Unit 2 Dynamic Earth Vocabulary

Question 1

Pangea

Answer 1

Name given to a supercontinent that began to break apart approximately 200 million years ago.

Question 2

Continental Drift

Answer 2

Wegner’s hypothesis is that all continents were once connected in a single large landmass that broke apart about 200 million years ago and slowly drifted into position.

Question 3

Mid-ocean Ridges

Answer 3

Long, narrow mountain range on the ocean floor;
formed by magma at divergent plate boundaries.

Question 4

Seafloor Spreading

Answer 4

the process by which new oceanic crust forms along a mid-ocean ridge and older oceanic crust moves away from the ridge.

Question 5

Ocean Trenches

Answer 5

A deep, underwater trough created by one plate subducting under another plate at a convergent plate boundary.

Question 6

Magma

Answer 6

Molten rock stored below Earth’s surface.

Question 7

Lava

Answer 7

Lava that erupts onto the Earth’s surface.

Question 8

Plate Tectonics

Answer 8

Theory that Earth’s surface is broken into large, ridged pieces that move with respect to each other.

Question 9

Convergent Boundaries

Answer 9

A boundary between two plates that move towards each other.

Question 10

Divergent Bounderies

Answer 10

A boundary between two plates that move away from each other.

Question 11

Transformed Bounderies

Answer 11

A boundary between two plates that move past each other.

Question 12

Subduction

Answer 12

The prosses 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 volcanos that forms a parallel to a plate boundary.

Question 16

Earthquake

Answer 16

Vibrations caused by rupture and sudden movement of rocks along break or a crack in the Earth.

Question 17

Fault Zone

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Landside

Answer 18

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

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 prosses that changes Earth’s surface over time.

Question 22

Erosion

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Deposition

Answer 23

The laying down or settling of materials.

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 solids composed of minerals, rock fragments, and sometimes other minerals such as organic matter.

Question 26

Mineral

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Crystallization

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Extrusive Rock

Answer 28

Ignious rocks that form when volcanic material erupts, cools, and crystallizes on Earth’s surface.

Question 29

Intrusive Rock

Answer 29

Igneous rock that forms from magma and cools underground.

Question 30

Lithification

Answer 30

The process in which sediment turns to 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 grains.

Question 32

Cementaion

Answer 32

A process in which minerals dissolved in water crystalize between sediment grains.

Question 33

Rock Cycle

Answer 33

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