Geological Study Guide

Geological Study guide: Test Date-3/18/13

Alfred Wegener- in 1915 he discovered that all of the continents were once together like a puzzle piece

Pangaea- all of the continents put together like a puzzle.

Layers of the Earth- crust, mantle, outer core, and the inner core.

Lithosphere- is the crust and the upper part of the mantle.

Asthenosphere- hot plastic portion of the mantle, at the top underneath the lower part of the crust/lithosphere

Tectonic Plates-The crust of the planet that is broken in to pieces that moves due to magma activity underneath the crust.  These plates move at speeds of 6.3 inches per year, about the length of time your fingernail grows.

Faults- the actual crack that separates the plates

Plate movement results from convection currents in the asthenosphere, the hot, plastic portion of the mantle

Mid-Atlantic Ridge- is a large crack in the earth’s oceanic crust that separates the North and South American continents from the African continent.

Boundaries

Converging Boundaries- when two plate move toward each other. When oceanic crust converges with continental crust, the oceanic crust moves underneath the continental crust because it is a denser rock. The area or point where the oceanic crust is moving underneath the continental crust is call the subduction zone. When continental crust converges with continental crust, mountains form.

Diverging boundaries- two plates move away from each other. Molten rock rises to fill the gap, creating new crust.

Sliding or transforming boundaries- Two plates slide past each other, moving in opposite directions.

Rock Cycle- Igneous rock (hardened lava), Metamorphic rock (rock that forms from other rocks as a result of intense heat, pressure, or chemical), and Sedimentary rock (rock that forms from compressed or cemented layers of sediment).

Scientists’ tools-

Weather Balloon (send information about humidity, precipitation, and weather),

Seismograph (shows the intensity of an earthquake),

Sonar (A system for the detection of objects under water and for measuring the water's depth by emitting sound pulses- echo location),

Radar (A system for detecting the presence, direction, distance, and speed of aircraft, ships, and other objects)

Types of Volcanoes- There will be pictures of volcanoes and you will have to label them and the parts.

Earthquake- a violent shaking of Earth’s crust- this is due to tectonic plates moving at their fault lines

Focus- point underground where the faulting occurs

Epicenter- point directly above the focus point were the seismic waves are strongest.

Richter Scale- measures the magnitude or size of an earthquake. Scale goes from 1-9, with 9 being the most intense and causing the most damage. There was an earthquake measured 5.5 on the Richter scale and cause structural damage to the Washington Monument.