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Science Reviewer 1st Quarter
Science Reviewer 1st Quarter
Divergence of Plates
Continental: Formation of rift valleys – down faulted valleys
Oceanic: Formation of oceanic ridges – underwater mountain ranges
-Most divergent boundaries are situated along underwater mountain ranges/oceanic ridges
-As plates separates new materials from mantle oozes up and slowly cool to form new
ocean floor -The spreading rate may vary from 2 to 20 cm per year
Glossary of Terms
Continental volcanic arc – mountains formed in part by igneous activity associated with subduction
of oceanic lithosphere beneath a continent
Convergent boundary – a boundary in which two plates move toward each other, causing one of the slabs of the
lithosphere to subduct beneath an overriding plate
Crust – the outer portion of the earth
Continental Crust – the thick part of the Earth’s crust, not located under the ocean
Oceanic Crust – the thin part of the Earth’s crust located under the oceans
Divergent boundary – a region where the crustal plates are moving apart
Earthquake – vibration of Earth due to the rapid release of energy
Fault – a break in a rock along which movement has occurred
Fracture – any break in a rock in which no significant movement has
taken place Geology – the science that studies Earth
Hot spot – a concentration of heat in the mantle capable of creating magma
Magma – a mass of molten rock formed at depth, including dissolved gases and crystals.
Mid-ocean ridge – a continuous mass of land with long width and height on the ocean floor
Plates – rigid sections of the lithosphere that move as a unit
Plate tectonics – a theory which suggests that Earth’s crust is made up of plates that interact in various
ways, thus producing earthquakes, mountains, volcanoes, and other geologic features
Primary (P) wave – the first type of seismic wave to be recorded in a
seismic station Rocks – consolidated mixture of minerals
Secondary (S) wave – second type of earthquake wave to be recorded in a
seismic station Seismogram – a record made by a seismograph
Seismograph – a device used to record earthquake waves
Subduction – an event in which a slab of rock thrusts into the mantle
Transform fault boundary – a boundary produced when two plates slide past each other
Trench – a depression in the seafloor produced by subduction process
Volcanic Island arc – a chain of volcanoes that develop parallel to a trench
Seismic waves - the energy from an earthquake that radiates in all directions from the focus in
the form of waves. ^It is recorded in seismographs
Two Main Types:
-Body wave and Surface wave
Surface waves
-Can only travel through the surface of Earth
-They arrive after the main P and S waves are confined to the outer layers of the Earth.
Body waves
-Unlike surface waves, body waves can travel through the
Earth’s inner layers -They are used by scientists to study the
Earth’s interior.
-These waves are of a higher frequency than the surface waves
The Crust
-Thinnest and outermost layer of the Earth
-extends from the surface from up to 32 km below and in some mountains, 72 km below
Two types of crust:
-Continental Crust and Oceanic Crust
Continental Crust
-Mainly made up of silicon, oxygen, aluminum, calcium, sodium, and potassium.
-The thickness is mostly 35-40 km
-Found under land masses and made of less dense rocks such as granite
Oceanic Crust
-Heavier that continental crust
-Around 7-10 km thick; average thickness is 8 km
-Found under the ocean floor and is made up of dense rocks such as basalt
The Mantle
-Extends to about 2900 km from the Earth’s surface
-Makes up about 80% of Earth’s total volume and about 68% of
total mass -Mainly made up of silicate rocks
-It is solid since S-waves and P-waves can pass through it
-Mostly made of elements silicon, oxygen, iron, and
magnesium -The lower mantle is denser than the upper portion
-The high temperature and pressure in the mantle allows the solid rock to flow
slowly -Lower mantle: Olivine, iron/magnesium, silicates, (high-density
perovskite) -Upper mantle: Olivine, silicate minerals (peridotite)
Lithosphere
-The crust and the uppermost part of the mantle form a cool rigid shell called the lithosphere
^The lithosphere is about 50 to 100 km thick and it moves relative to each other
Asthenosphere
-Beneath the lithosphere lies the soft, weak layer known as the asthenosphere
-Made of hot molten material
-About 300 to 800oC
-The lithosphere, with the continents on top of it, is being carried by the flowing asthenosphere
The Core
-Subdivided into inner and outer core
-2900 km below the Earth’s surface and 2250 km thick
-Mainly made up of iron and nickel moving around the solid inner
core -Outer Core: reaches up to 2000oC, and with that, iron and
nickel melt -Inner Core: made up of solid iron and nickel
-radius of 1300 km
-temperature reaches to about 5000oC: could have molten iron and nickel but is believed to
solidify by pressure freezing
Evidence
Continental Jigsaw Puzzle
-Edge of one continent matches the other: South Am. and Africa, India, Antarctica, and Australia, Eurasia and North Am.
From Fossils
-Fossils of an extinct plant Glossopteris: found on different continents and the large seeds of it can’t travel by wind or water
-Also some fossils of animals
From Rocks
-Rock formations in Africa line up with that of South Africa as if it was a long mountain range
Coal Deposits
-Antarctica can’t sustain amount of life. If there is a substantial quantity of coal in it, it means it was once with other continent
Seafloor Spreading
-Scientists found a system of ridges or mountains in the seafloor similar to those found in the continents. These are called
mid-ocean ridges. Example is the famous Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an undersea mountain chain in Atlantic Ocean
Magnetic Reversal
-When North Pole is transformed to South Pole and South Pole to North Pole
-When magnetic reversal occurs, there is also a change of polarity in rocks and this allowed scientists to
cisualize the magnetic stipes in the ocean floor
Continental Drift Theory - states that all the continents were once onelarge landmass that broke apart,
and where the pieces moved slowly to their current locations
Convection current - current in the mantle because of the heat from the inner layers of the Earth, and is
the force that drives the plates to move around
Lithosphere - the topmost, solid part of the Earth that is composed of several plates
Lithospheric Plates - the moving, irregularly-shaped slabs that fit together to form the surface of the Earth
Mid-ocean ridge - area in the middle of the ocean where a new ocean floor is formed when lava erupts
through the cracks in the Earth’s crust
Mohorovičić Discontinuity (Moho) - the boundary that separates the crust and
Seafloor spreading - process by which new ocean floor is formed near the mid-ocean ridge and
moves outward Subduction - the process in which the crust plunges back into the Earth Tectonics -
branch of geology that deals with the movements that shape the Earth’s crust
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