Earthquake – violent shaking of the ground
Fault- break in the rock where movement
(displacement) occurs
Focus – where EQ occurs under the ground
Epicenter – where EQ occurs on the surface,
directly above the focus
intensity – how powerful the EQ is based on
damage or destruction, Mercalli scale
seismograph – measures EQ magnitude
magnitude – force or energy from the EQ,
Richter scale
p-waves – primary waves, compressional waves,
1st to arrive, fastest, travel in push-pull
motion, travel through s-l-g
s-waves – secondary waves, shear waves, slower,
DO NOT travel through liquids, travel in up
& down motion
seismologist – scientist that studies EQ’s
origin time - time on the clock that the EQ
occurs
crust – solid outer shell of the Earth, lithosphere
continental crust – granitic, less dense, thicker
oceanic crust – basaltic, more dense, thinner
Moho – interface between more dense and less
dense mantle and crust
mantle – layer below crust that plates move
across, where convection occurs
meteorite – same composition as the inner core of
the Earth
outer core – liquid layer of the Earth
inner core – solid inner-most layer of the Earth
shadow zone - area on the surface where no p or
s-waves are recorded from an EQ
Ring of Fire – area around the Pacific Ocean
where EQ and volcanoes occur
Tsunamis – tidal waves caused by displacement
of water
continental drift – theory of continents moving
across the upper mantle
convergent boundary – where plates collide/
come together/ move toward each other
trench – feature from a type of convergent
boundary, the deepest part of the ocean
transform boundary – where plates slide past
each other, lateral motion, ex. San Andreas
Fault in California
Divergent boundary – plates move away from
each other, move apart
rift – splitting of a continent, rips it apart
radiation – form of energy transfer through
waves
conduction – form of energy transfer through
solids by touching, atom to atom
convection – form of energy transfer in fluids
(liquid or gas), by density differences
convection cell – area of convection that causes
movement of the fluid, in upper mantle cause
plate tectonics (plate motion)
lithosphere – same as crust
asthenosphere - upper part of mantle where
there is convection, what plates move across
hot spot – stationary super-heated location in the
mantle, Yellowstone and Hawaii