science flash cards

Question 1

Name given to a super-continent that began to break apart approximately 200 million years ago.

Answer 1

Pangaea

Question 2

Wegeners hypothesis that all continents were once connected in a single large landmass that broke apart about 200 million years ago and drifted slowly to their current positions.

Answer 2

continental drift

Question 3

Long, narrow mountain range on the ocean floor; formed by magma at divergent plate boundaries.

Answer 3

mid-ocean ridges

Question 4

A deep underwater trough created by one plate sub-ducting under another plate at convergent plate boundary.

Answer 4

Ocean trenches

Question 5

Molten rock stored below Earth’s surface

Answer 5

Magma

Question 6

Magma that erupts onto Earth’s surface

Answer 6

Lava

Question 7

The process by which new oceanic crusts form along a mid-ocean ridge and older oceanic crusts move away from the ridge.

Answer 7

Seafloor spreading

Question 8

theory that Earths surface is broken into large, rigid pieces that move with respect to each other.

Answer 8

plate tectonics

Question 9

The boundary between two plates that move toward each other.

Answer 9

convergent boundary

Question 10

The boundary between two plates that move away from each other.

Answer 10

divergent boundary

Question 11

The boundary between two plates that slide past each other.

Answer 11

transform boundaries

Question 12

The process that occurs when one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate.

Answer 12

subduction

Question 13

A crack or a fracture in Earths lithosphere along which movement to occurs.

Answer 13

fault

Question 14

A vent in Earth’s crust through which molten rock flows.

Answer 14

volcano

Question 15

A curved line of volcanoes that forms parallel to a plate boundary

Answer 15

volcanic arc

Question 16

Vibrations caused by the rupture and sudden movement of rocks along a break or a crack in Earth’s crust.

Answer 16

earthquake

Question 17

An area of many fractured pieces of crust along a large fault

Answer 17

fault zone

Question 18

Rapid, downhill movement of soil, loose rocks and boulders

Answer 18

land slide

Question 19

A wave that forms when a ocean disturbance suddenly moves a large volume of water.

Answer 19

tsunami

Question 20

A round depression formed on the surface of a planet, moon, or other space object by the impact of a meteorite

Answer 20

impact craters

Question 21

The mechanical and mechanical processes that change Earth’s surface over time.

Answer 21

weathering

Question 22

The moving of weathered material or sediment from one location to another

Answer 22

erosion

Question 23

The laying down or settling of eroded material

Answer 23

deposition

Question 24

A large mass of ice, formed by snow accumulation on land, that moves slowly across Earth’s surface.

Answer 24

glacier

Question 25

A naturally occurring solid composed of minerals, rock fragments, and sometimes other materials such as organic matter

Answer 25

rock

Question 26

A naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition

Answer 26

mineral

Question 27

The process by which atoms form a solid with an orderly, repeating pattern.

Answer 27

crystallization

Question 28

Igneous rock that forms volcanic material erupts, cools, and crystallizes on Earth's surface

Answer 28

extrusive rock

Question 29

Igneous rock that forms as magma cools underground

Answer 29

intrusive rock

Question 30

The process though which sediment turns into rock

Answer 30

Lithification

Question 31

A process in which the weight from the layers of sediment forces out fluids and decreases the space between sediment grains.

Answer 31

compaction

Question 32

A process in which minerals dissolved in water crystallize between sediment grains

Answer 32

cementation

Question 33

The series of processes that change one type of rock into another type of rock.

Answer 33

rock cycle