Earth Science Flashcards
Lithosphere
The lithosphere is the outer part of the earth consisting of the crust and upper mantle.
Asthenosphere
The asthenosphere is the upper layer of the earth’s mantle below the lithosphere in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow.
Mantle
The mantel is the part of the earth between the core and the crust is where the mantel is.
Core
The Earth’s inner core is the Earth’s innermost part. It is primarily a solid ball with a radius of about 1,220 kilometres.
Seismic waves
The seismic waves of energy that travel through the Earth’s crust, caused by earthquakes.
Continental drift
The continental drift is the movement of the plates of the Earth’s crust in relation to each other.
Panthalassa
The Panthalassa is the vast sea surrounding the supercontinent of Pangaea.
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics is the theory concerning the movement of the continental plates.
Convection current
The convection current of the circular movement that occurs when warmer less dense fluid particles rise and cooler denser fluid particles sink.
Continental crust
The continental crust is the plates of the Earth’s crust that make up the land.
Oceanic cruste
The oceanic crust is the one of the types of crust that makes up the Earth’s outer layer. Oceanic crust is thinner than continental crust and made up of dense rocks.
Boundaries
Is the edges of tectonic plates.
Subduction
Is the process in which two tectonic plates push against each other, and oceanic crust sinks below the less dense continental crust.
Destructive plate boundaries
Is a convergent boundary where two plates collide.
Hotspots
Is a localised place where an activity occurs.
Constructive plate boundaries
Is the boundaries between sliding plates, like the San Andreas Fault in the United States.
Tremors
vibration on the Earth’s surface caused by an earthquake
Epicentre
the point on the Earth’s centre directly above the site where an earthquake originates
Focus
the point at which an earthquake begins
Triangulation
finding a location by using at least three different sources of detection
Seismographs
an instrument used to detect and measure the intensity of an earthquake
Richter scale
a scale that measures the amount of energy released during an earthquake
P-wave
compression waves that move through the Earth in the same way that sound waves move through air
Secondary
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.
S-waves
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.
Surface waves
or L-waves) earthquake waves which travel only through the Earth’s crust; they are responsible for the majority of an earthquake’s destructive power.
Seismologists
or L-waves) earthquake waves which travel only through the Earth’s crust; they are responsible for the majority of an earthquake’s destructive power.
Tsunamis
a powerful ocean wave triggered by an undersea earth movement.
Meltdowns
the melting of a nuclear-reactor core as a result of a serious nuclear accident.