ESSC lecture 1

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms and concepts related to Earth's internal and external heat engines, internal structures, and plate tectonics boundaries.

Internal Heat Engine

The heat source inside the Earth responsible for driving plate tectonics, volcanic activity, mountain building, and creating uplift on the Earth's surface.

External Heat Engine

The heat source from the sun that drives the water cycle, precipitation, river systems, and surface erosion.

Convection

The heat transfer process in the Earth's interior where hotter, less dense material rises towards the surface and colder, denser material sinks.

Earth's Magnetic Field

A field generated by the constant convection of molten liquid iron and nickel inside the Earth's outer core.

Crust

The thin, lightweight outermost rocky layer of the Earth, rich in silicon and oxygen.

Mantle

The thick layer of Earth located underneath the crust that is mostly solid, with isolated molten parts driven by convection.

Core

The dense central part of the Earth composed of nickel and iron, divided into a liquid outer core and a solid inner core.

Continental Crust

A thick, lightweight, low-density type of crust that underlies the continents and is largely granitic.

Oceanic Crust

A thin, high-density type of crust underlying ocean basins that is basaltic in composition.

Granite

The low-density rock type that largely composes the continental crust.

Basalt

The dense rock type that composes the oceanic crust, having up to two to three times the density of granite.

Lithosphere

The rigid, brittle outer layer of the Earth comprising the crust and uppermost mantle, extending roughly $100\,\text{km}$ deep.

Asthenosphere

The softer, plastic-like mantle layer underlying the lithosphere that allows tectonic plates to float and move.

Pangaea

The supercontinent formed $250\text{ million}$ years ago when all of Earth's continents were joined together.

Divergent Plate Boundary

A boundary where tectonic plates split apart, allowing magma from the mantle to surface, solidify, and create new crust.

Mid-Ocean Ridge

An elevated mountain range on the ocean floor formed at divergent plate boundaries where new oceanic floor is produced.

Transform Plate Boundary

A plate boundary where tectonic plates slide laterally past one another, accumulating stress that is released as shallow earthquakes.

San Andreas Fault

A famous transform plate boundary in Southern California where the land west of the fault slides past the adjacent continental landmass.

Convergent Plate Boundary

A boundary where tectonic plates collide, resulting in mountain building, volcanic activity, or subduction.

Subduction Zone

A convergent boundary site where a denser tectonic plate sinks underneath a less dense plate back down into the mantle.

Himalayan Mountains

The highest mountain range in the world, formed by continental-continental convergence between India and Asia.