Science Vocab Cards

Question 1

Pangaea

Answer 1

Continents were once joined together in a single super continent named Pangaea.

Question 2

Continental Drift

Answer 2

A hypothesis that Wegener proposed

Question 3

Mid-ocean ridges

Answer 3

Vast mountain ranges deep below the ocean’s surface called mid-ocean ridge

Question 4

Ocean trenches

Answer 4

Deep underwater troughs on the seafloor

Question 5

Seafloor spreading

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Magma

Answer 6

The rock below the seafloor becomes molten. Molten rock below Earth’s surface is called magma

Question 7

Lava

Answer 7

When Magma erupts onto Earth’s surface it is called lava

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 boundaries

Answer 9

When two plates move toward each other

Question 10

Divergent boundaries

Answer 10

When two plates move apart from each other

Question 11

Transform boundaries

Answer 11

When plates slide horizontally past eachother

Question 12

Subduction

Answer 12

The process that occurs when one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate

Question 13

Fault

Answer 13

A crack or a fracture in Earth’s lithosphere 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 plate boundary

Question 16

Earthquake

Answer 16

Vibrations caused by 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

Rapid, downhill movement of soil, loose rocks, and boundaries

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

A round depression formed on the surface of a planet, moon, or other space object by the impact of a meteorite

Question 21

Weathering

Answer 21

The mechanical and chemical processes that change 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, formed by snow accumulation on land, that moves slowly across Earth’s surface

Question 25

Rock

Answer 25

A naturally occurring solid composed of minerals, rock fragments, and sometimes other materials such as organic matter

Question 26

Mineral

Answer 26

A naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition

Question 27

Crystallization

Answer 27

The process by which atoms form a solid with an orderly, repeating pattern

Question 28

Extrusive Rock

Answer 28

Igneous rock that forms when volcanic material erupts, cools, and crystallizes on Earth’s surface

Question 29

Intrusive Rock

Answer 29

igneous rock that forms as magma cools underground

Question 30

Lithification

Answer 30

The process through which sediment turns into rock

Question 31

Compaction

Answer 31

A process in which the weight from the layers of sediment forces out fluids and decreases the space between sediment grains

Question 32

Cementation

Answer 32

A process in which minerals dissolved in water crystallize between sediment grains

Question 33

Rock Cycle

Answer 33

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