Grade 10 Science: Plate Tectonics and Climate in the Philippines

Comprensive flashcards covering geological mechanisms, plate tectonics, volcano types, and climate classifications in the Philippines based on lecture transcripts.

Sierra Madre

The longest mountain range in the Philippines, running north-south from the Provinces of Cagayan to Quezon and forming the eastern backbone of Luzon Island.

Orogenic Process

A collection of geologic processes involved in mountain building, including folding, faulting, volcanic activity, igneous intrusion, and metamorphism.

Philippine Sea Plate Movement

The plate movement encompassing the Philippine archipelago, which moves northward at a rate of $6\text{--}7\,cm$ per year.

Thermal Convection

A process where heat from the Earth's core is transferred to the surface by the mantle, restricted to cells within the asthenosphere or the whole mantle to drive plate movement.

Ridge Push

A gravity-driven mechanism of plate movement where the young, thin part of a plate slides downhill away from a mid-ocean ridge.

Slab-Pull

A mechanism where the subducting cold and denser slab of lithosphere pulls the rest of the plate downward into the asthenosphere due to gravity.

Seafloor Spreading Hypothesis

A theory proposed by Harry Hess in the 1950s suggesting that new crust is continuously formed from upwelling magma at mid-ocean ridges and moves laterally away.

Sonar

Short for Sound Navigation and Ranging, a technology used by scientists to map the seafloor and locate underwater hazards.

Paleomagnetism

The residual magnetism in ancient rocks that records the direction and intensity of Earth's magnetic poles at the time the rock was formed.

Magnetic Reversal

A phenomenon involving the complete reversal of the north and south magnetic poles, preserved as zebra-like stripes on the seafloor.

Climate Zones

Broad classifications of the atmosphere's behavior over long periods, categorized into Tropical (Torrid), Temperate, and Polar (Frigid) zones.

Tropical or Torrid Zone

The hottest climate zone, located from $0^{\circ}$ to $30^{\circ}$ above and below the equator.

Temperate Zone

The climate zone lying between $30^{\circ}$ and $60^{\circ}$ latitude above and below the equator.

Polar or Frigid Zone

The coldest climate zone, lying beyond $60^{\circ}$ latitude above and below the equator.

Weather

The overall condition of the atmosphere at a particular time and place on a day-to-day basis.

Climate

The behavior of the atmosphere in a given place over a long period of time.

Tropical Rainforest Climate

A typically hot and wet climate found $10\text{--}15^{\circ}$ latitude from the equator, characterized by heavy rainfall throughout the year.

Tropical Savanna Climate

Also known as tropical monsoon or tropical wet and dry climate, characterized by mean temperatures above $18\,^{\circ}C$ and tree-studded grasslands.

Humid Subtropical Climate

A climate with hot, humid summers and mild cold seasons, usually experienced in higher-altitude areas in the Philippines.

Type I Climate (Philippines)

A climate condition with two pronounced seasons: dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year.

Type II Climate (Philippines)

A climate condition with no dry season and very pronounced rainfall from November to January.

Type III Climate (Philippines)

A climate condition where seasons are not very pronounced, staying dry from November to April and wet the rest of the year.

Type IV Climate (Philippines)

A climate condition where rainfall is more or less evenly distributed throughout the year.

Greenhouse Gas Factors

Human activities such as burning fossil fuels and land-use changes that increase concentrations of $CO_2$, nitrous oxide, and methane.

SLCPs (Short-Lived Climate-Forcing Pollutants)

Pollutants including methane, black carbon, ground-level ozone, and sulfate aerosols that have shorter atmospheric lifetimes than $CO_2$.

Plate Tectonics

The theory that the Earth's outermost layer, the lithosphere, is made of moving slabs called plates.

Pacific Ring of Fire

Also called the circum-Pacific belt, it is the outer edge of the Pacific where $75\%$ of the world’s active volcanoes and most earthquakes occur.

Earthquake

A weak to violent shaking of the ground caused by the sudden movement of rock materials below the Earth's surface.

Epicenter

The point on the Earth's surface directly above where an earthquake begins.

Focus

The point underground where an earthquake starts.

Divergent Boundary

A plate boundary where two plates pull apart, leading to seafloor spreading and the creation of new crust.

Convergent Boundary

A plate boundary where two plates push into each other, forming mountains and volcanoes through subduction or collision.

Transform-Fault Boundary

A plate boundary where plates slide past each other horizontally without the production or destruction of lithosphere.

Subduction

The geological process at convergent boundaries where a denser plate moves under another and sinks into the mantle.

Composite Volcano (Stratovolcano)

Tall, cone-shaped volcanoes built of high-silica magma and layers of lava and rock fragments, such as Mount Mayon or Mount Fuji.

Cinder Cone Volcano

A steep conical hill of tephra (volcanic debris) that piles up around a vent, such as the Smith Volcano in Babuyan Island.

Shield Volcano

The largest type of volcano, built almost entirely of fluid lava vents and resembling a warrior's shield, such as Mauna Loa in Hawaii.

Oceanic Plates

Dense, heavy plates $6\text{--}12\,km$ thick, made primarily of basalt and rich in silicon and magnesium.

Continental Plates

Lighter plates $40\text{--}60\,km$ thick, made primarily of granite and rich in silicon and aluminum.

Mid-Ocean Ridge

An immense underwater volcanic mountain chain, over $30\,000\text{ miles } (48\,000\,km)$ long, where plates spread apart and new crust forms.

Tsunami

A Japanese word for 'harbor wave,' referring to long high sea waves caused by earthquakes, submarine landslides, or volcanic eruptions.

Orogenesis

The collection of processes involved in mountain building, derived from Greek words meaning 'mountain born.'

Fault-Block Mountain

Mountains created by blocks of rocks uplifted by normal faults due to tensional forces pulling the crust apart.

Fold Mountains

Mountains created where two or more tectonic plates are pushed together, causing wrinkles or waves in stratified rocks.

Syncline

A type of fold that is concave upward.

Anticline

A type of fold that is concave downward (though the text describes both as concave upward, geologically anticlines are convex).