Geology and Non-Renewable Minerals Flashcards
What are Earth’s 3 major concentric zone?
Core, Mantle, Crust
Earth’s innermost zone
core
Extremely hot and has a solid inner part, surrounded by a liquid core of molten or semisolid material
core
most of it is solid rock
mantle
What is under the rigid outermost part?
Asthenosphere
zone of hot, partly melted rock that flows and can be deformed like soft plastic
Asthenosphere
Where is the asthenosphere located?
Mantle
outermost and thinnest zone of earth
crust
Consists of the continental crust, which underlies the continents
crust
flows of energy and heated material in mantle’s convection cells cause dozen of huge rigid plates
Tectonic Plates
boundaries between tectonic plates as they separate, collide, or slide past one another
Plate Boundaries
tremendous forces produced at plate boundaries can cause?
mountains to form, earthquakes, volcanoes to erupt
oceanic plates move apart from one another
divergent
When oceanic plates move apart from one another molten rock, or magma, flows up through the resulting cracks which creates what?
oceanic ridges
oceanic plate collides with a continental plate
convergent
When an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate, the continental plate usually rides up over the denser oceanic plate and pushes it down into the mantle in a process called what?
subduction
area where collision and subduction takes place
subduction zone
plates slide and grind past one another along a fracture in the lithosphere
transform fault
most of the transform fault are located on the?
ocean floor
generated by heat from the earth’s interior
internal geologic processes
typically build up the earth’s surface in the form of continental and oceanic crust
internal geologic processes
driven directly or indirectly by energy from the sun (mostly in the form of flowing water and wind) and influenced by gravity
external geologic processes
tend to wear down the earth’s surface and move matter from one place to another
external geologic processes
physical, chemical, and biological processes that break down rocks into smaller particles that help build soil
weathering
magma reaches the earth’s surface through a central vent or a long crack
fissure
magma that reaches the earth’s surface
lava
energy that has accumulated over time is released in the form of vibration, and, which will move in all directions through the surrounding rock
seismic waves
What internal geological process is produced by seismic waves?
earthquake
volcanic activity provide benefit like
highly fertile soils produced by the weathering of lava
place where an earthquake begins
focus
often far below the earth’s surface
focus
found on the earth’s surface directly above the focus
epicenter
a series of large waves generated when part of the ocean floor suddenly rises or drops
tsunami
Tsunamis are often called what?
tidal waves
Three Major Types of Rocks
sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic
The three major types of rocks found in the earth’s crust are recycled very slowly by what processes?
erosion, melting, metamorphism
element or inorganic compound that occurs naturally in the earth’s crust
mineral
a solid with a regular internal crystalline structure
mineral
solid combination of one or more minerals found in the earth’s crust
rock
Three Broad Classes of Rock
Sedimentary rocks, Igneous rock, Metamorphic rock
made of sediments—dead plant and animal remains and existing rocks that are weathered and eroded into tiny particles
sedimentary rocks
example of sedimentary rocks are
chalk lumps, lime stone, rock salt, sand stones
forms below or on the earth’s surface when magma wells up from the earth’s upper mantle or deep crust and then cools and hardens
igneous rock
examples of igneous rock are
basalt, diorite, granites, pumice, rhyolite
when a preexisting rock is subjected to high temperatures, high pressures, chemically active fluids, or a combination of these agents
metamorphic rock forms
forces transform a rock by reshaping its internal crystalline structure and its physical properties and appearance
metamorphic rock forms
Examples of metamorphic rock forms are
marble, anthracite, phyllite, schist, slate
the interaction of physical and chemical processes that change rocks from one type to another
rock cycle
is a concentration of naturally occurring material from the earth’s crust that can be extracted and processed into useful products and raw materials
mineral resources
