Rock Cycle and Continental Drift

Question 1

Pangaea

Answer 1

A supercontinent that was joined by all of Earth’s continents.

Question 2

Continental Drift

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Mid Ocean Ridge

Answer 3

Vast mountain ranges deep below the ocean’s surface.

Question 4

Ocean Trenches

Answer 4

Deep, underwater troughs on the seafloor.

Question 5

Seafloor Spreading

Answer 5

The process in which new oceanic crust continuously forms along mid ocean ridges and is destroyed at ocean trenches.

Question 6

Magma

Answer 6

Molten rock below Earth’s surface.

Question 7

Lava

Answer 7

Magma that erupts onto Earth’s surface.

Question 8

Plate Tectonics

Answer 8

A theory that states that Earth’s surface is made of rigid slabs of rock, or plates, that move with respect to each other.

Question 9

Convergent Boundary

Answer 9

The boundary between two plates that move toward each other.

Question 10

Divergent Boundary

Answer 10

The boundary where two plates move apart from each other.

Question 11

Transform Boundary

Answer 11

Where plates slide horizontally past each other.

Question 12

Subduction

Answer 12

The sideways and downward movement of the edge of a plate of the Earth’s crust into the mantle beneath another plate.

Question 13

Fault

Answer 13

A break in Earth’s crust along which movement occurs.

Question 14

Volcano

Answer 14

A vent in Earth’s crust through which molten rock flows.

Question 15

Volcanic Arc

Answer 15

A curved line of volcanoes that forms parallel to a plate boundary.

Question 16

Earthquake

Answer 16

The rupture and sudden movement of rocks along a break or a crack in Earth’s crust.

Question 17

Fault Zone

Answer 17

An area of many fractured pieces of crust along a large fault.

Question 18

Landslide

Answer 18

The rapid downhill movement of soil, loose rocks, and boulders.

Question 19

Tsunami

Answer 19

A wave that forms when an ocean disturbance suddenly moves a large volume of water.

Question 20

Impact Craters

Answer 20

Giant, circular depressions in Earth’s surface made from meteoroid impacts.

Question 21

Weathering

Answer 21

Any natural process that changes objects on Earth’s surface over time.

Question 22

Erosion

Answer 22

The moving of weathered material, or sediment, from one location to another.

Question 23

Deposition

Answer 23

The laying down or settling of eroded material.

Question 24

Glacier

Answer 24

A large mass of ice that forms on land and moves slowly across Earth’s surface.

Question 25

Rock

Answer 25

A naturally occuring solid mixture composed of minerals, smaller rock fragments, organic matter, or glass.

Question 26

Mineral

Answer 26

A naturally occuring, inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and an orderly arrangement of atoms or ions.

Question 27

Crystallization

Answer 27

Occurs when particles dissolved in liquid, lava, or magma solidify and form crystals.

Question 28

Extrusive Rock

Answer 28

Igneous rock that forms when lava cools and crystallizes on Earth’s surface.

Question 29

Intrusive Rock

Answer 29

Igneous rock that forms when magma cools and crystallizes inside Earth.

Question 30

Lithification

Answer 30

The process through which sediment turns into rock.

Question 31

Compaction

Answer 31

The process where the weight from the layers of sediment forces out fluids and decreases the space between grains.

Question 32

Cementation

Answer 32

Occurs when minerals dissolved in surrounding water crystallize between grains of sediment.

Question 33

Rock Cycle

Answer 33

The series of processes that change one type of rock into another type of rock.