Vocab Flashcards
(27 cards)
What does brittle mean?
Breaks easily without bending.
What does ductile mean?
Can bend or flow without breaking.
What is subduction?
When one plate sinks under another.
Define divergent boundary.
Where plates move apart.
What is a mid-ocean ridge?
An underwater mountain where new crust forms.
What is a transform plate boundary?
Plates sliding past each other.
What is seafloor spreading?
Formation of new ocean crust at mid-ocean ridges.
What is gravity?
Force pulling objects toward Earth’s center.
Define ridge push.
Force pushing plates away from mid-ocean ridges.
Define slab pull.
Force pulling sinking plates down at subduction zones.
Mass vs weight?
Mass = amount of matter; weight = force of gravity on mass.
What is a rift valley?
A valley where plates pull apart on land.
What is a deep sea trench?
A deep ocean valley formed at subduction zones.
What is an epicenter?
Surface point above an earthquake’s focus.
What is a focus?
Point inside Earth where an earthquake starts.
What are tectonic plates?
Large pieces of Earth’s lithosphere that move.
What is refraction?
Bending of waves passing through different materials.
What is a seismogram?
A record of seismic waves.
What is a seismometer/seismograph?
Device that detects and records earthquakes.
What are geologic features?
Landforms created by Earth’s processes.
What are geologic processes?
Natural events that change Earth’s surface.
What is a shadow zone?
Area where some p waves and s don’t arrive due to Earth’s core and cannot be ssen
What are faults?
Breaks in Earth’s crust where movement occurs.
