Across
- 3. measured in units of millions of years, and separated into the Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic Eras
- 5. naturally occurring solid comprised of only one type of element or compound
- 8. any naturally occurring solid mix of minerals
- 10. where ‘sea-floor spreading’ takes place along a divergent plate boundary
- 11. the type of plate boundary where two plates slide against each other
- 12. rocks formed from lava or magma
- 14. this is simply the place where two plates meet… not like, on a dinner date, but like the border between them
- 17. rocks formed by the natural cementation of accumulated/deposited sediment
- 19. a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic era/ early Mesozoic era
- 20. the type of plate boundary where two plates move away from each other and magma forms new crust
- 22. the concept that the earth’s lithosphere is made up of plates that very gradually change shape and position over time
- 24. wearing or breaking down of rock by chemical means, i.e., some kind of substance forms chemical compounds with the rock’s particles and cause them to be dissolved from the rock (e.g., acid rain, formation of rust)
- 25. a solid that is formed from an ordered arrangement of a single type of atom or molecule
- 27. rocks formed when existing rocks are transformed by heat and pressure
- 28. layers of soil that are categorized by their color, texture, and particle size, as well as the kind of life that live there
Down
- 1. the type of plate boundary where two plates come together and smash into each other
- 2. outermost layer of the Earth, consisting of the crust and solid upper mantle
- 4. a rupture in the earth’s crust that allows lava, ash, and hot gas to escape from the mantle
- 6. the point where an earthquake begins/originates
- 7. big ol’ chunks of the earth’s crust that (very slowly) move around and smash into each other
- 8. the process by which each type of rock is created and then transformed into other types of rocks over time
- 9. a sudden release of energy built up in the earth’s plates, a shaking of the earth’s crust caused by seismic waves
- 13. geological process in which earthen materials are worn away and displaced by wind, water, etc.
- 15. time scale for the history of the earth, based on geological and fossil records
- 16. wearing or breaking down of rock by physical means, such as thermal expansion, ice freezing/melting, wind, friction, etc.
- 18. it’s like a heat-driven conveyor belt that drives the tectonic movements of the earth’s plates
- 21. when a lithospheric plate smashes into another plate, is pushed under that plate, and is forced back down into the mantle
- 23. a crack or fracture in the earth’s surface
- 26. a mix of organic matter, minerals, gas, liquid, and microorganisms, that together support complex life and make it possible