Geoscience Processes

Geoscience Process

Any process that changes Earth's surface

Weathering

Breaking of rock

Erosion

Carrying away or movement of sediment

Deposition

Dropping or laying down of sediment

Glacial Till

The mixture of sediments that a glacier deposits

Sand Dunes

A large deposit of windblown sand

Loess Deposit

A large deposit of silt and clay

Delta

A landform created by sediment deposited where a river flows into a lake or ocean

Mechanical Weathering

The breaking of rock into smaller pieces of the same type of rock. The five types are: freezing and thawing, abrasion, animal actions, plant growth, and release of pressure

Chemical Weathering

The breaking of rock into smaller pieces that are different from the original rock. The five types are: acid rain, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, living organisms

Deflation

The process by which wind removes surface materials (can create desert pavement)

Abrasion

The wearing away of rock by a grinding action

Plucking

The process of a glacier picking up rocks

Mass Movement

Any process that moves sediment downhill

Landslide

Rock and soil slide quickly down a steep slope

Mudflow

Rapid downhill movement of a mixture of water, rock, and soil

Slump

A mass of rock and soil suddenly slips or drops straight down

Creep

The very slow downhill movement of rock and soil

Oxidation

Iron combines with oxygen in the presence of water to create rust

Theory of Plate Tectonics

The theory that large pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion underground

Plate Boundary

Where two plates meet

Divergent Plate Boundary

The place where two plates move apart; creates ridges and volcanoes

Convergent Plate Boundary

The place where two plates move toward one another; creates trenches and mountains

Transform Plate Boundary

The place where two plates move past one another in opposite directions; creates earthquakes and fracture zones

Oceanic Ridge

An undersea mountain range where new ocean floor is produced; occurs at divergent boundaries

Oceanic Trench

A deep valley along the ocean floor beneath which oceanic crust slowly sinks toward the mantle

Pangaea

The supercontinent created (and broken apart) by tectonic plates

Fossil Similarities

Provide evidence for Pangaea existing because similar fossils have been found on different continents. These continents were once together, but shifting tectonic plates have caused the continents to move away from one another.

Continental Shelf

The underwater land directly around a continent where the sea is relatively shallow; helps fill in the puzzle of Pangaea