Earthquakes Flashcards
(19 cards)
Ring of fire
It’s region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
Strike-slip fault
the movement of the two plates against one another and the release of built up strain.
Normal Fault
which the block above the fault has moved downward relative to the block below.
Reverse Fault
the block above the fault moves up relative to the block below the fault.
P-Waves
the fastest seismic waves and can move through solid, liquid, or gas.
S-Waves
transverse waves that travel slower than P-waves
Epicenter
the part of the earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake
Focus
the place inside Earth’s crust where an earthquake originates.
Richter magnitude scale
each one-point increase on the scale represents a 10-fold increase in the magnitude of the quake.
Explosive volcano
If a lot of gas is trapped within magma, pressure will build and build until eventually the magma erupts explosively out of the volcano
nonexplosive volcano
appears to result from rapid, sub-surface gas release from magma ascending as a permeable foam
Krakatoa
one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history
Yellowstone supervolcano
falling ash and short-term (years to decades) changes to global climate.
San Andrea’s fault
major fracture of the Earth’s crust in extreme western North America
Mid-oceanic ridge
an elevated region with a central valley on an ocean floor at the boundary between two diverging tectonic plates where new crust forms from upwelling magma.
shield volcano
Where a volcano produces low viscosity, runny lava, it spreads far from the source and forms a volcano with gentle slopes.
cinder cone volcano
a conical volcano with a low, steep profile, having been formed
composite volcano
large volcanoes
hot spot
an area on Earth over a mantle plume or an area under the rocky outer layer of Earth, called the crust
