Geologist
A scientist who studies the
Earth’s physical structure and all
the events that helped shape it.
Sedimentary Rock
Formed by layers of rock that
have been eroded and then
pressed together and hardened.
Igneous Rock
Rocks that form when hot magma
or lava cool and harden.
Metamorphic Rock
Weathering
Created when rock deep in the
Earth’s crust is exposed to so
much heat and pressure that it
changes into something new.
The wearing down and breaking up
of hard rock by natural forces like
wind, ice, plants, and burrowing
animals.
Erosion
Deposition
Divergent Boundary
The movement of rocks and soil
from one place to another by the
forces of gravity, water, ice, or
wind.
The process by which sediment
which has been transported by
natural forces like wind, water,
ice, and gravity, is dropped or
finally deposited somewhere on
Earth’s surface.
A place where the Earth’s
tectonic plates are moving away
from each other.
Convergent Boundary
A place where the Earth’s
tectonic plates push against each
other.
Transform Boundary
A place where the Earth’s
tectonic plates slide alongside
each other.
Minerals
Solid, pure substances that can be
found in the Earth’s crust. Every
rock on Earth is made of a
combination of different minerals.
Rock Cycle
The continuous process by which
new rock is made and old rock is
destroyed or changed from one
form to another. The three forms
of rock are Metamorphic,
Sedimentary, and Igneous.
The small particles of weathered
rock carried away by wind and
water. Sediment also can come
from decomposed plants and
animals that have drifted down to
the bottom of a body of water.
Sediment
Volcano
A vent in the Earth’s crust
through which magma, steam, and
ash are violently expelled.
Magma
Molten rock below or within the
Earth’s crust. When magma
erupts onto the Earth’s surface, it
is called lava.
Lava
Tsunami
Magma that has erupted from a
volcano or a fissure in the Earth’s
crust.
A huge surge of water caused by
earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under
the sea. As the tsunami approaches a
coastline, the large mass of water
rushing ashore is so powerful it destroys
everything in its path.
Richter Scale
Used to measure the amount of
energy released by an earthquake
Seismograph
Machine that can detect released
energy (earthquakes) thousands of
miles away.
Faults
Epicenter
Fossil
Crust
A break in the Earth’s crust that
results in the ground moving along
the line of the break.
The location on the surface of the
Earth directly above where an
earthquake starts.
The preserved remains of an
animal, plant, or other organism
from some past geological or
prehistoric time.
The upper layer of the earth on
which we live. The crust is broken
into pieces called tectonic plates
that float on the next layer – the
mantle.
Mantle
Core ( outer and inner)
The thickest layer of the Earth,
directly under the crust. It is
composed of very hot, dense rock
on which the tectonic plates float.
The center of the Earth. It’s
outer and inner cores are
composed mostly of iron and
nickel. The outer core is fluid and
the inner core is solid.
Tectonic Plates
Parts of the Earth’s crust that
rest on the very dense, hot rock
of the mantle. As they float
around, the plates can pull apart at
a divergent boundary, slide next to
each other at a transform
boundary, or move toward each
other at a convergent boundary.
Earthquake
The violent shaking of the Earth
that occurs when a tectonic plate
snaps.