Inanimate Nature Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering Earth's layers, geological processes, orogeny, volcanism, and hydrology based on the Inanimate Nature 2 lecture notes.

Solar System Age

Approximately $4.6$ billion years, corresponding to the formation of the Sun, planets, and other objects in the system.

Kola Superdeep Borehole

The deepest borehole in the world, located in Russia, reaching a depth of $12.3\,km$.

Gutenberg Discontinuity

The boundary (discontinuity) between the Earth's mantle and the core, located approximately $2,900\,km$ below the surface.

Asthenosphere

A plastic layer located beneath the lithosphere in the upper mantle (roughly $100-350\,km$ deep) where tectonic plate movement occurs.

S-waves (Secondary waves)

Transverse seismic waves that travel slower than P-waves and can only pass through solid materials.

P-waves (Primary waves)

Longitudinal seismic waves that are the fastest and can travel through both solid and liquid substances.

Hypocenter

The point of origin of an earthquake below the surface where tension is released.

Epicenter

The point on the Earth's surface directly above the hypocenter.

Alpine Orogeny

The mountain-building process that began at the end of the Cretaceous and continues to the present, responsible for the formation of the Alps and Carpathians.

Bowen's Reaction Series

A model describing the sequence of mineral crystallization from cooling magma, including a discontinuous branch (olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, biotite) and a continuous branch (plagioclase).

Viscosity

A measure of a fluid's resistance to flow or deformation, caused by internal friction between particles.

Shield Volcano

A volcanic body with a broad surface and gentle slopes, formed by the flow of low-viscosity (thin and liquid) basic lava, such as Mauna Loa.

Greenhouse Gases

Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), methane ($CH_4$), nitrous oxide ($N_2O$), water vapor ($H_2O$), and fluorinated gases (freons).

Estuary

A wide, funnel-shaped river mouth where fresh water mixes with seawater in a bay or ocean gulf.

Fluvial Sediments

Materials such as clay, sand, and gravel transported and deposited by a river.

Oxbow Lake (Mrtvé rameno)

A U-shaped body of water that forms when a wide meander from the main river is cut off, creating a free ship-standing body of water.

Stalactite

A type of speleothem that hangs from the ceiling of a cave, formed by dripping water containing dissolved minerals.

Stalagmite

A type of speleothem that grows upward from the floor of a cave, formed where water drops fall from the ceiling.

Stalagnate

A column-like cave formation created when a stalactite and a stalagmite grow together and join.

Mohorovičić Discontinuity (MOHO)

The boundary layer between the Earth's crust (ZK) and the Earth's mantle (ZP).

Pillow Lava

A type of lava that forms during eruptions on the seafloor, characterized by its pillow-like shapes.

Xenoliths

Fragments of foreign rock contained within a magmatic intrusion.

Bauxite

An ore from which aluminum ($Al$) is obtained, often found in lateritic deposits.

Watershed (Vodní rozvodí)

The boundary line that separates two neighboring drainage basins (povodi).

Ponor

The place where surface water disappears into the underground, common in karst regions.

Trough (Glacial Valley)

A U-shaped valley with a wide floor and steep walls formed by the erosion of a glacier.

Nunatak

A mountain peak or rock formation that stands above the surface of an ice sheet or glacier.

Tillite

An unsorted, lithified glacial sediment.

Deflation

The aeolian process by which wind removes and transports fine, loose particles from the ground surface.

Richter Scale

A scale used to express the magnitude of an earthquake based on the total amount of energy released.

Subduction

A geological process that occurs at convergent plate boundaries where one lithospheric plate moves under another and sinks into the mantle.

Lithosphere

The outermost solid shell of Earth, consisting of the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle.

Barrandien

A unique geological area in the Czech Republic containing unmetamorphosed or weakly metamorphosed sediments from the Cambrian to the Devonian.

Kaolinite

A mineral formed by the chemical weathering of feldspars in granites and arkoses.