earths structure
Terms
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- volcano
- a fissure in the earth's crust (or in the surface of some other planet) through which molten lava and gases erupt
- convection
- the transfer of heat through a fluid (liquid or gas) caused by molecular motion
- plate
- a rigid layer of the Earth's crust that is believed to drift slowly
- richter scale
- a logarithmic scale of 1 to 10 used to express the energy released by an earthquake
- inner core
- solid, dense center of the Earth
- Alfred Wegener
- first suggested the idea of continental drift
- earthquake
- shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane of from volcanic activity
- seafloor spreading
- process of plates moving apart and asthenosphere filling in
- modified mercalli scale
- a subjective damage scale that indicates earthquake intensity
- convection current
- is the flow that transfers heat within a fluid. The heat from the earth's mantle and core causes convection currents to form in the astenosphere and throughout the mantle. The heating and cooling of the fluid, changes in the fluid's density, and the force of gravity combine to set convection currents in motion.
- continental drift
- the gradual movement and formation of continents (as described by plate tectonics)
- ring of fire
- Collection of volcanoes rimming the Pacific Ocean, really a ring of subduction zones
- mantle
- the layer of the earth between the crust and the core
- plate tectonics
- the branch of geology studying the folding and faulting of the earth's crust
- epicenter
- the point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake
- seismograph
- a measuring instrument for detecting and measuring the intensity and direction and duration of movements of the ground (as an earthquake)
- focus
- maximum clarity or distinctness of an image rendered by an optical system
- crust
- the outer layer of the Earth
- outer core
- liquid layer of the Earth's core
- tornado
- a localized and violently destructive windstorm occurring over land characterized by a funnel-shaped cloud extending toward the ground