GEOMORPHOLOGY TERMINOLOGY term 2

Active volcano

Volcano which still erupts 

Anticline

Upward fold

Batholith

Very large igneous intrusion which forms deep in the Earth's crust

Block Mountain

Block of land uplifted between two parallel faults

Butte

Flat topped hill with a small top, eroded from a mesa

Cinders

Fine fragments of hardened lava

 Continental Drift

Theory that continents were one landmass but have drifted apart over time

Continental Plate

Crust under land mass

Converging Boundaries

Plates moving towards each other

Core

Central extremely hot layer of the Earth

Crust

Outer layer of the earth

Cuesta

Ridge with a gentle angle of 10 - 25°

Ridge with a gentle angle of 10 - 25°

Plates are moving apart

Dormant volcano

Has not erupted for many years

Dyke

Forms when magma intrudes vertically between layers of rock

Earthquake

Vibration in earth's crust

Epicentre

Point on the Earth's surface immediately above the focus of an earthquake

 Erosion

The process of moving weathered material by wind, water, and ice

Extinct volcano

Has not erupted in so long, scientists don't expect it to erupt ever again

Extrusive igneous rock

Rocks forming from lava on the surface of the Earth

Fault line

Line along the surface of the earth where a fault occurs

Faulting

Cracks in rocks formed due to tension and compression forces

Focus

Point in the earth's crust where an earthquake begins

Folding

Bending of rocks into folds due to strong compressional forces from the side

Fossils

Remains of a dead plant or animal which have been preserved in rock

Gondwanaland

Supercontinent

south hemisphere

Hogsback

Dipping strata of more than 45°

Homoclinal Ridge

Angle of dipping strata 25 - 45°

Horizontal Strata

Sediments laid down in layers

Igneous Rock

Forms when magma cools

Inclined Strata

Landscape tilted at an angle

Intrusive igneous rock

Rocks forming from magma below the surface of the Earth (INSIDE the earth)

Laccolith

Mushroom shaped intrusion which forms when magma forces the overlying strata upwards

Lava

Liquid rock that flows on the surface of the Earth

Lithosphere

 The crust and upper part of the mantle

Lopolith

Saucer shaped intrusion

Magma

Rock in a liquid form inside the Earth

Mantle

A hot plastic layer of the Earth located beneath the crust

Mesa

Large, flat topped hill

Metamorphic Rock

Rocks changed by heat and/or pressure

Oceanic Plate

Crust under sea mass

 Plate boundary

The edge of a tectonic plate

Plateau

Flat topped landform made when horizontal strata was uplifted

Rift Valley/Graben

Block of land which slips down between parallel faults

Rock cycle

Process that results in rocks to form, weather and erode, deposition of sediments and formation of new rocks

Sea Floor spreading

Along middle of ocean ridges where new crust is being formed due to volcanic activity

Sedimentary Rock

Forms from layers of compressed sediments

Sill

When magma intrudes horizontally between layers of rock along a bedding plane

Strata

The horizontal layers of sedimentary rock

Syncline

Syncline

Tectonic plate

Section of the Earth's crust that can move on the mantle

Transforming

Plates slide past each other

Tsunami

Series of huge sea waves caused by an earthquake in the sea floor

Volcanic pipe

Deep vent which allows magma to rise to the crater of a volcano

Weathering

The process of breaking down rocks into smaller stones, pebbles, and sand

Geographical information systems

Computer system which captures,stores,analyses,manipulate and displays geographical data.

Remote sensing

Capturing data from a distance using satellites and drones