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| The dense, intensely hot mass of molten metal, mostly iron and nickel, thousands of kilometers in diameter at the earth’s center. |
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| The cool, lightweight outermost layer of the earth’s surface that floats on the soft pliable underlying layers: similar to a “skin” on a bowl of warm pudding. |
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| Sudden, violent movement of the Earth’s crust. |
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| A technique for separating gold from extremely low-grade ores. Crushed ore is piled in huge heaps and sprayed with a dilute alkaline-cyanide solution, which percolates through the pile to extract the gold, which is separated from the effluent in a processing plant. This process has a high potential for water pollution. |
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| Crystalline minerals solidified from molten magna from deep in the Earth’s interior; basalt, rhyolite, andesite, lava, and granite are examples. |
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| Molten rock from deep in the Earth’s interior; called lava when it spews from volcanic vents. |
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| A hot, pliable layer of rock that surrounds the Earth’s core and underlies the cool outer crust. |
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| Mass movement of geological materials downhill caused by rockslides, avalanches or simple slumping. |
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| Igneous or sedimentary rocks modified by heat, pressure, chemical reactions. |
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| A naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline solid with definite chemical composition and characteristic physical properties. |
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| A solid, cohesive aggregate of one or more crystalline minerals. |
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| The process whereby rocks are broken down by chemical and physical forces; sediments are moved by wind water and gravity, sedimented and reformed into rock, and then crushed, folded, melted and recrystallized into new forms. |
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| Deposited material that remains in place long enough or is covered with enough material to compact into stone; examples include shale, sandstone, breccia, and conglomerates. |
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| The deposition of organic materials or minerals by chemical, physical or biological processes. |
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| Heating ores to extract metals. |
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| Huge blocks of the Earth’s crust that slide around slowly, pulling apart to open new ocean basins or crashing ponderously into each other, to create newer, larger landmasses. |
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| Giant seismic sea swells that move rapidly from the center of an earthquake. They can be 10 to 20 meters high. |
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| Vents in the Earth’s surface through which gases, ash or molten lava are ejected. Also a mountain formed by this ejecta. |
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| Changes in rocks brought about by exposure to air, water, changing temperatures, and reactive chemical agents. |
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| Minute particles or liquid droplets suspended in the air. |
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| A description of a surface's reflective properties. |
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| A description of the long-term pattern of weather in a particular area. |
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| A moving boundry of colder air displacing warmer air. |
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| Rising or sinking air currents that stir the atomshpere and transport heat from one area to another. |
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| The influence of friction and drag on air layers near the Earth; deflects air currents to the direction of the Earth's rotation. |
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| Straight line winds over 100 mph that generate from a supercell. Also called a downdraft. When the supercell isn't organized enough to generate a tornado. |
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| A climatic change marked by shifting of a large warm water pool from the Western Pacific Ocean towards the East. |
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| Gases in the atmoshere are transparent to visable light but absorb infared (heat) waves that are reradiated from the Earth's surface. |
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| Large cyclonic oceanic storms with heavy rain and winds exceeding 74 mph. |
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| Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
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| An international organization formed to assess global climate change and its impacts. |
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| Powerful winds or currents of air that cirrculate in shifting flows; similar to oceanic currents in extent and effect on climate. |
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| A international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. |
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| The part of a large scale oscillation in the Pacific in which trade winds hold warm surface waters in the western part of the basin and cause an upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich, deep water in the eastern part of the ocean. |
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| Stored energy in a form that is not sensible (detectable). |
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| Periodic variations in tilt, eccentricity, and wobble in the earth's orbit; Milutin Milankovitch suggested it was responsible for cyclic weather changes. |
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| A seasonal reversal of wind patterns caused by the different heating and cooling rates of the oceans and continents. |
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| A hightly reactive molecule containing three oxygen atoms; a dangerous pollutant in ambient air. In the stratosphere, however, ozone forms an ultraviolet absorbing shield that protects us from mutagenic radiation. |
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| Pacific Decadal Oscillation |
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| A large pool of warm water that moves North and South in the Pacific Ocean every 30 years or so and has large effects on North America's climate. |
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| The zone in the atmosphere extending from the tropopause about 30 miles about the Earth's surface; temperatures are stable or rise slightly with altitude; has very little water vapor but is rich in ozone. |
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| A violent storm characterized by strong swirling winds and updrafts; tornados form when a strong cold front pushes under a warm, moist air mass over the land. |
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| The layer of air nearest to the Earth's surface; both temperature and pressure usually decrease with increasing altitude. |
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| A long, wedge-shaped boundry caused when a warmer advancing air mass slides over neighboring cooler air parcels. |
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| Description of the physical conditions of the atmosphere (moisture, temperature, pressure and wind). |
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