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Chapter 5 vocab Earth Science

Terms

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The shaking that results from the movement of rock beneath Earth’s surface.
earthquake
A force that acts on rock to change its shape or volume.
stress
Stress that pushes a mass of rock in opposite directions.
shearing
Stress that stretches rock so that it becomes thinner in the middle.
tension
Stress that squeezes rock until it folds or breaks.
compression
A change in volume or shape of Earth’s crust.
deformation
A break or crack in Earth’s lithosphere along which the rocks move.
fault
A type of fault where rocks on either sides move past each other sideways with little up-or-down motion.
strike-slip fault
A type of fault where the hanging wall slides downward; caused by tension in the crust.
normal fault
The block of rock that forms the upper half of a fault.
hanging wall
The block of rock that forms the lower half of a fault.
footwall
A type of fault where the hanging wall slides upward; caused by compression in the crust.
reverse fault
A mountain that forms where a normal fault uplifts a block or rock
fault-block mountain
A bend in rock that forms where part of Earth’s crust is compressed.
fold
An upward fold in rock formed by compression of Earth’s crust.
anticline
A downward fold in rock formed by compression in Earth’s crust.
syncline
A landform that has a more or less level surface and is elevated high above sea level.
plateau
The point beneath Earth’s surface where rock breaks under stress and causes an earthquake.
focus
The point on the Earth’s surface directly above an earthquake’s focus.
epicenter
A vibration that travels through Earth carrying the energy released during an earthquake.
seismic wave
A type of seismic wave that compresses and expands the ground.
P waves
A type of seismic wave that moves the ground up and down or side to side.
S waves
A type of seismic wave that forms when P waves and S waves reach Earth’s surface.
surface waves
A device that records ground movements caused by seismic waves as they move through Earth
seismograph
The measurement of an earthquake’s strength based on seismic waves and movement along faults.
magnitude
A scale that rates earthquakes according to their intensity and how much damage they cause.
Mercalli scale
A scale that rates seismic waves as measured by a mechanical seismograph.
Richter scale
A scale that rates earthquakes by estimating the total energy released by an earthquake.
moment magnitude scale
The process by which an earthquake’s violent movement suddenly turns loose soil into liquid mud.
liquefaction
An earthquake that occurs after a larger earthquake in the same area.
aftershock
A giant wave caused by an earthquake on the ocean floor.
tsunamis
A building mounted on bearings designed to absorb the energy of an earthquake.
base-isolated building

Deck Info

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