Rock Cycle and Continental Drift Flashcards
Pangaea
A supercontinent that was joined by all of Earth’s continents.
Continental Drift
The gradual movement of the continents across the Earth’s surface through geological time.
Mid Ocean Ridge
Vast mountain ranges deep below the ocean’s surface.
Ocean Trenches
Deep, underwater troughs on the seafloor.
Seafloor Spreading
The process in which new oceanic crust continuously forms along mid ocean ridges and is destroyed at ocean trenches.
Magma
Molten rock below Earth’s surface.
Lava
Magma that erupts onto Earth’s surface.
Plate Tectonics
A theory that states that Earth’s surface is made of rigid slabs of rock, or plates, that move with respect to each other.
Convergent Boundary
The boundary between two plates that move toward each other.
Divergent Boundary
The boundary where two plates move apart from each other.
Transform Boundary
Where plates slide horizontally past each other.
Subduction
The sideways and downward movement of the edge of a plate of the Earth’s crust into the mantle beneath another plate.
Fault
A break in Earth’s crust along which movement occurs.
Volcano
A vent in Earth’s crust through which molten rock flows.
Volcanic Arc
A curved line of volcanoes that forms parallel to a plate boundary.
Earthquake
The rupture and sudden movement of rocks along a break or a crack in Earth’s crust.
Fault Zone
An area of many fractured pieces of crust along a large fault.
Landslide
The rapid downhill movement of soil, loose rocks, and boulders.
Tsunami
A wave that forms when an ocean disturbance suddenly moves a large volume of water.
Impact Craters
Giant, circular depressions in Earth’s surface made from meteoroid impacts.
Weathering
Any natural process that changes objects on Earth’s surface over time.
Erosion
The moving of weathered material, or sediment, from one location to another.
Deposition
The laying down or settling of eroded material.
Glacier
A large mass of ice that forms on land and moves slowly across Earth’s surface.
Rock
A naturally occuring solid mixture composed of minerals, smaller rock fragments, organic matter, or glass.
Mineral
A naturally occuring, inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and an orderly arrangement of atoms or ions.
Crystallization
Occurs when particles dissolved in liquid, lava, or magma solidify and form crystals.
Extrusive Rock
Igneous rock that forms when lava cools and crystallizes on Earth’s surface.
Intrusive Rock
Igneous rock that forms when magma cools and crystallizes inside Earth.
Lithification
The process through which sediment turns into rock.
Compaction
The process where the weight from the layers of sediment forces out fluids and decreases the space between grains.
Cementation
Occurs when minerals dissolved in surrounding water crystallize between grains of sediment.
Rock Cycle
The series of processes that change one type of rock into another type of rock.
