Chapter 2 - A Living Planet

Question 0

Consists of the sun and nine known planets, as well as other celestial bodies that orbit the sun.

Answer 0

Solar System

Question 1

A landmass above water on Earth.

Answer 1

Continent

Question 2

The Earth’s center, made up of iron and nickel; the inner core is solid, and the outer core is liquid.

Answer 2

Core

Question 3

A rock layer about 1,800 miles thick that is between the Earth’s crust and the Earth’s core.

Answer 3

Mantle

Question 4

The molten rock material formed when solid rock in the Earth’s mantle or crust melts.

Answer 4

Magma

Question 5

The thin rock layer making up the Earth’s surface.

Answer 5

Crust

Question 6

The layer of gases immediately surrounding the Earth.

Answer 6

Atmosphere

Question 7

The solid rock portion of the Earth’s surface.

Answer 7

Lithosphere

Question 8

The waters comprising the Earth’s surface, including oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, and vapor in the atmosphere.

Answer 8

Hydrosphere

Question 9

All the parts of the Earth where plants and animals live, including the atmosphere, the lithosphere, and the hydrosphere.

Answer 9

Biosphere

Question 10

The hypothesis that all continents were once joined into a supercontinent that split apart over millions of years.

Answer 10

Continental Drift

Question 11

The continuous circulation of water among the atmosphere, the oceans, and the Earth.

Answer 11

Hydrologic Cycle

Question 12

An area drained by a major river and its tributaries.

Answer 12

Drainage Basin

Question 13

The water held under the Earth’s surface, often in and around the pores of rock.

Answer 13

Ground Water

Question 14

The level at which rock is saturated.

Answer 14

Water Table

Question 15

A naturally formed feature on the surface of the Earth.

Answer 15

Landform

Question 16

The Earth’s surface from the edge of a continent to the deep part of the ocean.

Answer 16

Continental Shelf

Question 17

The difference in elevation of a landform from the lowest point to the highest point.

Answer 17

Relief

Question 18

The combined characteristics of landforms and their distribution in a region.

Answer 18

Topography

Question 19

An enormous moving shelf that forms the Earth’s crust.

Answer 19

Tectonic Plate

Question 20

A fracture in the Earth’s crust.

Answer 20

Fault

Question 21

A sometimes violent movement of the Earth, produced when tectonic plates grind or slip past each other at a fault.

Answer 21

Earthquake

Question 22

A device that measures the size of the waves created by an earthquake.

Answer 22

Seismograph

Question 23

The point on the Earth’s surface that corresponds to the location in the Earth where an earthquake begins.

Answer 23

Epicenter

Question 24

A way to measure information collected by seismographs to determine the relative strength of an earthquake.

Answer 24

Richter Scale

Question 25

A giant ocean wave, caused by an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption, with great destructive power.

Answer 25

Tsunami

Question 26

A natural event, formed when magma, gases, and water from the lower part of the crust or mantle collect in underground chambers and eventually erupt and pour out of cracks in the Earth's surface.

Answer 26

Volcano

Question 27

Magma that has reached the Earth's surface.

Answer 27

Lava

Question 28

The chain of volcanoes that lines the Pacific Rim.

Answer 28

Ring of Fire

Question 29

Physical and chemical processes that change the characteristics of rock on or near the Earth's surface, occurring slowly over many years.

Answer 29

Weathering

Question 30

Small pieces of rock produced by weathering processes.

Answer 30

Sediment

Question 31

Natural processes that break rock into smaller pieces.

Answer 31

Mechanical Weathering

Question 32

A process that changes rock into a new substance through interactions among elements in the air or water and the minerals in the rock.

Answer 32

Chemical Weathering

Question 33

The result of weathering on matter, created by the action of wind, water, ice, or gravity.

Answer 33

Erosion

Question 34

A fan-like landform made of deposited sediment, left by a river that slows as it enters the ocean.

Answer 34

Delta

Question 35

Wind-blown silt and clay sediment that produces very fertile soil.

Answer 35

Loess

Question 36

A large, long-lasting mass of ice that moves because of gravity.

Answer 36

Glacier

Question 37

The changing of landforms by slowly moving glaciers.

Answer 37

Glaciation

Question 38

A ridge or hill of rock carried and finally deposited by a glacier.

Answer 38

Moraine

Question 39

Organic material in soil.

Answer 39

Humus