Chapter 1: The Earth Flashcards
Mantle
The layer between the crust and the core made of molten rock.
Crust
The outer layer of the earth made of solid rock
Core
The core has two layers; the inner and the outer core
They are made of molten iron and nickel
Magma
Is what the mantle is made of
Plate tectonics
The theory that the earths crust is split into a number of plates
Plate boundaries
The outline of the plates which is where they pull apart/crash together
Destructive boundary
Where two plates collide and the heavier one sinks to be destroyed by the magma in the mantle
Convection currents
The currents in the magma that move the plates
Pangea
The mega continent that was split up millions of years ago to create the continents we have today
Continental drift
This is where the plates constantly move on the magma, bringing the continents with them
Mid ocean ridge
An underwater mountain range
Crater
The mouth of the volcano where the magma shoots out
Vent
The gap at the bottom of the volcano where the magma rises through
Magma reservoir
Where the magma is stored before travelling up the volcano
Active Volcano
A volcano that has erupted in the past 100 years
Dormant volcano
A volcano that hasn’t erupted in 1000s of years but could still erupt
Extinct volcano
A volcano that hasn’t erupted in 1000s of years and won’t erupt again
Constructive boundary
Where two plates pull apart letting the magma rise, cool and harden to create new crust
Earthquake
A sudden trembling or movement of the earth’s crust
Fault line
Where the plates move
Tremor
The sudden shocks from the focus
Focus
Where the earthquakes begin deep in the earth
Epicentre
The point directly above the focus on the surface where the most damaged is done
Aftershock
Smaller earthquakes that occur after a larger earthquake.
Richter scale
Uses seismometers to measure the intensity of an earthquake on a scale from 1-10
Mercalli scale
Not a scientific scale. Measures the intensity of an earthquake based on human observations
