What is GEOLOGY?
the study of the earth
What is a fault?
The place where the plates meet and crack are called faults.
What is the name of the scale we use to measure the magnitude of an earthquake?
The Richter Scale
Name the 4 layers of the earth
Crust, mantle, Outer Core, Inner Core
Describe the outer core of the earth's layers.
The outer core is about 1,240 miles thick and is made out of mostly liquid iron with some nickel and silicon. This section is also very, very hot!
Where does lava come from?
Lava is the magma that comes from the mantle of the earth.
Describe the inner core of the earth's layers.
This is the very center of the earth and is basically an iron ball that is about 870 miles across (diameter). The temperature of the inner core is about 11,000
Seismographs record the ____________ _____________ produced by earthquakes.
Shock waves
What are continental plates?
Continental plates are pieces of the earth’s crust that are above magma.
The strength of an earthquake is measured in ______________________.
Magnitude (using the richter scale)
What do the tectonic plates float on?
The mantle
The ____________ is the place on the earth’s surface directly above the focus.
Epicenter
What happens when 2 pieces of the earth's crust (plates) move apart?
Hot magma pushes up through the gap, cools and hardens. creating mountains or new ocean floor.
Describe the earth's crust
The earth's crust is the outermost layer of the earth. It is like a skin that covers the whole surface (even under the oceans). The crust is made of rock
What is the name of the machine that measures the magnitude of an earthquake?
Seismograph
How is a dome mountain formed?
Dome Mountains are formed from hot molten material (magma) rising from the Earth's mantle into the crust that pushes overlying sedimentary rock layers upward to
The crust is broken up into sections called ________________.
plates (tectonic plates)
What is the magma called after it rises from the earth's mantle and comes out of a volcano?
lava
How are Fold Mountains formed?
Fold mountains are created where two or more of Earth's tectonic plates are pushed together.
What is a volcano?
A volcano is a land form built up by molten rock that has come to the earth’s surface through a vent.
The place on a fault where movement occurs, usually far below the surface, is called the _______________.
Focus
What is magma?
This magma is very hot, melted rocks. Magma is what we call lava when it comes out of volcanoes!
How is a fault-block mountain formed?
Fault-block mountains form when two tectonic plates slide vertically against each other.
Describe the MANTLE of the earth's layers.
The mantle is the layer below the crust.The rock in this layer is not hard, solid rock though. The mantle is like a thick, hot soup containing a mixture of rock