Across
- 2. Breakdown/dissolving of rock into smaller pieces by either physical or chemical processes.
- 5. Solid piece of debris (comet, asteroid, meteor) that originates in space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of Earth (or the Moon)
- 7. Rock that currently exists that geologists use to understand Earth's history
- 9. Technique used to date materials such as rocks and carbon
- 10. Volcanic activity
- 12. Accumulation of particles into a massive object by gravitationally attracting more matter
- 14. Solid, irregular shaped rocky mass that is smaller than a planet and orbits the Sun. Made of materials similar to those that formed the planets (Clay, Nickel, Iron, Silicate)
- 15. Act of water, ice, or wind moving/transporting and depositing material into other locations
- 16. Rocks from the moon
- 17. Contracting mass of gas that represents an early stage in the formation of a star, before nuclear fusion begins
Down
- 1. Period of increased impact from meteorites
- 3. Spontaneous emission of radiation by an unstable nucleus of isotopes in order to stabilize
- 4. Small bodies of accreted gas and dust that to have orbited the Sun during the formation of the planets
- 6. Large body of matter in orbit around the Sun or a star and thought to be developing into a planet
- 8. When gravity causes matter to come together and form larger bodies
- 11. System in space that holds Earth and other planets around the Sun
- 13. Rotating disk of matter surrounding a large object in space, caused by the pull of gravity