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Unit 2 Vocabulary
Geology and Soil Vocabulary
36
Environmental Studies
11th Grade
10/02/2009

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Term
Convergent plate boundary
Definition
Area where earth's lithospheric plates are pushed together.
Term
core
Definition
Inner zone of the earth. It consists of a solid inner core and a liquid outer core
Term
crust
Definition
Solid outer zone of the earth. It consists of oceanic crust and continental crust
Term
divergent plate boundary
Definition
Area where earth's lithospheric plates move apart in opposite directions
Term
earthquake
Definition
Shaking of the ground resulting from the fracturing and displacement of rock, which produces a fault, or from subsequent movement along the fault.
Term
erosion
Definition
Process or group of processes by which loose or consolidated earth materials are dissolved, loosened, or worn away and removed from one place and deposited in another.
Term
geology
Definition
Study of the earth's dynamic history. Geologists study and analyze rocks and the features and processes of the earth's interior and surface.
Term
igneous rock
Definition
Rock formed when molten rock material (magma) wells up from the earth's interior, cools, and solidifies into rock masses
Term
lithosphere
Definition
Outer shell of the earth, composed of the crust and the rigid, outermost part of the mantle outside the asthenosphere; material found in earth's plates.
Term
magma
Definition
Molten rock below the earth's surface.
Term
mantle
Definition
Zone of the earth's interior between its core and its crust
Term
metamorphic rock
Definition
Rock produced when a preexisting rock is subjected to high temperatures (which may cause it to melt partially), high pressures, chemically active fluids, or a combination of these agents.
Term
mineral
Definition
Any naturally occurring inorganic substance found in the earth's crust as a crystalline solid.
Term
plate tectonics
Definition
Theory of geophysical processes that explains the movements of lithospheric plates and the processes that occur at their boundaries
Term
rock
Definition
Any material that makes up a large, natural, continuous part of the earth's crust
Term
rock cycle
Definition
Largest and slowest of the earth's cycles, consisting of geologic, physical, and chemical processes that form and modify rocks and soil in the earth's crust over millions of years.
Term
sedimentary rock
Definition
Rock that forms from the accumulated products of erosion and in some cases from the compacted shells, skeletons, and other remains of dead organisms
Term
subduction zone
Definition
Area in which oceanic lithosphere is carried downward (subducted) under the island arc or continent at a convergent plate boundary. A trench ordinarily forms at the boundary between the two converging plates
Term
tectonic plates
Definition
Various-sized areas of the earth's lithosphere that move slowly around with the mantle's flowing asthenosphere. Most earthquakes and volcanoes occur around the boundaries of these plates.
Term
transform fault
Definition
Area where the earth's lithospheric plates move in opposite but parallel directions along a fracture (fault) in the lithosphere.
Term
tsunami
Definition
Series of large waves generated when part of the ocean floor suddenly rises or drops, usually because of an earthquake.
Term
volcano
Definition
Vent or fissure in the earth's surface through which magma, liquid lava, and gases are released into the environment.
Term
weathering
Definition
Physical and chemical processes in which solid rock exposed at earth's surface is changed to separate solid particles and dissolved material, which can then be moved to another place as sediment.
Term
soil
Definition
complex mixture of inorganic materials (clay, silt, pebbles, and sand) decaying organic matter, water, air, and living organisms
Term
soil horizons
Definition
horizontal zones, or layers, that make up a particular mature soil. Each horizon has a distinct texture and composition that vary with different types of soils
Term
soil permeability
Definition
Rate at which water and air move from upper to lower soil layers.
Term
soil porosity
Definition
Rate at which water and air move from upper to lower soil layers
Term
soil profile
Definition
cross-sectional view of the horizons in a soil
Term
soil structure
Definition
How the particles that make up a soil are organized and clumped together.
Term
soil texture
Definition
Relative amounts of the different types and sizes of mineral particles in a sample of soil.
Term
porosity
Definition
Percentage of space in rock or soil occupied by voids, whether the voids are isolated or connected
Term
permeability
Definition
The degree to which underground rock and soil pores are interconnected and thus a measure of the degree to which water can flow freely from one pore to another.
Term
percolation
Definition
Passage of a liquid through the spaces of a porous material such as soil.
Term
loams
Definition
Soils containing a mixture of clay, sand, silt, and humus. Good for growing most crops.
Term
leaching
Definition
Process in which various chemicals in upper layers of soil are dissolved and carried to lower layers and, in some cases, to groundwater.
Term
infiltration
Definition
Downward movement of water through soil.
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