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Semester 1 Earth Science
Flash cards for semester 1 Earth Science Final
298
Science
9th Grade
01/11/2010

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Term
Atom
Definition
Smallest part of an element with all of the properties of an element.
Term
Atomic Number
Definition
Number of Protons in an atom.
Term
Compound
Definition
Substance that contains two or more elements chemically combined.
Term
Covalent Bond
Definition
Bond between two nonmetals where electrons are shared.
Term
Crystal
Definition
Regular geometric solid with smooth faces called crystal faces; form if mineral has enough space and time.
Term
Crystalline
Definition
Atoms arranged in regular pattern.
Term
Electron
Definition
Negatively charged particles that move around an atom's nucleus.
Term
Element
Definition
Substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by ordinary chemical means.
Term
Ion
Definition
Atom in charged condition.
Term
Ionic Bond
Definition
Bond between metal and nonmetal where one metal gains electrons and the other loses electrons.
Term
Isotope
Definition
Atoms of same chemical element, but different number of neutrons.
Term
Mass number:
Definition
Sum of protons and neutrons in an atom.
Term
Matter
Definition
Anything with mass and volume.
Term
Metal
Definition
Element that loses electrons easily and forms positive ions.
Term
Mineral
Definition
A substance that:
1. Occurs naturally
2. Is a solid
3. Has definite chemical composition
4. Has atoms arranged in orderly pattern.
5. Is inorganic
Term
Molecule
Definition
Smallest part of a compound with all of the properties of a compound.
Term
Native Mineral
Definition
Mineral composed of only 1 element.
Term
Neutron:
Definition
Uncharged particles in the nucleus of an atom.
Term
Nonmetal
Definition
Elements that gain electrons easily and form negative ions.
Term
Proton
Definition
Positively charged particle in atom's nucleus, equal to number of electrons.
Term
Silica Tetrahedryn
Definition
A grouping of one silicon atom and four oxygen atoms that form the building blocks of silicate minerals.
Term
Silicate
Definition
Compounds of silica and oxygen plus one metallic element, include 90% of minerals in earth's crust.
Term
Eight most common minerals in earth's crust?
Definition
Oxygen, Silicon, Aluminum, Iron, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, and Magnessium.
Term
Mineral Formation
Definition
As magma cools, water with dissolved ions evaporates.
Term
Mineral Crystal
Definition
Determined by arrangement of ions, when given enough time and space to form.
Term
Amphibole
Definition
Family of Silicate materials, long, needle-like crystals, hornblende.
Term
Augite
Definition
Pyroxene, dark, 2 cleavages, hardness=5/6.
Term
Azurite
Definition
REacts to the acid test, copper carbonate, is blue.
Term
Calcite
Definition
3 Cleavages, carbonate, very reactive to hydrochloric acid, florescent, double refraction.
Term
Carbonate
Definition
oNE CARBON, THREE OXYGENS, CHARGE -2.
Term
Carnonite
Definition
Radioactive
Term
Cinnabar
Definition
Ore of mercury, red.
Term
Cleavage
Definition
TEndency to split along flat surfaces, very useful in mineral identification.
Term
Color
Definition
Most easy indentificable oroperty of minerals, not useful because many minerals have similar colors, traces of impurities change color, and some minerals change color when exposed to air.
Term
Corundum
Definition
Number 9 hardness
Term
Crystal Shape
Definition
Works when mineral has room to form.
Term
Diamond
Definition
Hardest of all minerals.
Term
Dolomite
Definition
Calcium magnesium carbonate, somewhat reactive to hydrochloric acid
Term
Feldspar
Definition
Silicate, 2 cleavages, right angles, most abundant in earth's crust (over 60%), hardness 6, pearly, orthoclase pottasium, and sodium-calcite plagioclase.
Term
Ferromagnesium Silicate
Definition
Dark silicate that contains iron and magnesium.
Term
Fluorite
Definition
Florescent
Term
Fracture
Definition
Break along non-cleavage surfaces, conchoidal=shell-like fracture.
Term
Galena
Definition
3 Cleavages
Term
Garnet
Definition
Abrasives, silicate, hardness 6.5-7.5
Term
Halite
Definition
Salty
Term
Hardness
Definition
Resistance to scratching
Term
Hematite
Definition
Brown, red, or silver, red streak, iron oxide, 5-6 hardness, earthy, crumbly.
Term
Hornblende
Definition
Dark, 2 cleavages, amphiobole, oblique angles, hardness 5-6, ferromagnesian silicate.
Term
Iron Pyrite
Definition
greenish-black streak, gold, iron sulfide, hardness=6, fools gold.
Term
Lodestone
Definition
Very magnetic version of magnetite.
Term
Luster
Definition
Way mineral shines in reflected light, metallic / nonmetallic, shiny, pearly, earthy, greasy, oily, dull.
Term
Kaolin
Definition
Aluminum silicate, weathering of feldspar, in clay / shale, white, earthy odor.
Term
Magnetite
Definition
Magnetic, hardness 5.5-6.5, lodestone
Term
Malachite
Definition
Ore of copper, green, reacts to acid test, biotite (dark)
Term
Mica
Definition
Silicate, one cleavage, very easy, muscovite (light) biotite (dark)
Term
Mineralology
Definition
Study of minerals and their properties.
Term
Moh's Scale
Definition
Scale that measures hardness from 1-10, each step same except from one to ten.
Term
Olivine
Definition
Olive-green, ferromagnesian silicate, silicate, conchoidal fracture, 6.5 hardness, found in meteorites.
Term
Oxide
Definition
Mineral consisting of one element combined with oxygen.
Term
Pyroxene
Definition
Right angles, shorter needles than amphiobles, includes augite, silicate.
Term
Quartz
Definition
Silicate, glassy luster, irregular fracture, hardest common mineral, second most abundant mineral in earth's crust.
Term
Rock-forming Mineral:
Definition
Common minerals that make up most of the rocks in earth's crust.
Term
Specific Gravity
Definition
Ratio of weight of mineral to equal volume of water.
Term
Siderite
Definition
Iron carbonate, reacts to acid test, brown.
Term
Sphalerite
Definition
Phosphorescent
Term
Streak
Definition
Color of mineral's powder, metallic mineral=dark, nonmetallic=clear/white
Term
Sulfide
Definition
An element made out of a metal combined with sulfur.
Term
Talc:
Definition
Softest of all minerals, white, one cleavage, soapy.
Term
Uranium:
Definition
RAdioactive
Term
Willemite
Definition
Phosphorescent.
Term
Basalt
Definition
Mafic, gabbro, dark
Term
Basalt Glass
Definition
Like obsidian, but mafic.
Term
Cements
Definition
Silica, calcite, and iron oxide.
Term
Chert:
Definition
Fine grained silica.
Term
Chemical
Definition
Sedimetary, formed from mineral grains that fall out of solution by evaporation or some kind of chemical action. (Rock salt, limestone)
Term
Clastic
Definition
Sedimentary rock formed from fragments of other rock, shale, sandstone, conghlomerate.
Term
Concretions
Definition
Round masses of calcium carbonate that occur in shale.
Term
Contact metamorphism:
Definition
Occurs when hot magma forces its way into overlying rock and bakes the rock it comes in contact with.
Term
Diorite
Definition
Median of gabbro and granite
Term
Felsic
Definition
High silica magma, feldspar plus silica, light minerals, not a lot of calcium, iron, or magnesium.
Term
Flint
Definition
Daark chert
Term
Foliation
Definition
Splits easily along layers
Term
Fossils
Definition
Remains, impressions, or any other evidence of plants and animals preserved in rock.
Term
Gabbro
Definition
Mafic, dark, plagioclase, feldspar and augite, dense.
Term
Geodes
Definition
Spheres of silica rock contained in limestone where crystals of quartz or calcite are in hollows.
Term
Gneiss
Definition
Formed from variety of rocks, coarse, parallel bands.
Term
Grannite
Definition
Plutonic (Intrusive), felsic, coarse grained, orthoclase feldspar and quartz.
Term
Igneous
Definition
Formed by cooling and hardening of molten rock inside earth.
Term
Limestone (Chemical)
Definition
Grains of calcite
Term
Limestone (Organic)
Definition
Calcite taken from water from shell-producing orgainsms
Term
Mafic
Definition
Low silica magma, calcium, iron, magnesium, more fluid, rocks contain ferromagnesium minerals.
Term
Magma
Definition
Hot molten rock inside earth.
Term
Metamorphic
Definition
Formed when rocks that already existare changed by heat and pressure into new types of rocks, minerals are in lines.
Term
Mud Cracks
Definition
Deposits of wet clay dry and contract.
Term
Nodules
Definition
Lumps of chert in limestone.
Term
Obsidian
Definition
Glassy-smooth, solidify very quickly, volcanic glass, shell-like fracture.
Term
Organic:
Definition
Sedimentary, remains of plants in animals. (Coal, some limestone)
Term
Plutonnic
Definition
Intrusive rocks, formed underground from cooled magma.
Term
Porphry
Definition
Two distinctly different textures, large crystals surrounded by fine grained crystals.
Term
Pumice:
Definition
Felsic Lava, hardened when gases bubble out, porous.
Term
Regional metamorphism:
Definition
Occurs when large areas of rock are under intense heat and pressure, causing them to change form.
Term
Ripple Marks:
Definition
Formed by the actions of winds, streams, waves, or currents on sand.
Term
Rock:
Definition
Group of minerals bound together in some way.
Term
Rock Gypsum
Definition
Layers, made of gypsum.
Term
Rock salt
Definition
Halite, common table salt, layeres.
Term
Scoria
Definition
Gabbro version of Pumice.
Term
Sandstones
Definition
Porous, permeable, made of sand.
Term
Sedimentary
Definition
Hardening and cementing of layers of sediments, rounded minerals.
Term
Shale
Definition
Impermeable, easily broken, kaolin, and formed by silts and clays. Metamorphism goes shale-slate-phylitte-schist.
Term
Sorting:
Definition
Sorting of rocks by weight / size, pebbles / gravels= conglomerate, sands= sandstones, silts / clay= shale.
Term
Stratification
Definition
Arrangement into visible layers, sedimentary.
Term
Texture:
Definition
Depends on arrangement, size, shape, of mineral crystals.
Term
Uniformitarianism:
Definition
Concept described by James Hutton, "The present is the key to the past", the geological processes now at work were at work in the past, present geological features formed by same processes, at work over long periods of time.
Term
Volcanic:
Definition
Extrusivfe, formed when lava cools and hardens, mostly mafic.
Term
Carbonic Acid:
Definition
Carbon dissolved in water, attacks common minerals and changes them to clay.
Term
Chemical weathering:
Definition
Decompisition, takes place when rock minerals are changed into different substances.
Term
Creep:
Definition
Slow, inperceptible down slope movement of soil.
Term
Erosion:
Definition
The removal and transport of natural material by natural agents.
Term
Exfoliation:
Definition
Large sheets of rock break away from outcrop, the peeling of the surface layers.
Term
Hydrolysis
Definition
The chemical reaction of water with other substances.
Term
Ice Heaving
Definition
Water in ground freezes and lifts pavement above it.
Term
Ice Wedging:
Definition
Also called frost action, occurs when water freezes and expands.
Term
Joints:
Definition
Large curved banks caused by upward expansion.
Term
Landslide:
Definition
Sudden movement of a mass of bedrock or loose rock down the slope of a hill.
Term
Mass movement:
Definition
Downslope movement of large masses of earth materials due to the pull of gravity.
Term
Mechanical Weathering:
Definition
Disintegration, when rock is split open or broken into pieces of the same material, without changing its composition.
Term
Mudflow:
Definition
Rapid movement of water saturated clay and silt.
Term
Oxidation:
Definition
Chemical reaction of oxygen with other substances.
Term
Oxidation:
Definition
Chemical reaction of oxygen with other substances.
Term
Parent Material:
Definition
Material from which soil is formed.
Term
Residual soil
Definition
Soil that has bedrock as its parent material.
Term
Sheet jointing
Definition
Process of the joints being parallelto the surface and occuring exposed peaks or outcrops.
Term
Slumps:
Definition
Small blocks of land tilt that move down hill.
Term
Soil:
Definition
Made of loose, weatherd rock and organic material in which plants with roots can easily grow.
Term
Soil Erosion:
Definition
Removal of topsoil by wind or running water.
Term
Soil Profile:
Definition
The cross-section of earth with three distinct zones exposed by digging.
Term
Spheroidal weathering:
Definition
Corners and edges of boulders erode quickest, causing the rock to become spherical.
Term
Subsoil:
Definition
B-horizon of soil profile, contains clay and other soluble materials that were washed down into it.
Term
Talus
Definition
Pile of rock fragments at base of a cliff due to mass movement.
Term
Topsoil
Definition
A-horizon of soil profile, dark colored, organic material.
Term
Transported Soil
Definition
Soil that formed from parent material left by winds, rivers, or glaciers, or soils that itself were moved from its original location.
Term
Weathering:
Definition
Break-up of rock due to exposure to the atmosphere.
Term
Aquifer
Definition
Permeable materials that contain and carry ground water.
Term
Artesian Formation:
Definition
When an aquifer dips underground between two impremeable beds.
Term
Artesian Wells
Definition
Water that comes from an aquifer in an artesian formation.
Term
Cap rock:
Definition
The uppermost impermeable layer.
Term
Caverns:
Definition
Caves formed from the dissolving of limestone.
Term
Deficit:
Definition
The need for moisture is greater than the rainfall and the storage water is gone.
Term
Evapotranspiration:
Definition
Combination of evaporation and transpiration.
Term
Fissure Spring:
Definition
A spring that comes from and aquifer through cracks in the cap rock to the surface.
Term
Fumaroles:
Definition
Fissures in the ground from which steam and hot gasses escape.
Term
Geyserite:
Definition
White pourous substance formed around mineral springs.
Term
Groundwater temperature:
Definition
At a depth of up to 20 meters in the surface, the water stays at about the same temperature as the ground around it.
Term
Geysers:
Definition
Boiling Hot Springs that periodically erupt as gushers of hot water and steam.
Term
Ordinary WEll:
Definition
A well dug into the ground.
Term
Porosity:
Definition
Percentage of a material's volume that is pore spaced.
Term
REcharge:
Definition
Water storage is filling.
Term
Hillsaide spring:
Definition
On hillside where water table meets surface.
Term
Hydrosphere:
Definition
Water at earth's surface.
Term
Impermeable:
Definition
A material that water cannot pass through.
Term
Karst Topography:
Definition
Regions characterized with caverns, sinkholes, lost rivers, and underground drainage.
Term
Mineral Spring:
Definition
S spring conatining so much dissolved mineral matter it cannot be used for ordinary drinking or washing purposes.
Term
Three reasons for mineral Springs:
Definition
1.Passes through soluble rock
2. Large quantities of gasses that form acids
3. Water very hot.
Term
Paint Pot:
Definition
Sputtering Spring caused by recent volcanic activity.
Term
Permeability:
Definition
The rate at which water or other liquids pass through the pore spaces of a rock.
Term
Sinkholes:
Definition
Formed when part of a cavern roof collapses.
Term
Stalacites:
Definition
Slender calcite formations on roof of cave.
Term
Stalagmites:
Definition
Blunt rounded calcite masses on cave floor.
Term
Travertine:
Definition
Calcium deposits around mineral springs.
Term
Surplus:
Definition
The grainfall is greater than the need for moisture and the storage is filled.
Term
Usage:
Definition
When the need for moisture is greater than the average rainfall plants draw water from supply.
Term
Water Budget:
Definition
Income and spending of water for a region.
Term
WAter cycle:
Definition
Movement of water from one part of the hydrosphere to another.
Term
Water Table:
Definition
Surface of the zone of Saturation.
Term
Zone of aeration:
Definition
From the water table to surface, water can be held, air can enter, above capillary fringe, dry zone, then soil water.
Term
Cappilary Fringe:
Definition
Part of zone of aeration directly above the water table.
Term
zone of Saturation:
Definition
Part of ground where all pore spaces are filled.
Term
Abrasion:
Definition
Grinding ACtion of cutting tools against riverbed.
Term
Alluvial FAn:
Definition
Sloping triangular deposits of sediment where a mountain stream reaches level land.
Term
Base Level:
Definition
Level of the stream or body of water into which a stream flows, cannot erode any deeper.
Term
Bed Load:
Definition
Way of a river carrying material where the materials are moved along the stream bed.
Term
Carrying Power
Definition
Indicated by the toatal amount of sediment in the spring and the size of the particles being moved by the stream,depends on stream and discharge.
Term
Delta:
Definition
A fan-shaped deposit of sediment formed at the mouth of a stream or river.
Term
Discharge:
Definition
Volume of water flowing past a given point at a given time.
Term
Divide:
Definition
High land that seperates one gully from the next, or one river valley from the next.
Term
Drainage Basin / Watershed:
Definition
All of the land that drains into a river.
Term
Flash Flood:
Definition
A flood caused by a single outburst.
Term
Flood Plain:
Definition
Wide, level area that borders a stream and is covered by water in the time of a flood.
Term
Gully:
Definition
A miniature valley formed by erosion from heavy rains.
Term
Headward ERosion:
Definition
THe wearing away of land at the head of the stream gull or valley.
Term
Levees:
Definition
Elevated ridges formed by deposits from floods.
Term
Meanders:
Definition
A series of broad curves across a wide flood plain.
Term
Oxbow LAke:
Definition
THe lake formed when a rivermeander gets cut off and from the river and the ends of the original bend have silted up.
Term
Pothole:
Definition
Deep oval or circular hole cut into a stream bed by abrasion from swirling or pebbles.
Term
River system:
Definition
A river and all of its tributaries.
Term
Solution:
Definition
WAy of river carrying material in which the sediment is dissolved by the water.
Term
Stream Piracy:
Definition
Diversion of upper part of one stream by the headward growth of another stream.
Term
Suspension:
Definition
Causes River to look muddy, materials stirred up and kept from sinking by the turblence of water.
Term
Water Gap:
Definition
A pass in the mountain ridge through which a stream flows.
Term
Arete:
Definition
The divide between 2 cirques, narrow and sharp.
Term
Calving:
Definition
The process of blocks of ice breaking off a glacier and extending into the sea to become an iceberg.
Term
Cirque:
Definition
A semi-circular basin formed when the walls of a mountain are eroded.
Term
Continental Glacier
Definition
Moving mass of ice, larger than a valley glacier.
Term
Crevasses:
Definition
Great fissures that form when a valley comes to a steep slope across the width of the glacier.
Term
Drift:
Definition
All deposits of glacial origin.
Term
Drumlins:
Definition
Long, smooth, canoe-shaped hills made of till.
Term
eND mORRAINE:
Definition
At the ice front, rock pieces brought forward by the glaciers motion build up.
Term
Erratics:
Definition
Large glacial borders that have been transported into an area.
Term
Eskers:
Definition
A long winding ridge formed when sand and gravel form meltwater tunnels beneath a glacier.
Term
Firm:
Definition
A rough, granular ice created when freshly fallen snow becomes repressed and recrystalizes, eventually becoming a valley glacier.
Term
Glacial TRough:
Definition
A glacial valley that is roughly U-shaped.
Term
Ground Morraine:
Definition
Material carried in the bottom of a glacier before it is deposited.
Term
Hanging TRough:
Definition
Tributary U-shaped valley.
Term
Horn:
Definition
Peaks where three or more cirques cut into the same peak, so much is cut away that a spectacular pyrimid is left.
Term
Ice Cap:
Definition
Small ice sheet.
Term
Ic Front:
Definition
Where a glacier melts as fast as it moves.
Term
Ice Sheet:
Definition
Continental Glacier, forms in polar areas, Greenland, Antarctica.
Term
Kames:
Definition
Small cone-shapoed hills of stratified sand and gravel.
Term
Kettles:
Definition
Circular hollows found on terminal moraines and outwash plains.
Term
Lateral Moraine:
Definition
2 Long lanes of rock pieces that pile up along valley sides,
Term
Medial Moraine:
Definition
When 2 glaciers come together to form a single glacier and their inside lateral moraines are combined.
Term
Moraine:
Definition
Accumulation of glacial till.
Term
Nunataks:
Definition
Great mountain peaks that project through glacial ice.
Term
Outwash:
Definition
Deposits made by streams or glacial meltwater.
Term
Outwash plains:
Definition
A broad, slightly sloping deposit of sediment formed beyond the terminal morraine by streams from a melting glacier.
Term
REcessional Moraines:
Definition
New end moraines formed behind the main ones.
Term
Roches Moutonnees:
Definition
Mass of glacially eroded bedrock.
Term
Rock Flour:
Definition
Mixture of fine sand and silt formed by the crushing of rock under a glacier.
Term
Snow line:
Definition
Lowest level that permanent snows reach in summer.
Term
Striations:
Definition
Long parallel scratches left by rocks dragged by a glacier.
Term
Terminal Moraine:
Definition
End moraine marking a glaciers farthesst advance.
Term
Till:
Definition
Unsorted rock materials deposited directly by the ice.
Term
Valley Glacier:
Definition
Alpine glacier, long, slow moving stream of ice.
Term
Asthenosphere:
Definition
Layer within the mantle that the lithosphere is on top of.
Term
Collision Boundary:
Definition
A converging boundary that is formed when two continents collide.
Term
Continental Drift
Definition
THeory that Africa and South America had once been part of a larger continent that had broken and moved apart.
Term
Converging Boundary:
Definition
When two plates come together.
Term
Craton:
Definition
The ancient continent cores.
Term
Deep Sea Trench:
Definition
Subduction zone, deepest part of ocean floor.
Term
Diverging Booundary:
Definition
Where two plates are moving apart.
Term
FAult:
Definition
Break or crack in earth's crust where movement has occured.
Term
Fracture Zone:
Definition
Faults in rift valley/
Term
Heat Flow:
Definition
Measure of the heat leaving the rock of the lithosphere.
Term
Lithosphere:
Definition
THe crust and upper portion of the mantle.
Term
Mid-ocean ridges:
Definition
Deep valleys across entire length(rift valleys)
Term
Plate Boundaries:
Definition
Marked by the belt where earthquakes and volcanoes are located.
Term
Plate TEctonics:
Definition
THe study and formation of rigid but moving plates that are on the earth's surface.
Term
Spreading Centers:
Definition
THe area where the lithospheric plates are moving apart.
Term
Subduction Boundary:
Definition
A boundary where one plate goes under another.
Term
Terrane:
Definition
Large block of lithospheric plate that has been moved.
Term
THin-skinned thrusting:
Definition
Pushing of thin, horizontal sheets from rock from continental margins over great distances along nearly level flat surfaces.
Term
Batholic:
Definition
THe name for the largest of all igneous intrusions, form the cores of many mountain ranges.
Term
Batholic:
Definition
THe name for the largest of all igneous intrusions, form the cores of many mountain ranges.
Term
Dike
Definition
Sheet of igneous rock that cuts ocross the rock layers it intrudes.
Term
Felsic:
Definition
High-silica magmas (THicker, lighter, slower)
Term
Hot Spot
Definition
Area of high volcanic activity that is in the middle of a lithospheric plate, forms shield cones.
Term
Laccolith:
Definition
A dome-shaped mass of indruded igneous rock.
Term
Lava:
Definition
Magma that reaches the surface.
Term
Mafic
Definition
Low silica magmas (thinner, darker, faster)
Term
Magma
Definition
Molten Rock Underground.
Term
Pillow Lavas:
Definition
Rounded shapes caused by rift eruptions.
Term
Pluton:
Definition
THe rock mass that forms when magma cools inside other rocks.
Term
Rift eruption:
Definition
Volcanic eruptions that occur at long, narrow fractures in earth's crust, form shield cones.
Term
Sill:
Definition
Sheet of igneous rock that is parallel to the layers it intrudes.
Term
Stock:
Definition
A small batholic in which less than square kilometers is exposed at the surface.
Term
Subduction Boundary Eruption:
Definition
Volcanic eruption that is a result of magma that forms at subduction boundaries, form cindercone volcanoes.
Term
TEphra:
Definition
Solid frangments of rock.
Term
Volcanic Neck:
Definition
The solidified lava filling the central vent of an extinct volcano.
Term
Volcano:
Definition
An opening in earth's crust through which an eruption takes placce.
Term
Earthquake
Definition
Shaking of earth's crust caused by release of energy.
Term
Elastic-Rebound Theory
Definition
Theory that earthquakes occur when the stress building up between two lithospheric plates overcomes the force of friction, causing the plates to suddenly move, release energy, then snap back to their original shapes.
Term
Epicenter:
Definition
Point on earth's surface directly above the focus.
Term
Focus:
Definition
THe point on the fault plain at which the first movement occurs.
Term
L wave
Definition
Wave created when P or S waves reach the surface.
Term
Mohorovicic Discontinuity
Definition
The boundary between earth's crust and mantle.
Term
P wave
Definition
Primary, compressional earthquake waves, move back and forth, travel through any material.
Term
Richter Scale
Definition
A scale that measures the amount of energy released by an earthquake.
Term
Seismic Moment
Definition
A more accurate measurement of earthquake magnitude then the Richter scale.
Term
Saismogram
Definition
A recording of an earthquake made by a seismograph.
Term
Seismograph
Definition
Instrument that records and detects earthquake waves.
Term
Shadow Zone:
Definition
A wide area around the earth on the side opposite the focus of an earthquake where neither p or s waves are received.
Term
S Wave
Definition
Side to side waves that cause particles to move a right angels shear, secondary, only travel through solid.
Term
Time-travel graph
Definition
A graph that shows the difference in arrival times for P and S waves and the relationship between the epicenter and arrival times.
Term
Active Continental Margin:
Definition
Continental Margin that occurs along a plate boundary, marked by volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain building.
Term
Anticline:
Definition
An upfold in the rock layers during plate collisions.
Term
Dome Mountain:
Definition
A nearly circular folded mountain.
Term
Fault Block Mountain
Definition
Mountains formed from blocks of crust that have been faulted and tilted at the same time.
Term
Joint:
Definition
A crack or break in the bedrock along which no apparent movement has occured
Term
Normal Fault
Definition
A fault where the rocks on one side of the fault plane drop down with respect to the rocks on the other side.
Term
Passive Continental Margin
Definition
Stable continental margin where main activity is the build-up of sediments.
Term
Reverse Fault:
Definition
A fault where one side of the fault plane is driven up and over the other side.
Term
Strike-Slip Fault:
Definition
A fault where the rocks on opposite sides of the fault move horizontally past each other.
Term
Syncline:
Definition
Downfold in the rock layers during plate collision.
Term
Oblate Spheroid:
Definition
Sphere that bulges at its equator and flattens at its poles.
Term
Circumferance at Equator:
Definition
40, 072
Term
Circumference at Poles
Definition
40, 007
Term
Diameter at equator:
Definition
12, 756
Term
Diameter at poles
Definition
12, 714
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