Praxis 5005 Earth and Space Science
Triangulation - answer A process scientists use in order to identify the epicenter of an
earthquake.
rock - answer An accumulation of one or more minerals such as sedimentary rock.
Lava dome - answer A smaller dome found in the crater of a stratovolcano. In the crater
of Mount Saint Helens after the 1980 irruption.
Trench - answerA deep depression in the ocean floor where one plate subducts under
another.
Taste - answerThe minerals taste; only soluble minerals have a taste. Halite has a salty
taste.
Micro-organisms - answerOrganisms so small and microscope is needed to see them
such as bacteria or fungus.
Greenhouse Effect - answerThe trapping of the suns heat in the atmosphere due to the
increased presence of gases in the atmosphere; light is allowed to pass through, but is
trapped, similar to the glass walls of the greenhouse.
Hotspot - answerA place far away from tectonic plate boundaries where upwelling
magma creates a hole in the earths crust and lava erupts onto the surface such as the
Galapagos islands.
Shield volcano - answerA large, gently sloped volcano formed from basaltic lava flows,
present at divergent plate boundaries and above hotspots such as the Hawaiian islands.
Global warming/Climate change - answerAn overall increase in average global
temperatures due to the greenhouse effect (the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in
earths atmosphere trapping more heat).
Magma - answerUnderground molten rock, present before and during a volcanic
eruption.
Subduction Zone - answerA region at a convergent plate boundary where dense
oceanic plate sinks and is pulled beneath the less dense continental plate such as the
coast of Washington and Oregon.
Crust - answerThe outer most and the coolest layer of the earth.
,Plate boundaries - answerGeologically active borders between two tectonic plates
Ring of fire - answerA circle of violent volcanoes and earthquakes at convergent plate
boundary's around much of the Pacific Ocean.
Pacific ocean rim - answerRing of fire
Tenacity - answerThe minerals ability to resist separation or breaking when subjected to
stress. Quartz is brittle and will be crushed to a powder when hammered.
Feedback loop - answerA process by which the results of a change increase or
decrease the effects of the change. Melting ice caps due to global warming increases
global warming.
Inner core - answerThe extremely hot inner most layer of the earth, composed of mostly
solid iron and nickel.
Submarine Volcanoes - answerForm underwater and can build islands such as axial
seamount.
Subglacial volcanoes - answerVolcanoes that form under ice caps. Such as Viedma.
Viedma - answerA subglacial volcano
Mafic Magma - answerSmooth flowing magma formed from dense, dark, mantle rock,
basalt forms from mafic magma.
Lithosphere - answerThe rigid, outer most layer of the earth composed of the crust and
upper most mantle.
Subduction - answerThe process of one tectonic plate moving down beneath another
along a convergent boundary; this process drags rocks down with it, but not far enough
into the mantle to melt.
Mechanical weathering - answerThe process of breaking down rocks by physical means
such as when water freezes in a crack in the rock and breaks it apart.
Plate tectonics - answerThe large scale movements of portions of the earths crust over
long periods of time.
nitrogen fixation - answerThe process by which a nitrogen gas in the atmosphere is
converted by lightning or bacteria into a form usable by plants such as ammonia and
nitrates.
Seismic waves - answerThe wave pattern of movement of the earth produced by an
earthquake.
, Denifitrication - answerThe process by which nitrogenous compounds in the soil are
converted back into nitrogen gas.
Richter scale - answerThe scale used for indicating the magnitude of an earthquake; the
scale spans from 1 to 10, with 10 being the strongest.
Proterozoic Eon - answerThe eon from 2,500 million years ago to 541 million years ago;
multicellular life forms arose; later, plants and animals formed.
Convergent boundaries - answerDestructive boundaries at which two tectonic plates are
moving toward one another.
Greenhouse gases - answerGases which when present in elevated quantities in earths
atmosphere, trap solar radiation and cause the planet to warm.
Tectonic plates - answerPlates or portions of earths crust and upper mantle, which glide
across the asthenosphere. Pacific plate
Faults - answerA place in the rock at which the stress of compression or tension is too
much for the rock to bear so the rock breaks or shears. Larger faults are cracks in the
earths crust. Examples of this are the San Andrea's fault in California or the Anatolian
fault in Turkey.
Fossil fuels - answerA natural non-renewable fuel source. Derived from underground,
fossilized remains of living organisms. Examples of fossil fuel's are natural gas,
petroleum, coal.
Fossil Fuels - answerNatural gas, petroleum, coal
Plastic - answerA state in which a material is solid but can flow generally slowly.
Hadean Eon - answerThe eon from 4540 million years ago to 4000 million years ago;
earth formed from debris orbiting the sun and the moon was formed.
Transform boundary - answerA boundary between tectonic plates or the two plates slide
past one another; the earth around the boundary is crumbled. San Andrea's fault.
Divergent Boundary/Constructive Boundary - answerA boundary between tectonic
plates where the two plates move away from one another; creates new crust. Mid
Atlantic Ridge and Iceland.
Epicenter - answerThe spot on earth surface directly above an earthquake.
Chemical weathering - answerThe process of breaking down rocks by chemical means
such as acid rain.
Triangulation - answer A process scientists use in order to identify the epicenter of an
earthquake.
rock - answer An accumulation of one or more minerals such as sedimentary rock.
Lava dome - answer A smaller dome found in the crater of a stratovolcano. In the crater
of Mount Saint Helens after the 1980 irruption.
Trench - answerA deep depression in the ocean floor where one plate subducts under
another.
Taste - answerThe minerals taste; only soluble minerals have a taste. Halite has a salty
taste.
Micro-organisms - answerOrganisms so small and microscope is needed to see them
such as bacteria or fungus.
Greenhouse Effect - answerThe trapping of the suns heat in the atmosphere due to the
increased presence of gases in the atmosphere; light is allowed to pass through, but is
trapped, similar to the glass walls of the greenhouse.
Hotspot - answerA place far away from tectonic plate boundaries where upwelling
magma creates a hole in the earths crust and lava erupts onto the surface such as the
Galapagos islands.
Shield volcano - answerA large, gently sloped volcano formed from basaltic lava flows,
present at divergent plate boundaries and above hotspots such as the Hawaiian islands.
Global warming/Climate change - answerAn overall increase in average global
temperatures due to the greenhouse effect (the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in
earths atmosphere trapping more heat).
Magma - answerUnderground molten rock, present before and during a volcanic
eruption.
Subduction Zone - answerA region at a convergent plate boundary where dense
oceanic plate sinks and is pulled beneath the less dense continental plate such as the
coast of Washington and Oregon.
Crust - answerThe outer most and the coolest layer of the earth.
,Plate boundaries - answerGeologically active borders between two tectonic plates
Ring of fire - answerA circle of violent volcanoes and earthquakes at convergent plate
boundary's around much of the Pacific Ocean.
Pacific ocean rim - answerRing of fire
Tenacity - answerThe minerals ability to resist separation or breaking when subjected to
stress. Quartz is brittle and will be crushed to a powder when hammered.
Feedback loop - answerA process by which the results of a change increase or
decrease the effects of the change. Melting ice caps due to global warming increases
global warming.
Inner core - answerThe extremely hot inner most layer of the earth, composed of mostly
solid iron and nickel.
Submarine Volcanoes - answerForm underwater and can build islands such as axial
seamount.
Subglacial volcanoes - answerVolcanoes that form under ice caps. Such as Viedma.
Viedma - answerA subglacial volcano
Mafic Magma - answerSmooth flowing magma formed from dense, dark, mantle rock,
basalt forms from mafic magma.
Lithosphere - answerThe rigid, outer most layer of the earth composed of the crust and
upper most mantle.
Subduction - answerThe process of one tectonic plate moving down beneath another
along a convergent boundary; this process drags rocks down with it, but not far enough
into the mantle to melt.
Mechanical weathering - answerThe process of breaking down rocks by physical means
such as when water freezes in a crack in the rock and breaks it apart.
Plate tectonics - answerThe large scale movements of portions of the earths crust over
long periods of time.
nitrogen fixation - answerThe process by which a nitrogen gas in the atmosphere is
converted by lightning or bacteria into a form usable by plants such as ammonia and
nitrates.
Seismic waves - answerThe wave pattern of movement of the earth produced by an
earthquake.
, Denifitrication - answerThe process by which nitrogenous compounds in the soil are
converted back into nitrogen gas.
Richter scale - answerThe scale used for indicating the magnitude of an earthquake; the
scale spans from 1 to 10, with 10 being the strongest.
Proterozoic Eon - answerThe eon from 2,500 million years ago to 541 million years ago;
multicellular life forms arose; later, plants and animals formed.
Convergent boundaries - answerDestructive boundaries at which two tectonic plates are
moving toward one another.
Greenhouse gases - answerGases which when present in elevated quantities in earths
atmosphere, trap solar radiation and cause the planet to warm.
Tectonic plates - answerPlates or portions of earths crust and upper mantle, which glide
across the asthenosphere. Pacific plate
Faults - answerA place in the rock at which the stress of compression or tension is too
much for the rock to bear so the rock breaks or shears. Larger faults are cracks in the
earths crust. Examples of this are the San Andrea's fault in California or the Anatolian
fault in Turkey.
Fossil fuels - answerA natural non-renewable fuel source. Derived from underground,
fossilized remains of living organisms. Examples of fossil fuel's are natural gas,
petroleum, coal.
Fossil Fuels - answerNatural gas, petroleum, coal
Plastic - answerA state in which a material is solid but can flow generally slowly.
Hadean Eon - answerThe eon from 4540 million years ago to 4000 million years ago;
earth formed from debris orbiting the sun and the moon was formed.
Transform boundary - answerA boundary between tectonic plates or the two plates slide
past one another; the earth around the boundary is crumbled. San Andrea's fault.
Divergent Boundary/Constructive Boundary - answerA boundary between tectonic
plates where the two plates move away from one another; creates new crust. Mid
Atlantic Ridge and Iceland.
Epicenter - answerThe spot on earth surface directly above an earthquake.
Chemical weathering - answerThe process of breaking down rocks by chemical means
such as acid rain.
