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Ridge
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Underwater mountain range.
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seismogram
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the product of the seismograph
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siesmogram
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the recording from the siesmograph
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LITHOSPHERE
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SOLID OUTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH
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Plate Boundary
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Where two tectonic plates meet
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Earthquake
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Shaking that results from sudden movement of the Earth's crust
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S-waves (secondary waves)
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a transverse earthquake wave
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pangea
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large supercontinent that existed 250 million years ago
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focus
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The point beneath Earth's surface where rock breaks under stress and causes an earthquake
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Seismology
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Branch of science that studies earthquakes.
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Convection Currents
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Driving force beneath plate tectonics.
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What is the continental crust composed of mainly?
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Granite
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Seismograph
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Instrument used to detect and record earthquake data
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S Waves
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Side-to-side waves that can travel only through solids.
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crust
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the thin, outermost layer of the lithosphere
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subduction boundry
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active edge of a suducting plate
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Richter scale
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a numerical description of an earthquake's magnitude
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epicenter
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the point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake
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crustal uplift
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What powers the external earth processes involved in the rock cycle
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Uplift
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When plates collide and move upward. High elevations is an example of this.
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Glossopteris
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Ancient seed-fern with very large and heavy seeds. These fossils were found in Africa, India, Australia, Antarctica, and South America.
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Transform
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Where the plates move parallel or sideways.
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Convergent
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A type of plate boundary in which plates come together
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P Waves
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Push-pull waves that can travel though solids, liquids and gasses
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Tsumamis
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very large tidal waves caused by the sudden movement of the sea floor duringan earthquake (at or near the water)
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transform boundaries
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the occur when one plate slides horizontally past another along a single fault of a group of parallel faults
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asthenosphere
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the upper part of the mantle which behaves like a thick, plactic fluid
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oceanic crust
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The portion of earth's crust that primarily contains basalt, is relatively dense, and is about 5 km thick
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secondary waves
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seismic wave that moves rock particles at right angles to the direction of the wave
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plate tectonics
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the theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle
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subduction zone
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The region where oceanic plates sink down into the asthenosphere.
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primary waves
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1st wave, P, travels the fastest, back-and-forth waves, move through solids, liquids, and gases
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Divergent
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Where the plates move away from each other.
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Alfred Wegener
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This person proposed the theory of Continental Drift in the early 1900's.
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What is the movement of the solid rock of Earth's crust called?
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Diastrophism.
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What is normal strata?
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When sediments are layered horizontally.
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Who developed the theory that the continents were once part of a supercontinent called Pangea?
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Alfred Wegener
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transform (strike-slip) fault
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movement of the rock sections is horizontal
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circum-Pacific belt
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The area circling the rim of the Pacific ocean
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divergent plate boundary
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where two plates are moving apart, magma comes up to create new crust
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Deformed Rock Structure
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Sedimentary strata normally form in a horizontal position.
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Appalachian Mountains
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These mountains of the eastern US are geologically similar to the mountains in Greenland and Europe.
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What is continental drift?
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Continental land masses have been moving across Earth's surface for millions of years.Evidence of thisis maninly the fit of continental coastal regions and the correlation of rock, mineral, and fossil evidence.
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What is the instrument used to detect and record earthquakes?
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The Seismograph.
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Which of earth's crust is thicker and less dense?
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Continental Crust
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plate tectonic theory
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Earth's curst is made up of several crustal sections called plates; these plates are slowly "floating" across Earth's surface, driven by giant convection currents in the asthenosphere
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modified Mercalli scale
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a description of an earthquake by the measure of a earthquakes effect on people and buildings
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outer core
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a layer of molten iron and nickel that surrounds the inner core of Earth
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Sediment basins, mid-ocean ridges, ocean trenches, and regions of frequent earthquake and volcanic activity are evidence of what?
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Major crustal changes which occur over long periods of time such as continental drift.
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When do transform boundaries occur?
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When one plate slides horizontally past another along a single fault or group of parallel faults such as the San Andreas Fault in California
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What are fracture zones?
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Where the ridges are broeken into segments by faults
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What is plate tetonics?
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The theory that Earth's crust is divided into a number of large plates. Some plates consist of just ocena floor while ocan carry continental blocks. The plates are seperating , colliding, or sliding past one another.
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What is evidence of mantle convection cells?
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Continental drift, high-temp. heat flows where mid-ocean ridges and mountains are currently forming and low temp. heat flows though swallow basins.
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What is the circum-pacific belt?
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A ring of volcanoes and earthquakes that circles the rim of the Pacific Ocean. Also known as the Ring of Fire.
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What is reversal of magnetic polarity?
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At one time the Earth's magnetic polarity was opposite then it is now.
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