Check-In 1/12: mineral, rock, crystallization, melting, deformation, magma, silicates, supersaturation, nucleation site
Check-In 1/22: igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic, rock cycle, extrusive, intrusive, basaltic, granitic
Check-In 2/3: absolute dating, relative dating, index fossils, Law of Superposition, Law of Horizontality, Law of Continuity, radioactive dating, half-life
Check-In 2/5: plate tectonics, continental drift, Pangaea, evidence, theory, opposition, plates, seafloor spreading
Check In 2/6: crust, mantle, core, lithosphere, asthenosphere, convection current
Check-In 2/11: subduction, convergent, divergent, transform, earthquake, supervolcano
Vocabulary Set #1:
mineral - naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a definite chemical composition and an orderly arrangement of atoms in crystals.
rock - mixture of one or minerals, volcanic glass, organic matter, or other materials
crystallization - cooling of magma or lava into orderly arranged structure
melting - when an increase in temperature causes the particle of a substance to break their bonds and become a liquid
deformation - a change in shape or structure caused by stress or pressure
magma - hot, melted rock material beneath the Earth’s surface
silicates - the most abundant mineral group on Earth, made of silicon and oxygen (ex. quartz, feldspar, muscovite)
Vocabulary Set #2:
igneous - intrusive or extrusive rock formed from the cooling of magma
sedimentary - rock formed when sediments are compacted and cemented together or when minerals come out of solution or are left behind by evaporation
metamorphic - rock that is formed from heat, pressure that affects form and/or composition
rock cycle - model that describes how rocks slowly change from one form to another through time
extrusive - fine-grained igneous rock that forms when magma cools quickly at or near the Earth's surface
intrusive - igneous rock that generally contains large crystals and forms when magma cools slowly beneath the Earth’s surface
basaltic - dense, dark-colored igneous rock formed from magma rich in magnesium and iron and poor in silica
granitic - light-colored, silica rich igneous rock that is less dense than basaltic rock
Vocabulary Set #3
absolute dating: a method to determine the actual age in years of an object using radiometric dating
relative dating: a method to determine the age of an object in relation to other objects, specifically using fossils and rock layers
radioactive dating: measures age by comparing the amount of radioactive element isotope present to how much is normally present in that material
half - life: the amount of time (years) it takes for 1/2 of the radioactive isotope to decay by 1/2, indicates the age of the object.
The Law of Superposition Says: “ The rocks at the bottom are OLDER than the rocks above”
intrusions: Hot magma came up through the rock that was already there and hardened. The intrusions are younger than the surrounding rocks.
index fossils: Fossils used to help date rocks based on their position in Earth's layers
Vocabulary Set #4
evidence - the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid
theory - an explanation of some observable phenomena that is both supported with evidence and supported by the scientific community and often used to make predictions
opposition - a person or group of people opposing, criticizing, or protesting something, someone, or another group
continental drift - the gradual movement of the continents across Earth's surface through geological time
Pangaea - the supercontinent made up of all the world's present landmasses joined together approximately 300 million years ago
plates - the layer of the Earth that move and whose interaction causes continental shifting, earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, and oceanic trenches
plate tectonics - a scientific theory that describes the large-scale motions of Earth's crust
seafloor spreading - a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge
Vocabulary Set #5
crust - the thin and solid outermost layer of the Earth above the mantle, part of the lithosphere -- there are two types, thicker but less dense continental crust and thinner but more dense oceanic crust
mantle - the thick layer of hot solid material between the crust and core
asthenosphere - the solid plastic layer that flows very slowly allowing tectonic plates to move on top of it by convection currents
core - the two part center of the Earth, the spinning, liquid outer portion and the solid nickel inner portion
lithosphere - the solid outer layer of Earth that consists of the crust and the upper mantle
convection current - the continual process of hot magma rising through the asthenosphere, cooling as it nears the lithosphere and sinking
Vocabulary Set #6
subduction - when the edge of a plate of the earth's crust dives into the mantle beneath another plate.
convergent - where two plates come together
divergent - where two plates move apart
transform - where two plate slide pass each other
earthquake - a sudden and violent shaking of the ground as a result of movements within the earth's crust