Rock Cycle and Continental Drift

Question 1

Rock

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Mineral

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Crystallization

Answer 3

The process that occurs when particles dissolved in a liquid, lava, or magma solidify and form crystals.

Question 4

Extrusive rock

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Intrusive rock

Answer 5

The igneous rock that forms when magma cools and crystallizes inside Earth..

Question 6

Lithification

Answer 6

The process through which sediment turns into rock

Question 7

Compaction

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Cementation

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Mid-ocean ridges

Answer 9

Vast mountain ranges deep below the ocean’s surface.

Question 10

Ocean trenches

Answer 10

Deep, underwater troughs on the seafloor.

Question 11

Magma

Answer 11

Molten rock below Earth’s surface.

Question 12

Lava

Answer 12

Magma that erupts onto Earth’s surface.

Question 13

Plate tectonics

Answer 13

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 14

Convergent boundary

Answer 14

The boundary between two plates that move toward each other.

Question 15

Divergent boundary

Answer 15

Where two plates move apart from each other.

Question 16

Transform boundary

Answer 16

Where plates slide horizontally past each other.

Question 17

Subduction

Answer 17

When a denser plate collides with a light plate and is forced under the latter.

Question 18

Fault

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Volcano

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Pangaea

Answer 20

A supercontinent in which all continents were one joined together.

Question 21

Continental drift

Answer 21

The movement of continents resulting from the motion of tectonic plates.

Question 22

Volcanic arc

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Earthquake

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Fault zone

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Landslide

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Tsunami

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Impact craters

Answer 27

A crater on a planet or moon caused by the impact of a meteorite or other object, typically circular with a raised rim.

Question 28

Weathering

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Erosion

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Deposition

Answer 30

The laying down or settling of eroded material.

Question 31

Glacier

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Rock cycle

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Seafloor spreading

Answer 33

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