Tectonic Keywords Flashcards
Ash falls
Small particles of rock and volcanic glass that land after a volcanic eruption has blasted them into the air
Asthenosphere
The part of the mantle, below the lithosphere, where the rock is semi molten
Benioff zone
The area where friction is created between colliding tectonic plates, resulting in intermediate and deep earthquakes
Body waves
The group name for primary and secondary seismic waves, because they travel through the earths body
Collision margin
Where two continental plates meet and the sediments between them are crumpled and forced up to form high fold mountains
Conservative plate margin
Where two plates slide past each other also known as a transform margin
Constructive margin
Where two plates move apart, also known as a divergent boundary
Continental crust
Older, thicker layer of crust, which makes up the earths landmasses. It is less dense than oceanic crust
Convection currents
Hot, liquid magma currents moving in the asthenosphere
Convergent boundary
Where two plates move towards each other and collide, also know as a destructive margin
Crustal fracturing
When energy released during an earthquake causes the earths crust to crack
Deep ocean trench
A deep ditch in the ocean, marking the place where an oceanic plate starts to sink beneath a continental plate
Destructive margin
Where two plates move towards each other and collide, also known as a convergent boundary
Divergent boundary
Where two plates move apart, also known as a constructive margin
Epicentre
The point on the earths surface directly above the focus
Focus
The point inside the earths crust from which the pressure is released when an earthquake occurs
Fold mountains
Chains of mountains, formed when two plates collide and the continental plate is folded and slowly pushed up
Gas eruptions
When volcanic gases (water vapour, carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide) that were dissolved in the magma are released into the atmosphere during an eruption
Hazard adaptation
Strategies designed to reduce the impacts of hazard events
Hazard mitigation
Strategies meant to avoid, delay or prevent hazard events
Hazard management cycle
a theoretical model of hazard management as a continuous 4-stage cycle involving mitigation, preparation, response and recovery
Hot spot
an area where radioactive decay within the Earth’s core is concentrated, generating very hot temperatures and heating the lower mantle. This creates localised thermal currents where magma plumes rise
hydrometeorological hazards
natural hazards caused by climate processes (including droughts, floods, hurricanes and storms)