Dynamic Earth Vocab

Question 1

Pangaea

Answer 1

name given to a supercontinent that began to break apart approximately 200 million years ago.

Question 2

Continental Drift

Answer 2

Wegener’s hypothesis that all continents were once connected in a
single large landmass that broke apart about 200 million years ago
and drifted slowly to their current positions.

Question 3

Mid-Ocean Ridge

Answer 3

long, narrow mountain range on the ocean floor; formed by magma at divergent plate boundaries.

Question 4

Ocean Trench

Answer 4

a deep, underwater trough created by one plate subducting under
another plate at a convergent plate boundary.

Question 5

Magma

Answer 5

molten rock stored below Earth’s surface.

Question 5

Seafloor Spreading

Answer 5

the process by which new oceanic crust forms along a mid-ocean
ridge and older oceanic crust moves away from the ridge.

Question 5

Convergent Boundary

Answer 5

the boundary between two plates that move toward each other.

Question 6

Lava

Answer 6

magma that erupts onto Earth’s surface.

Question 6

Plate Tectonics

Answer 6

theory that Earth’s surface is broken into large, rigid pieces that
move with respect to each other.

Question 7

Divergent Boundary

Answer 7

the boundary between two plates that move away from each other.

Question 8

Transform Boundary

Answer 8

the boundary between two plates that slide past each other.

Question 9

Subduction

Answer 9

the process that occurs when one tectonic plate moves under
another tectonic plate.

Question 10

Fault

Answer 10

a crack or a fracture in Earth’s lithosphere along which movement
occurs.

Question 11

Volcanic Arc

Answer 11

a curved line of volcanoes that forms parallel to a plate boundary.

Question 11

Volcano

Answer 11

a vent in Earth's crust through which molten rock flows.

Question 12

Earthquake

Answer 12

vibrations caused by the rupture and sudden movement of rocks
along a break or a crack in Earth’s crust.

Question 13

Fault Zone

Answer 13

an area of many fractured pieces of crust along a large fault.

Question 14

Tsunami

Answer 14

a wave that forms when an ocean disturbance suddenly moves a
large volume of water.

Question 15

Landslide

Answer 15

rapid, downhill movement of soil, loose rocks, and boulders.

Question 16

Erosion

Answer 16

the moving of weathered material, or sediment, from one location to
another.

Question 16

Impact Crater

Answer 16

a round depression formed on the surface of a planet, moon, or

other space object by the impact of a meteorite.

Question 17

Weathering

Question 18

Deposition

Answer 18

the laying down or settling of eroded material.

Question 19

Glacier

Answer 19

a large mass of ice, formed by snow accumulation on land, that
moves slowly across Earth’s surface.

Question 19

Rock

Answer 19

a naturally occurring solid composed of minerals, rock fragments, and sometimes other materials such as organic matter.

Question 20

Crystallization

Answer 20

the process by which atoms form a solid with an orderly, repeating pattern.

Question 21

Mineral

Answer 21

a naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition.

Question 22

Intrusive Rock

Answer 22

igneous rock that forms as magma cools underground.

Question 23

Extrusive Rock

Answer 23

igneous rock that forms when volcanic material erupts, cools, and crystallizes on Earth’s surface.

Question 24

Lithification

Answer 24

the process through which sediment turns into rock.

Question 24

Compaction

Answer 24

a process in which the weight from the layers of sediment forces out fluids and decreases the space between sediment grains.

Question 25

Cementation

Answer 25

a process in which minerals dissolved in water crystallize between sediment grains.

Question 26

Rock Cycle

Answer 26

the series of processes that change one type of rock into another type of rock.