Earthquake and Volcano Flashcards
Fault
a crack in the Earth’s crust
Ring of Fire
a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur
Transform/Strike-Slip
the relative horizontal slip between other tectonic plates
Divergent/Normal
a tectonic boundary where two plates are moving away from each other and new crust is forming from them
Convergent/Reverse
when two plates crash into each other and the more dense one sinks beneath the other
P-waves
seismic waves that can travel through solids and liquids
S-waves
seismic waves that can’t go through liquid
Epicenter
the point on the Earth’s surface that is directly above the point of origin of an earthquake
Focus
the point of origin of an earthquake
Richter’s Scale
a numerical scale for expressing the magnitude of an earthquake
Explosive Volcano
a violent, explosive type of eruption
Non-Explosive Volcano
lava flows are relatively calm and do not explode out of the volcano
Krakatoa
a volcanic island situated in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung
Yellowstone Super Volcano
a volcanic caldera and super volcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States
San Andreas Fault
a continental transform fault that extends roughly 1,200 kilometers through California
