Geology Terms

Question 1

What is Plate Tectonics?

Answer 1

A theory explaining the structure of the earth’s crust and many associated phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates that move slowly over the underlying mantle.

Question 2

What is Continental Drift?

Answer 2

The gradual movement of the continents across the earth’s surface through geological time.

Question 3

What is Erosion?

Answer 3

The gradual destruction or diminution of something.

Question 4

What is Weathering?

Answer 4

Wear away or change the appearance or texture of (something) by long exposure to the air.

Question 5

What is Pangaea?

Answer 5

Pangaea was a super-continent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It formed approximately 300 million years ago and then began to break apart after about 100 million years.

Question 6

What is an Earthquake?

Answer 6

A sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth’s crust or volcanic action.

Question 7

What is Glaciation?

Answer 7

The process, condition, or result of being covered by glaciers or ice sheets.

Question 8

What is Igneous Rock?

Answer 8

Rocks formed from the cooling of lava.

Question 9

What is Sedimentary Rock?

Answer 9

Sedimentary rocks are formed by sediment that is deposited over time, usually as layers at the bottom of lakes and oceans.

Question 10

What is Metamorphic Rock?

Answer 10

Metamorphic rocks are created by the physical or chemical alteration by heat and pressure of an existing igneous or sedimentary material into a denser form.

Question 11

What is a Tsunami?

Answer 11

A giant wave created after an earthquake.

Question 12

What is the Mid-Atlantic Rift?

Answer 12

A divergent tectonic plate or constructive plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world.

Question 13

What is a Volcano?

Answer 13

A mountain or hill, typically conical, having a crater or vent through which lava, rock fragments, hot vapor, and gas are being or have been erupted from the earth’s crust.

Question 14

What are the Appalachians?

Answer 14

The Appalachian Mountains, also called Appalachians , are the great highland system of North America, the eastern counterpart of the Rocky Mountains. Extending for almost 3,200 kilometers from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador to central Alabama in the United States.

Question 15

What is the Canadian Shield?

Answer 15

The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien, is a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks.

Question 16

What is the Western Cordillera?

Answer 16

The Western Cordilleran region is a series of mountain belts some 500 miles (800 km) wide along Canada’s Pacific coast.

Question 17

What are the Interior Plains?

Answer 17

The Interior Plains is a vast physiographic region that spreads across the Laurentian craton of central North America.

Question 18

What is the Precambrian era?

Answer 18

Precambrian time, period of time that extends from about 4.6 billion years ago (the point at which Earth began to form) to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, 542 million years ago. The Precambrian era represents more than 80 percent of the total geologic record.

Question 19

What is the Paleozoic era?

Answer 19

The Paleozoic Era, which ran from about 542 million years ago to 251 million years ago, was a time of great change on Earth. The era began with the breakup of one super-continent and the formation of another.

Question 20

What is the Mesozoic era?

Answer 20

The Mesozoic Era is an interval of geological time from about 252 to 66 million years ago.

Question 21

What is the Cenozoic era?

Answer 21

The Cenozoic spans only about 65 million years, and is sometimes called the Age of Mammals, because the largest land animals have been mammals during that time.