Download Earth Science Vocabulary

Absolute Age
• The actual age of a rock, rock layer, or
fossil.
Abyssal Plain
• A large, flat surface on the ocean floor.
Acid Rain
• Rain that contains unhealthy amounts of
acid.
Air
• A mixture of gases that surrounds the
Earth.
Air Mass
• A large “bubble” of air that has about the
same temperature and humidity
throughout it.
Air Pollution
• The presence of harmful substances in the
air.
Air Pressure
• The weight of air pushing on everything
around it.
Altitude
• Height above sea level; also called
elevation.
Atmosphere
• The layer of air that surrounds the earth.
• 78% nitrogen
• 20% oxygen
• 2% other gases
Bay
• An area of water that is partly surrounded
by land.
Blizzard
• A snowstorm with high winds and low
temperatures.
Butte
• A steep hill that stands alone in a flat area.
Carbon Dioxide – Oxygen Cycle
• Process by which humans and plants
exchange gases.
Cast
• A fossil that formed when a space left by
an organism was filled with minerals or
grains of rock that turned into solid rock.
Cementing
• The gluing together of rock particles to
form sedimentary rock
Cirrus Cloud
• A high feathery cloud made of ice crystals
Cleavage
• The breaking of a mineral along a smooth,
flat surface
Climate
• Characteristics of weather over an
extended time.
Cloud
• A larger group of tiny droplets that join
together in the atmosphere.
• Considered a liquid.
Cold Front
• The leading edge of a moving mass of
cooler air
Condensation
• The changing of gas or vapor into liquid.
• Happens as the gas cools.
• Example: outside of a drink can.
Conservation
• The wise use and protection of natural
resources
Constructive Forces
• Processes which raise or build up the
surface of the Earth.
• Examples: Earthquakes, Volcanoes
Continental Shelf
• The gently sloping underwater part of a
continent
Continental Slope
• The sharp drop at the edge of the
underwater part of a continent
Core
• The center of the Earth.
Crater
• A bowl-shaped structure at the top of a
volcano or on a planet or moon
Crest
• The highest part of a wave
Crust
• The thin, outer layer of the Earth.
Crystal
• A solid material found in nature that has
straight edges and flat sides or that breaks
into pieces with straight edges and flat
sides
Cumulonimbus Cloud
• A huge vertical cloud that can produce a
thunderstorm
• Also called a thunderhead
Cumulus Cloud
• A puffy, white cloud with a flat bottom
• Also called a fair-weather cloud
Current (ocean)
• A river of water that moves through an
ocean
Cycle
• A process that repeats itself
• Examples: life cycle, water cycle, seasonal
cycle.
Delta
• A large flat area of land at the mouth of a
river
Deposition
• The process of dropping or depositing
sediment in a new place.
Desalination
• The process of removing salt from sea
water to produce fresh water
Desert
• A biome that has very little rain and few
plants
Destructive Forces
• Processes which lower the surface of the
Earth.
Dune
• A hill of sand that is deposited by the wind
Earthquake
• A shaking of the ground caused by energy
being released in the crust.
• Plates sliding past each other.
• Measured using a Richter Scale.
Elevation
• The land’s height above sea level
• Also called altitude
Energy Resources
• Materials in the environment that people
can use as sources of energy
Erosion
• The process of moving sediment from one
place to another.
Estuary
• The place where a freshwater river
empties into the ocean.
Evaporation
• Liquid is converted to vapor in the air.
Fault
• A break or place where pieces of the
Earth’s crust move.
Flow
• Movement of water.
Fossil
• A rock containing ancient plants, parts of
animals, or imprints caused by organisms
pressed into them.
Fossil Fuels
• Fuel formed from the remains of once
living animals.
• Natural gas, coal, and petroleum.
Geographic Pole
• An imaginary point through which the
Earth’s axis of rotation passes.
Glacier
• A thick, dense layer of ice formed by
layers of snow that build up over many
years.
Humidity
• Moisture of water vapor in the air.
Igneous Rock
• Rock formed from magma or lava.
• Volcanic rock
Inexhaustible Resources
• Resources that will never be used up.
• Solar, wind, ocean tides.
Jetty
• A wall like structure made of rocks that
sticks out into the ocean.
Land Forms
• A physical feature on Earth’s surface.
Magma
• A hot, soft, rock from the Earth’s lower
mantle.
Mantle
• The layer of rock beneath the Earth’s
crust.
• Middle.
Mass Movement
• The downhill movement of rock and soil
because of gravity.
• Rock slide, Mud slide.
Metamorphic Rock
• Igneous or sedimentary rock that has been
changed into a different kind of rock by
extreme heat and pressure.
Minerals
• The different combinations of elements
that make up the rocks that form the
Earth’s crust.
Mountain
• Land that extends at least 2,000 feet
above sea level.
• Mountains cover about 1/5 of the Earth’s
surface.
Natural Resource
• Something found in nature that humans
use.
• Examples: air, water, animals, plants, soil
Nitrogen Cycle
• The cycle in which nitrogen gas is
changed into forms of nitrogen that plants
can use.
Nonrenewable Resources
• A resource that can only be replenished
over millions of years.
Oceanography
• The study of the geography of the ocean
floor.
Pangea
• A super continent containing all of Earth’s
land that existed about 225 million years
ago.
Plate
• The rigid blocks of crust and upper mantle
rock.
Plate Tectonics
• The theory of the slow movement of the
continents as they drift apart from each
other.
• Continental Drift.
Precipitation
• Liquid water that forms in the clouds and
falls to Earth in the form of rain, snow,
sleet, or hail.
Renewable Resources
• A resource that can be easily replaced by
nature.
Resource
• Any material that can be used to satisfy a
need.
Rock
• A group of solid materials that re joined
together into one mass.
Sedimentary Rock
• Rock formed from layers of sediments,
deposited together by water, wind, or
glacier ice.
• Fossils are found in this type of rock.
Shore
• The area where the ocean and land meet.
Soil
• A mixture of eroded materials, rock
fragments, and decomposed plant
material.
Tide
• The repeated rise and fall in the levels of
the ocean.
• Twice daily.
Tide Pool
• A pool of sea water found along a rocky
shoreline.
Tsunami
• A giant ocean wave caused by an
earthquake under the ocean floor.
Volcano
• A mountain formed by lava and ash.
Water Cycle
• A continuous movement of water from the
ground to the air and back to the ground.
• Evaporation, Condensation, Precipitation.
Water Vapor
• Water in gaseous form.
Wave
• The up and down movement of surface
water.
Weathering
• The process of breaking rock into soil, and
sand into other tiny pieces.