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Definition
| A testable statement about an aspect of the natural world. |
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Term
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Definition
| A generally accepted explanation for a an aspect of the natural world. |
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| What is a Scientific Law? |
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Definition
| A theory that stands through rigorous testing over a long period of time or an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed. |
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Term
| What are the differences between a fact, a scientific theory and a scientific hypothesis? |
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Definition
| A hypothesis is a testable statement that once confirmed repeatedly becomes a theory. When that theory becomes so accepted that it no longer needs regular testing, it is considered fact. |
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Term
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Definition
The hypothesis that the creation of the Earth, including mountains, valleys, riverbeds, etc., was the result of immense worldwide disasters such as earthquakes, floods and eruptions.
It was the accepted view until the mid-eighteenth century. |
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| What is uniformitarianism? |
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Definition
A hypothesis proposed by James Hutton at the end of the eighteenth century suggesting that the Earth's modern geological features were a result of steady processes over very long periods of time.
He stated that "the present is key to the past' and that by observing current geological processes, we we could understand the rock record of very long ago events. |
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Term
| What are the three major layers of Earth's interior? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the three major layers of Earth's interior? |
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Definition
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Definition
- Outermost layer of Earth
- lowest density
- Rocks are silicon and oxygen based |
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Definition
- Rocks silicon and oxygen based, with some heavier elements such as iron and magnesium.
- Second densest of Earth's major layers. |
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Definition
- Densest layer of Earth.
- Composed primarily of metals such as iron and nickel. |
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Term
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Definition
- The outer 100 km of Earth, including the Crust and the uppermost portion of the mantle.
- Relatively strong, solid rocks. |
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Term
| What is the asthenosphere? |
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Definition
- Layer beneath the lithosphere of weak, heat softenened, slow flowing rock that still remains a solid.
- Located in the mantle from 100km-350 km |
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Term
| Which layer(s) is responsible for the mountians, volcanoes, earthquakes and ocean basins of earth? |
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Definition
| The processes within both the lithosphere and asthenosphere. |
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Term
| What are the three types of rocks? |
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Definition
| Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic |
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Term
| What are the three types of rocks? |
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Definition
| Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic |
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Term
| What are the three types of rocks? |
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Definition
| Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic |
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Term
| What are the three types of rocks? |
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Definition
| Igneous, Sedimentary, Metamorphic |
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Term
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Definition
| A naturally formed grouping of one or more minerals |
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Term
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Definition
| Naturally occuring inorganic solids that originated within the Earth |
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Definition
| Rocks that have cooled and solified from molten material either at or beneath the earth's surface. |
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Term
| What are Sedimentary Rocks? |
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Definition
Rocks that are compacted or cemented together forms of broken down pre-existing rocks. Often the original rock fell victim to the earth's rain, wind, water or gases.
May also form from accumulated and compressed remains of certain plants and animals, or dissolved chemicals that precipitate from water. |
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Term
| What are metamorphic rocks? |
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Definition
| Rocks that form when heat, pressure or chemical reactions change the mineralogy, chemical composition and structure of any type of preexisting rock. |
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Term
| What are the three types of Plate boundaries? |
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Definition
| divergent, convergent, transform |
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Term
| Describe Divergent Plate Boundaries. |
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Definition
- The plates move apart.
- Often results after rifting between two plates
- Forms ocean basins as molten lava rises between the fractures, solidifies and moves outward allowing form newer molten lava to solidify
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Term
| What is the mid-ocean ridge? |
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Definition
| A continuous chain of submarine mountains on the floor of a growing ocean. |
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Term
| Which plate boundary results in the stretching of the earth? |
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Definition
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Term
| Which plate boundary results in the contracting of the earth? |
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Definition
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Term
| Which Plate boundary results in the shearing of the earth? |
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Definition
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Term
| Describe Convergent Plate Boundaries. |
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Definition
- The plates move toward eachother.
- The earth's crust is contracted.
- The denser of two colliding plates dives beneath the other and sinks into the earth's interior where it is consumed, which is called subduction. |
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Term
| What happens when two oceanic plates converge? |
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Definition
| The denser, usually the older colder one, subducts beneath the less dense one. |
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Term
| What happens when a continental plate and an oceanic plate converge? |
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Definition
| The oceanic lithosphere is denser than the continental lithosphere thus it subducts. |
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Term
| What happens when two continental plates converge? |
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Definition
A continental collision occurs. Both are generally too buoyant to subduct into the denser underlying mantle and thus neither can completely subduct.
They begin to, before being thrown back up, forming one larger plate and often causing mountain ranges. |
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Term
| Who proposed the theory of continental drift? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the theory of continental drift? |
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Definition
| The continents drift on a denser underlying interior of the earth and occasionally break up and drift apart. They were all once joined together on a super continent called Pangaea. |
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Term
| What drives plate tectonics? |
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Definition
Two main theories are considered. Fisrt, the the mantle flow carries the continents around the globe and is kept moving in a circular, convection like motion.
Second, the hypotheses of slab push and slab pull has been presented. |
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Term
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Definition
| Gravities pull of dense plates into the mantle as a result of having converged with a less dense plate |
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Term
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Definition
| The idea that magma erupting along plate boundaries gives plates the momentum to move. |
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Term
| How is seismis tomography used to detect mantle flow? |
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Definition
Slices of the earth are made as seismis waves are used to penetrate earth and create an image of it's inerior.
Geologists collect data on the velocity of many thousands of seismic waves that pass through the earth. The waves travel fastest through the rocks that are most dense and assumedly coolest, and travel slowest through the least dense and warmest rocks. When this information is processed from all directions and analyzed by a computer it is possible to create a seismic tomography of the earth's interior. |
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