Terms

Question 1

portion of mantle below the lithosphere

Answer 1

asthenosphere

Question 2

the varied weather produced by weather cycles

Answer 2

climate

Question 3

all the earth system components that determine global climate along with its changes

Answer 3

climate system

Question 4

the process of hotter material rising and cooler material sinking

Answer 4

convection

Question 5

the dense center of the earth

Answer 5

core

Question 6

part of the earth’s makeup directly under our feet composed of Lowe density silicates

Answer 6

crust

Question 7

all parts of our planet and their interactions

Answer 7

earth system

Question 8

traces of organisms preserved in the geologic record

Answer 8

fossil

Question 9

a very old earth science that studies earth’s shape and surface

Answer 9

geodesy

Question 10

an electromagnet in the outer core

Answer 10

geodynamo

Question 11

formation preserved in rocks over time

Answer 11

geologic record

Question 12

the study of all aspects of the planet

Answer 12

geology

Question 13

specialized subsystems that produce specific types of activity such as climate change or mountain building

Answer 13

geosystem

Question 14

a strong outer shell under the surface of the earth

Answer 14

lithosphere

Question 15

caused by the geodynamo inside the earth’s liquid outer core and reaches far into outerspace

Answer 15

magnetic field

Question 16

the convecting mantle and its lithospheric plates

Answer 16

plate tectonic system

Question 17

the idea that earth’s processes today have worked the same way throughout the geologic past

Answer 17

uniformitarianism

Question 18

the general procedure for discovering how everything works

Answer 18

scientific method

Question 19

allow geologists to locate earthquakes and learn about earth’s inner workings

Answer 19

seismic wave

Question 20

the smooth curvature of earth’s surface broken by mountains and valleys

Answer 20

topography

Question 21

large scale movement of continents

Answer 21

continental drift

Question 22

convection in the mantle that pushes and pulls continents apart, creating new oceanic crust

Answer 22

seafloor spreading

Question 23

a supercontinent that broke into today’s continents

Answer 23

Pangaea

Question 24

plates move apart to form new lithosphere

Answer 24

divergent boundaries

Question 25

plates come together and one plate is recycled into the mantle

Answer 25

convergent boundaries

Question 26

plates slide horizontally past each other

Answer 26

transform fault boundaries

Question 27

rifting and spreading along a mid-ocean ridge creating new oceanic lithosphere

Answer 27

spreading center

Question 28

where one plate descends beneath the other

Answer 28

subduction

Question 29

the result of magma producing a chain of volcanoes

Answer 29

island arc

Question 30

the intensity of the magnetic field alternated between high and low values

Answer 30

magnetic anomaly

Question 31

hundreds of measurements around the world

Answer 31

magnetic time scale

Question 32

the combination of the spreading rate and the spreading direction

Answer 32

relative plate velocity

Question 33

the boundaries between bands or contours of equal seafloor age

Answer 33

isochrons

Question 34

evidence from rock types, fossils, and magnetization that helped reconstruct a supercontinent older than Pangaea

Answer 34

Rodinia

Question 35

a type of narrow upwelling

Answer 35

mantle plume

Question 36

the branch of geology that studies the composition, structure, stability, associations, etc. of minerals

Answer 36

mineralogy

Question 37

a naturally occurring solid crystalline substance with a specific chemical composition

Answer 37

mineral

Question 38

number of protons in the nucleus of an atom

Answer 38

atomic number

Question 39

the sum of the masses of its protons and neutrons

Answer 39

atomic mass

Question 40

atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons

Answer 40

isotopes

Question 41

sharing electrons between reacting atoms

Answer 41

electron sharing

Question 42

a positively charged ion

Answer 42

cation

Question 43

a negatively charged ion

Answer 43

anion

Question 44

the simplest form of chemical bond

Answer 44

ionic bond

Question 45

the process in which atoms of a gas or liquid come together in the proper chemical portions and arrangement to form a solid substance

Answer 45

crystallization

Question 46

orderly three dimensional arrays of atoms in which basic arrangement is repeated in all directions

Answer 46

crystals

Question 47

minerals with alternative structures formed from the same chemical element or compound

Answer 47

polymorphs

Question 48

mass per unit volume expressed in grams per cubic centimeter

Answer 48

density

Question 49

the scale based on the ability of one mineral to scratch another

Answer 49

Mohs scale of hardness

Question 50

the weight of a mineral divided by the weight of equal volume of pure water at 4 degrees Celsius

Answer 50

specific gravity

Question 51

the shape in which individual crystals or aggregates of crystals grow

Answer 51

crystal habit

Question 52

the formation of parallel layers of sediment as particles are deposited

Answer 52

bedding

Question 53

where high pressures and temperatures extend over large regions as happens where plates collide

Answer 53

regional metamorphism

Question 54

where high temperatures are restricted to smaller areas as in the rocks are transformed

Answer 54

contact metamorphism

Question 55

how each rock is transformed into one of the others

Answer 55

rock cycle

Question 56

rich deposits of minerals from which valuable metals can be recovered profitably

Answer 56

ores

Question 57

formed around bodies of molten rock

Answer 57

hydrothermal solutions

Question 58

deposits of precipitated minerals in the fractures

Answer 58

veins

Question 59

deposits of ore minerals that are scattered through volumes of rock larger than veins

Answer 59

disseminated deposits

Question 60

magma flowing onto the earth's surface

Answer 60

lava

Question 61

an igneous rock that forced its way into the surrounding rock and solidified without reaching earth's surface

Answer 61

intrusive igneous rock

Question 62

formed from fragments of lava thrown into the air

Answer 62

pyroclasts

Question 63

made of extremely small fragments that form when escaping gases fore a fine spray of magma

Answer 63

volcanic ash

Question 64

larger particles hurled from a volcano

Answer 64

bombs

Question 65

frothy mass of volcanic glass

Answer 65

pumice

Question 66

igneous rock with mixed texture in which large crystals float

Answer 66

porphyry

Question 67

poor in iron and magnesium and rich in Celtic minerals that are high in silica

Answer 67

Celtic rocks

Question 68

not rich in silica as Celtic rocks or as poor in it as magic rocks

Answer 68

intermediate igneous rocks

Question 69

rocks that contain large proportions of pyroxenes and olivines

Answer 69

mafic rocks

Question 70

consist primarily of magic minerals with a small percentage of feldspar

Answer 70

ultramafic rocks

Question 71

the measure of a liquid's resistance to flow

Answer 71

viscosity

Question 72

large pools of molten rock

Answer 72

magma chambers

Question 73

a process by which rocks of varying composition can arise from a uniform parent magma

Answer 73

magmatic differentiation

Question 74

the process by which the crystals formed in a cooling magma are segregated from the remaining liquid rock

Answer 74

fractional crystallization

Question 75

large igneous bodies formed deep in earth's crust

Answer 75

plutons

Question 76

the largest plutons

Answer 76

batholiths

Question 77

smaller plutons

Answer 77

stocks

Question 78

how plutons cut across the layers of the country rock that they intrude

Answer 78

discordant intrusions

Question 79

a sheetlike body formed by the injection of magma between parallel layers of bedded country rock

Answer 79

sill

Question 80

boundaries that lie parallel to the country rock layers whether or not those layers are horizontal

Answer 80

concordant intrusions

Question 81

major route of magma transport in the crust

Answer 81

dikes