Download History of Earth Vocabulary

History of the Earth Unit Vocabulary
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Rock Cycle - The rock cycle is a series of processes in which rock changes from one
type to another.
Sedimentary rocks are made from broken pieces of rock, shell, mineral grains, and
the remains of plants and animals. These rocks are formed from low pressure and
cool temperatures.
Fossils are found in sedimentary rock.
Igneous rocks are formed when melted rock from inside the Earth cools and
hardens.
Intrusive rocks slowly cool under the Earth’s surface.
Extrusive rocks form when melted rock material cools and hardens on the Earth’s
surface. Basalt is an extrusive rock.
Metamorphic rocks are when sedimentary or igneous rock is transformed by
extreme heat and high pressure.
Fossils are imprinted remains of a plant or animal in sedimentary rock that give us
clues to the Earth’s past.
The inner core is the deepest layer of the Earth. It is mostly iron and solid.
The outer core lies between the inner core and the mantle. The outer core is
metallic.
The mantle is the largest layer of the Earth’s interior below the crust. The mantle is
where convection takes place.
The crust is the outermost layer of the Earth.
The lithosphere is the thin outer shell of Earth consisting of the crust and the rigid
upper mantle. Most of the Earth’s plate movement happens in the lithosphere.
Weathering is the slow mechanical or chemical process that causes rocks to
crumble, crack, and break.
Erosion is the slow movement of weathered rock and soil from one place to another
caused by water, wind, gravity, and glaciers.
Deposition is when soil and rock are deposited in another location by wind, water,
or ice.
Transform Boundaries are plates that slide past each other. Earthquakes
commonly occur at transform boundaries.
Divergent Plate Boundaries have plates that move apart from each other.
Divergent boundaries form ridges, new crust, and smaller volcanoes.
Convergent Plate Boundaries have plates that collide with each other. Convergent
boundaries form mountains and cause earthquakes and volcanoes.
The Subduction Zone is a convergent boundary where one plate is sliding beneath
one another.