Vocab

Question 1

Ring of Fire

Answer 1

The Ring of Fire is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.

Question 2

Strike-slip fault

Answer 2

Strike-slip tectonics is concerned with the structures formed by, and the tectonic processes associated with, zones of lateral displacement within the Earth’s crust or lithosphere.

Question 3

Normal fault

Answer 3

normal fault - a dip-slip fault in which the block above the fault has moved downward relative to the block below.

Question 4

Reverse fault

Answer 4

A reverse fault is the opposite of a normal fault—the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall.

Question 5

P-waves

Answer 5

A P wave is one of the two main types of elastic body waves, called seismic waves in seismology.

Question 6

S-waves

Answer 6

In seismology, S waves, secondary waves, or shear waves are a type of elastic wave and are one of the two main types of elastic body waves, so named because they move through the body of an object, unlike surface waves.

Question 7

epicenter

Answer 7

the point on the earth’s surface vertically above the focus of an earthquake.

Question 8

focus

Answer 8

The focus is the place inside Earth’s crust where an earthquake originates.

Question 9

Richter magnitude scale

Answer 9

The Richter scale – also called the Richter magnitude scale or Richter’s magnitude scale – is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles F. Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 paper, where he called it the “magnitude scale”.

Question 10

explosive volcano

Answer 10

In volcanology, an explosive eruption is a volcanic eruption of the most violent type.

Question 11

nonexplosive volcano

Answer 11

Nonexplosive eruptions are the most common type of volcanic eruptions.

Question 12

Krakatoa

Answer 12

Krakatoa, also transcribed Krakatau, is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung.

Question 13

Yellowstone supervolcano

Answer 13

The Yellowstone Caldera is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano.

Question 14

San Andreas fault

Answer 14

The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly 1,200 kilometers through California.

Question 15

Mid-oceanic ridge

Answer 15

A mid-ocean ridge is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of ~ 2,600 meters and rises about two kilometers above the deepest portion of an ocean basin.

Question 16

shield volcano

Answer 16

A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually composed almost entirely of fluid lava flows.

Question 17

cinder cone volcano

Answer 17

A cinder cone is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or cinder that has been built around a volcanic vent.

Question 18

composite volcano

Answer 18

A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava and tephra.

Question 19

hot spot

Answer 19

A hot spot is an area on Earth over a mantle plume or an area under the rocky outer layer of Earth, called the crust, where magma is hotter than surrounding magma.

Question 20

Mt. Vesuvius

Answer 20

Mount Vesuvius is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km east of Naples and a short distance from the shore.