associated with mountain building, ocean trenches, and volcanic island arcs |
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| A grid or a system of lines for determining location of a point on a surface, such as latitude and longitude of a point on earth |
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| The center part of earth below the mantle thought to be composed of iron and nickel; inner part is a solid and outer part is liquid |
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| The outermost portion of Earth's solid lithosphere; separated from the uppermost mantle and lower lithosphere by the thin Moho interface |
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| the outward 3-D shape or geometric shape of a mineral specimen that reflects the internal atomic structure; AKA Crystal Form |
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| The pattern of atoms that characterizes each mineral; AKA atomic structure |
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| and orderly change in the environment in which an event repeats itself with reference to time and space; the opposite of random change |
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| Difference from accepted value ÷ accepted value x 100 |
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| The boundary between two plates that are spreading apart at a mid-ocean ridge or at a continental rift zone |
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| a condition of the balancing out of opposing forces or actions, such as evaporation and condensation or erosion and deposition |
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| a natural, rapid shaking of the lithosphere caused when rocks are displaced due to release of energy stored in rocks; most caused by rapid movement along faults, but also associated with other events, such as volcanic eruptions |
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| The region extending from the rocky part of Earth's surface to Earth's center |
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| The vertical distance or height above or below sea level. |
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| the place on earth's surface lying directly above the focus, or the origin of an earthquake |
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| The parallel on earth midway between the geographic North and South poles with a latitude of 0º |
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| a rock formed by solidification of lava at or above earth's surface; AKA volcanic igneous rock |
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| rock layers that are offset or displaced along a type of crack called a fault |
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| Any part of the universe that has some measurable value of a given quantity at every point, such as Earth's magnetic or Sun's gravitational fields. |
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| The bends in layered rock due to movement in the lithosphere; a type of deformed rock. |
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| texture of metamorphic rocks caused by the layering of mineral crystals |
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| Any physical evidence of former life, either direct or indirect |
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| amount of change in ÷ distance through which change occurs |
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| major regions of volcanic activity in the interior parts of plates away from plate boundaries; may be the cause of chains of volcanic activity within moving plates, such as the Hawaiian islands |
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| The liquid water (mostly the oceans) that rests on earth's solid/rocky surface. |
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| an interpretation of an observation; a mental process that proposes causes, conclusions, or explanations for what has been observed |
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| the innermost zone of earth's core, which is thought to be composed of iron and nickel in a solid state |
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| a device invented by people to extend the senses beyond their normal limits, thus enabling them to make observations that would otherwise be impossible or highly innacurate |
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| The boundary between regions with different properties; the usual place for energy exchange |
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| A curved series of volcanoes and volcanic islands that stretch hundreds of miles; form at subduction zones where plates converge and magma rises to form volcanoes; also called a volcanic island arc |
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| A line used in the model of a field, such as a map, which connects points of equal value of a field quantity; ex: isotherms, isobars, contour lines |
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| The angular distance north or south of the equator; usually expressed in units of angular measurement such as degrees |
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| The whole crust and uppermost part of the mantle (layer of rock that forms the solid outer shell at the top of earth's interior.) |
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| An angular distance east or west of the prime meridian; usually expressed in degrees. |
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| The most solid part of earth between the crust and the outer core |
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| THe amount of matter in an object; unlike weight, not affected by location |
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| A means of expressing an observation with greater accuracy or precision |
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| any north-south semicircle of constant longitude on maps and globes connecting the north and south poles. |
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| A mountain range at the bottom of the ocean, composed mostly of volcanoes and lava flows; forms at zones of diverging plates |
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| any way of representing the properties of an object, event, or system; includes graphs, drawings, charts, mental pictures, numerical data, or scaled physical objects. |
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| The interface, or boundary zone, between earth's crust and mantle; short for Mohorovicic discontinuity |
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| a non-human-related object, process, or situation that has the possibility of causing loss of life, personal injury, or loss of property. ex: Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, floods, storms, and asteroid impacts; also called a natural disaster |
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| the materials and energy sources found in the environment that humans use in their daily lives. |
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| the perception of some aspect of the environment by one or more human senses, w/ or w/o the aid of instruments |
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| the portion of earth's crust that is usually below the oceans and not associated with continental areas; thinner and higher in density that continental crust and basaltic rather than granitic in composition |
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| the long, steep, and narrow depression produced by the bending down of subducting plates, which warps the crust |
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| a concept that states that sedimentary rocks and some extrusive igneous rocks, such as lava flows, form in horizontal layers parallel to earth's surface |
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| the zone of earth between the mantle and the inner core; thought to be a liquid because earthquake S-waves do not go through it; believed to be composed of iron and nickel |
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| The waves in earthquakes that travel through earth's interior and cause particles through which they vibrate to in the direction that the waves are moving; the fastest moving of all earthquake waves |
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| The interfaces, or boundaries, of the layers of Earth's atmosphere |
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| Section of earth's lithosphere that moves around earth's solid surface |
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| states hat earth's lithosphere is divided into sections called plates that can move up and down or sideways on the plastic part of the upper mantle-diverging, converging and sliding past each other, which results in many of earth's major physical features and events |
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| The occurrence in the environment of a substance or form of energy in concentrations large enough to have an adverse effect on people, their property, or animal life |
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| A type of inference about the conditions and behavior of the environment in the future |
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| The meridian of 0º longitude; also called the meridian of greenwich |
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| change in field value ÷ change in time |
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| earthquake waves that move through earth's interior and cause particles through which they travel to vibrate at right angles to the direction of the plate movements. |
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| the energy waves given off by an earthquake; also called earthquake waves |
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| The plate tectonic process in which one of the plates at a convergent boundary sinks under the other plate and eventually melts into the asthenospere |
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| a boundary at which plates slide by each other, such as the San Andreas fault that seperates the North American and Pacific Plates |
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| very fast large wavelength ocean wave or waves produced by disturbances of the ocean floor caused by earthquakes |
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| raised up; as in mountain building |
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| the totality of all things that exist-all matter, time, energy and space |
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| a mountain or mound composed of extrusive (volcanic) igneous rock |
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| the giving off of gases, lava and/or lava rock onto earth's surface of into the atmosphere through the opening or vent of a volcano |
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| The amount of space that an object occupies |
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| mountains that are presently rising because they are at the location of a converging plates or at the site of a hot spot |
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| the way in which a mineral breaks producing an uneven breaking surface; types of fracture-earthy, splintery, and curved |
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| the resistance a mineral offers to being scratched or dented; usually measured by the mohs hardness scale of minerals |
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| a rock formed when natural, molten rock-forming material (magma/lava) cools and turns into a solid-above, below or on earth's surface |
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| not organic, not part of or made by living or former life forms |
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| a rock that forms by the cooling and solidification of magma beneath the earth's surface; ex. granite or gabbro |
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| the way a mineral looks or shines in reflected light |
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| liquid rock material beneath earth's solid surface |
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| a rock that forms from changes in previously existing rocks due to heat, pressure and/or chemical fluids |
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| the process by which heat, pressure and/or exposure to chemicals can change previously existing rock |
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| a naturally occuring, crystalline rockhaving a definite chemical composition and physical and chemical properties that vary between specified limits |
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