Science vocab
Terms
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- pressure
- the force exerted on a surface divided by the area over which the force is exerted
- scientific theory
- a well-tested concept that explains a wide range of observation
- conduction
- the transfer of heat within a material or between materials that are touching
- continental drift
- the hypothesis that the continents slowly move across Earth's surface
- radiation
- the transfer of energy through space
- density
- the ammount of mass in a given space; mass per unit volume
- plate
- a section of the lithosphere that slowly moves over the asthenosphere carrying pieces of continental and oceanic crust
- seismic waves
- vibrations that travel through Earth carrying the energy released durring an earthquake
- basalt
- a dark, dense, igneous rock with a fine texture, found in oceanic crust
- convergent boundary
- a plate boundary where two plates move twoard each other
- mantle
- the layer of hot, solid material between Earth's crust and core
- outer core
- a layer of molten iron and nickel that surrounds the inner core
- sea-floor spreading
- the process by which molten material adds new oceanic crust to the ocean floor
- convection
- the transfer of heat by movement of a fluid
- rift valley
- a deep valley that forms where two plates move apart
- inner core
- a dense sphere of solid iron and nickel at the center of Earth
- crust
- the layer of rock that forms Earth's outer surface
- lithosphere
- a rigid layer made up of the upper most part of the mantle and the crust
- subduction
- the process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle at a convergent plate boundary
- fossil
- a trace of an acient organism that has been preserved in rock
- fault
- a break in the Earth's crust where masses of rock slip past each other
- divergent boundary
- a plate boundary where two plates move away from eachother
- mid-ocean ridge
- an undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced a divergent plate boundary
- transform boundary
- a plate boundary where two plates move past eachother in opposite directions
- sonar
- a device that determins the distance of an object under water by recording echoes of sound waves
- granite
- a usually light colored igneous rock that is found in continental crust
- plate tectonics
- the theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion driven by convection currents in the mantle
- Pangaea
- the name of the single landmass that broke apart 200 million years ago and gave rise to todays continents
- deep-ocean trench
- a deep valley along the ocean floor beneath which oceanic crust that slowly sinks toward the mantle
- convection current
- the movement of a fluid, caused by differences in temperature, that transfers heat from one part of the fluid to another
- asthenosphere
- the soft layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats