Earth Science

Question 1

Lithosphere

Answer 1

The outer layer of the Earth

Question 2

Asthenosphere

Answer 2

The upper layer of the Earth’s mantle, just below the lithosphere

Question 3

Mantle

Answer 3

The layer between the lithosphere and the core

Question 4

Core

Answer 4

The central region of the Earth

Question 5

Seismic Waves

Answer 5

Waves of energy that travel through the Earth’s crust caused by earthquakes

Question 6

Continental drift

Answer 6

Movement of the plates of the earth’s crust in relation to each other

Question 7

Pangaea

Answer 7

A super-continent that existed about 225 million years ago. All of the land masses at this time were joined together to create a super-continent

Question 8

Panthalassa

Answer 8

The vast sea surrounding the supercontinent of pagaea

Question 9

Plate tectonics

Answer 9

The theory concerning the movement of the continental plates

Question 10

Convection current

Answer 10

Circular movement the occurs when the warmer, less dense fluid particles rise and cooler, dense fluid particles sink

Question 11

Continental crust

Answer 11

The plates of the Earth’s crust that make up the land

Question 12

Oceanic crust

Answer 12

one of the types of crust that makes up the Earth’s outer layer. Oceanic crust is thinner than continental crust and made up of dense, heavy rocks such as basalt.

Question 13

Boundaries

Answer 13

The edges of the tectonic plates

Question 14

Subduction

Answer 14

process in which two tectonic plates push against each other, and oceanic crust sinks below the less dense continental crust

Question 15

Destructive plate boundaries

Answer 15

convergent boundary where two plates collide

Question 16

Constructive plate boundaries

Answer 16

plate that creates new land from cooling magma

Question 17

Ocean ridges

Answer 17

an area where the tectonic plates move apart, allowing magma from the mantle to rise, forming underwater volcanoes and creating new oceanic crust as it is cooled and solidified by sea water

Question 18

Conservative plate boundaries

Answer 18

boundaries between sliding plates, like the San Andreas Fault in the United States

Question 19

Laurasia

Answer 19

one of the two smaller continents created when the supercontinent Pangaea broke apart about 200 million years ago

Question 20

Gondwanaland

Answer 20

one of the two smaller continents created when the supercontinent Pangaea broke apart about 200 million years ago

Question 21

Tremors

Answer 21

vibration on the Earth’s surface caused by an earthquake

Question 22

Epicentre

Answer 22

the point on the Earth’s centre directly above the site where an earthquake originates

Question 23

Focus

Answer 23

the point at which an earthquake begins

Question 24

Triangulation

Answer 24

finding a location by using at least three different sources of detection

Question 25

Seismograph

Answer 25

an instrument used to detect and measure the intensity of an earthquake

Question 26

Richter scale

Answer 26

a scale that measures the amount of energy released during an earthquake

Question 27

P-waves

Answer 27

compression waves that move through the Earth in the same way that sound waves move through air

Question 28

Secondary

Answer 28

the second set of waves to be detected after P-waves. During seismic activity, secondary waves or S-waves travel in the form of transverse waves.

Question 29

S-waves

Answer 29

the second set of waves to be detected after P-waves. During seismic activity, secondary waves or S-waves travel in the form of transverse waves.

Question 30

Body Waves

Answer 30

waves that travel through the interior of the Earth; P-waves and S-waves are said to be body waves

Question 31

Surface waves

Answer 31

(or L-waves) earthquake waves which travel only through the Earth’s crust; they are responsible for the majority of an earthquake’s destructive power

Question 32

Seismologist

Answer 32

a scientist who studies earthquakes

Question 33

Meltdowns

Answer 33

the melting of a nuclear-reactor core as a result of a serious nuclear accident

Question 34

Volcanoes

Answer 34

natural opening in the Earth’s crust connected to areas of molten rock deep inside the crust

Question 35

Magma

Answer 35

a very hot mixture of molten rock and gases, just below the Earth’s surface, that has come from the mantle

Question 36

Lava

Answer 36

mixture of molten rock and gases that has reached the Earth’s surface from a volcano

Question 37

Volcanic bombs

Answer 37

large rock fragment that is blown out of erupting volcanoes; also known as a lava bomb

Question 38

Active

Answer 38

describes a volcano that is erupting or has recently erupted

Question 39

Extinct

Answer 39

describes a volcano that has not erupted for thousands of years and is effectively dead

Question 40

Dormant

Answer 40

describes a volcano that has not erupted for more than 20 years but is not considered extinct