Earth Science

Question 1

Lithosphere

Answer 1

The outermost layer of the earth which is also known as the crust.

Question 2

Asthenosphere

Answer 2

Layer of the earth between the lithosphere and the mantle. Also versatile between solid and liquid.

Question 3

Mantle

Answer 3

Liquid layer of the earth that is made up of rocks and takes up 80% of the earths volume

Question 4

Core

Answer 4

Contains two layers of the earth which are situated on the inside and outside. It is also the hottest part of the earth.

Question 5

Seismic waves

Answer 5

waves of energy that travel through the Earth’s crust, caused by earthquakes

Question 6

Continental drift

Answer 6

movement of the plates of the Earth’s crust in relation to each other

Question 7

Pangaea

Answer 7

A super-continent that existed about 225 million years ago.

Question 8

Panthalassa

Answer 8

the vast sea surrounding the supercontinent of Pangaea

Question 9

Plate Tectonics

Answer 9

the theory concerning the movement of the continental plates

Question 10

Convection Current

Answer 10

circular movement that occurs when warmer, less dense fluid particles rise and cooler, denser fluid particles sink

Question 11

Continental Crust

Answer 11

the plates of the Earth’s crust that make up the land

Question 12

Oceanic Crust

Answer 12

one of the types of crust that makes up the Earth’s outer layer.

Question 13

Boundaries

Answer 13

the edges of tectonic plates

Question 14

Subduction

Answer 14

process in which two tectonic plates push against each other

Question 15

Destructive plate boundaries

Answer 15

a convergent boundary where two plates collide

Question 16

Constructive plate boundaries

Answer 16

plate that creates new land from cooling magma

Question 17

Ocean ridges

Answer 17

an area where the tectonic plates move apart, allowing magma from the mantle to rise. This forms underwater volcanos

Question 18

Conservative plate boundaries

Answer 18

boundaries between sliding plates

Question 19

Laurasia

Answer 19

one of the two smaller continents created when the supercontinent Pangaea broke apart about 200 million years ago

Question 20

Gondwanaland

Answer 20

one of the two smaller continents created when the supercontinent Pangaea broke apart about 200 million years ago

Question 21

Hotspots

Answer 21

a localised place where an activity occurs

Question 22

Tremors

Answer 22

vibration on the Earth’s surface caused by an earthquake

Question 23

Epicentre

Answer 23

the point on the Earth’s centre directly above the site where an earthquake originates

Question 24

Focus

Answer 24

the point at which an earthquake begins

Question 25

Triangulation

Answer 25

finding a location by using at least three different sources of detection

Question 26

Seismograph

Answer 26

an instrument used to detect and measure the intensity of an earthquake

Question 27

Richer scale

Answer 27

a scale that measures the amount of energy released during an earthquake

Question 28

Primary waves

Answer 28

compression waves that move through the Earth in the same way that sound waves move through air

Question 29

Secondary waves

Answer 29

the second set of waves to be detected after P-waves. During seismic activity, secondary waves or S-waves travel in the form of transverse waves.

Question 30

Body waves

Answer 30

waves that travel through the interior of the Earth; P-waves and S-waves are said to be body waves

Question 31

Surface waves

Answer 31

earthquake waves which travel only through the Earth’s crust; they are responsible for the majority of an earthquake’s destructive power

Question 32

Seismologists

Answer 32

a scientist who studies earthquakes

Question 33

Tsunamis

Answer 33

a powerful ocean wave triggered by an undersea earth movement

Question 34

Meltdowns

Answer 34

the melting of a nuclear-reactor core as a result of a serious nuclear accident

Question 35

Volcanoes

Answer 35

natural opening in the Earth’s crust connected to areas of molten rock deep inside the crust

Question 36

Magma

Answer 36

a very hot mixture of molten rock and gases, just below the Earth’s surface, that has come from the mantle

Question 37

Lava

Answer 37

mixture of molten rock and gases that has reached the Earth’s surface from a volcano

Question 38

Volcanic bombs

Answer 38

large rock fragment that is blown out of erupting volcanoes; also known as a lava bomb

Question 39

Active

Answer 39

describes a volcano that is erupting or has recently erupted

Question 40

Extinct

Answer 40

describes a volcano that has not erupted for thousands of years and is effectively dead

Question 41

Dormant

Answer 41

describes a volcano that has not erupted for more than 20 years but is not considered extinct