Volcano Dictionary A

'a'a
'A'a (pronounced "ah-ah") is a Hawaiian term for a lava flow that has a rough, broken-up, spiny surface. It is composed of broken lava blocks called clinkers. The interior of 'a'a is very dense.

accretion
Accretion is the accumulation of sediment (mud, sand, etc.) by deposition, often occurring along a shoreline or in a river delta.

acid rain
Acid rain is polluted and harmful to the environment.

aerosol

An aerosol consists of tiny active volcano Aftershocks are small particles of liquids or An active volcano is one that earthquakes that occur solids suspended in the has erupted in recorded after a large earthquake. air. history or is currently erupting.

aftershock

airfall
Airfall (also called ashfall) is volcanic ash that falls from an ash cloud or a volcanic column.

andesite
Andesite is a type of volcanic rock. This gray to black rock is composed of about 54 to 62 percent silica (SiO2), plus some iron and magnesium.

ash cloud
An ash cloud (also called an eruption cloud) is the cloud of ash that forms after some volcanic eruptions.

ash, volcani c
Volcanic ash is a harsh abrasive type of ash (unlike ash from a wood fire) that is made up of small rock, mineral, and volcanic glass fragment s (these fragment s are less than 0.1 inch (2 mm) in diameter) .

ashfa ll
Ashfall (also called airhfall) is volcani c ash that falls from an ashclou d or a volcani c column.

asthenosphere
The asthenosphere (also spelled aesthenosphere) is a part of the Earth's upper mantle that exhibits plastic properties. It is located below the lithosphere (the crust and upper mantle), between about 100 and 250 kilometers deep.

An avalanche is a a large mass of falling and/or sliding material. An atmospheric shock atom Avalanches can be composed of wave is compressed air Everything is made up of rock, snow, soil, or ice. Volcanic that is formed by a tiny atoms. An atom is eruptions can cause avalanches. volcanic eruption. the smallest part of an

atmospheric shock wave

avalanche

element that has the properties of that element.

B
background extinctions ballistic fragment basalt

Background extinctions are those Basalt is a type of volcanic extinctions that occur continually (igneous) rock. This hard, A ballistic throughout time. These extinctions dark rock is composed of 45 fragment is a are caused by small changes in to 54 percent silica (SiO2) piece of rock climate or habitat, depleted that is ejected and is often rich in iron and resources, competition, and other from a volcano magnesium. Basalt is the changes that require adaptation and most common type of rock with great flexibility. Most extinctions (perhaps in the Earth's crust - most of speed. up to 95 per cent of all extinctions) the sea floor is made up of occur as background extinctions. basalt.

basaltic lava

base surge

batholith
A batholith is a huge body of igneous rock that solidified under that Earth but now has at least 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) exposed. Half Dome at Yosemite National Park, California, USA, is a granite batholith.

Basaltic lava is a lava composed A base surge is a of molten basalt. This type of cloud of rock debris, lava erupts at temperatures water, and steam from 1100 to 1250 C. Basalt that moves close to lava has a low viscosity the ground at high (resistance to flow); it flows speeds. It is formed relatively quickly. Shield by an explosive volcanoes are almost entirely volcanic eruption. composed of basalt.

1,000,000,000 bathypelagic
Bathypelagic means of, pertaining to, or living in the deep ocean near the bottom.

biomass billion
A billion is a thousand million. Multicellular life evolved on Earth about a billion years ago. Biomass is the amount of animal and plant life in an area. Biomass is usually expressed in units of weight per volume.

biota
Biota is the animal and plant life of an area.

block

blowdown

A volcanic block is a chunk of rock (over 64 A blowdown is a area mm) that is ejected (thrown) from a volcano. of trees that has been Blocks usually originate from the volcano's blown over by a cone and are solid chunks of older lava flows. volcanic blast. A block is one size of tephra.

bomb
A volcanic bomb is a chunk of viscous lava (over 64 mm) that is ejected (thrown) from a volcano. Since they are still viscous when ejected, they often have rounded, aerodynamic shapes. Types of bombs include: breadcrust bombs, ribbon bombs, spindle bombs, spheroidal bombs, and "cow-dung" bombs.

1,000,000,0 00

bya
"bya" stands for billions of years ago.

caldera

A caldera is a large depression Cinders are small The "Age of Mammals" (65 fragments of lava formed from a collapsed volcano. million years ago - today), saw that are about Calderas are often circular or elliptical. Crater Lake (in Oregon, the emergence of familiar life 1/2 inch (1 forms, humans, the modern USA) is an example of a large centimeter) look of the continents, and a caldera (it is 16 miles across). across. cooling climate. The Cenozoic Caldera comes from the Spanish followed the Mesozoic Era. word for Cauldron.

Cenozoic era

cinders

cinder cone

A cinder cone is a cone-shaped Condensation is the volcano. Its steep sides are formed A composite volcano process in which a by volcanic loose, fragmented is a volcano that has a vapor (a gas) is cooled cinders that fall to the Earth close to steep volcanic cone to the liquid phase. the vent. The lava flows through a Clouds are formed by that is built up by single vent that is usually only up to dense lava flows and the condensation of about 1,000 feet tall. There is atmospheric water pyroclastic debris. usually a bowl-shaped crater at the vapor. Also called a top. As the gas-filled lava erupts into stratovolcano. the air, the lava fragments and forms cinders.

composite volcano

condensation

conduit
A volcanic conduit is a passage through which magma (molten rock) flows in a volcano.

Top of Form

Forward

Backward

Bottom of Form

continental drift
Continental drift is the movement of the Earth's continents. The land masses are

hunks of Earth's crust that float on the molten core. The ideas of continental drift and the existence of a supercontinent (Pangaea) were presented by Alfred Wegener in 1915.

continental shelf
The continental shelf is the part of the ocean floor next to each of the continents. The sea floor slopes gradually from the continent to a depth of about 650 feet (200 m). Beyond the continental shelf the sea floor drops steeply.

continental plates
The crust of the Earth is broken into plates. The plates are enormous chunks of rock that float atop the soft mantle. The plates are moving at a speed that has been estimated at 1 to 10 cm per year. Continental plates are thicker, older, and less dense than oceanic plates. These plates are about 125 kilometers thick and are made of granite that is about 3 billion years old.

crater
A crater is a circular depression in the ground. It has steep Coriolis force sides and The Coriolis force is the force that contains a results from the rotation of the Earth volcanic around its axis; it makes storms rotate vent. counterclockwise in the Northern and clockwise in the Southern Hemispheres. The French engineer/mathematician GustaveGaspard Coriolis discovered this force

core
The core is the innermost layer of the Earth. It consists of iron-nickel; it is under great pressure and is very hot. The inner core is solid ; the outer core is molten.

in 1835. This force has effects on water currents, but has no effect on the direction of water going down a drain.

Cretaceous period
Flowering plants appeared and dinosaurs were at their height during the Cretaceous period, 146-65 million years ago. There was a mass extinction (the K-T mass crust extinction) at the end of the Cretaceous, marking the end The Earth's crust is its of the dinosaurs and many other species. Modern-day outermost, rocky layer. sharks existed during the Cretaceous period.

crystallization
Crystallization is the process in which magma solidifies into solid, crystalline rock.

current
A current is a non-periodic horizontal movement of water. Currents are caused by winds, temperature differentials, and other forces. They are NOT caused by tidal forces (the gravitational forces of the Moon and Sun). Some major currents include the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean and the Humboldt Current in the Pacific Ocean.

dacite
Dacite is a type of volcanic rock that is light-colored and rich in silica (63 to 68 percent).

debris avalanche
A debris avalanche is a sudden rock/soil/debris slide and flows with great speed from a volcano.

debris flow
A debris flow (also called a mudflow or lahar) is a moving mixture of rock, water, and other debris.

decibel
Decibels (abbreviated dB) are the unit of degree diatreme measuring the loudness (or intensity) of sounds. 0 A degree is a A diatreme is a dB is the faintest audible sound. The decibel scale measure of volcanic vent or is logarithmic. Blue whale calls are up to 188 dB; temperature pipe that is this is the loudest animal sound, and is painful to or angle. formed by gasthe human ear. Volcano eruptions are one of the charged magma. loudest sounds on Earth and are over 272 dB.

dike

dome

A dike is a sheet-like intrusion of magma (molten rock) A lava dome is a domethat froces its way through a layer of fractured rock. The shaped mound that is magma flows through cracks in the rock and later cools formed around a vent by and solidifies into a sheet of igneous rock. viscous lava.

dust
Volcanic dust is a solidified lava that is tiny particles. It is ejected from volcanos during A dormant volcano is a volcano that is an eruption. not active now, but may erupt in the future.

dormant volcano

ejecta
Ejecta is material that has been thrown from a volcanic erutption. Some ejecta are lava bombs and tephra (pyroclastic material).

Earth
The Earth is the third planet from the sun.

Eon

Time

element
An element is a chemically pure substance composed of atoms of a single type.

Phanerozoi 540 million years c Eon ago through today

Eocene epoch
The Eocene epoch (58-37 million years ago) was the time when primitive whales and many other mammals evolved.

2.5 billion years ago Proterozoic to 540 million years Eon ago Archaeozoi 3.9 to 2.5 billion c Eon years ago Hadean Eon 4.6 to 3.9 billion years ago

eon
Two or more geological eras form an eon, which is the largest division of geological time, lasting hundreds of millions of years.

epicenter

epipelagic

epoch

The epicenter is the point Epipelagic menas of or An epoch is a division of a on the Earth's surface about the upper part of the geologic period; it is the directly above the place ocean in which there is smallest division of that an earthquake enough light to support geologic time, lasting occured. plants. several million years.

era

eruption cloud

Two or more eruption An eruption cloud (also geological periods An eruption is called an ash cloud) is equator comprise an era, volcanic activity the cloud of ash, gas The equator is an which is hundreds in which lava, and rock fragments imaginary circle of millions of years tephra, or gases that forms after some around the earth (or in duration. volcanic eruptions. are released. other planet or moon), halfway between the north and south poles.

extinct
An animal species that is extinct has died out. Most animal species An eruptive vent is a Evaporation is the process that ever existed have gone vent from which in which a liquid is extinct, including all the volcanic material is transformed into a dinosaurs. released. gaseous form.

eruptive vent

evaporation

extinct volcano
An extinct volcano is a volcano that is not likely to erupt again.

extrusive igneous rock

Extrusive rocks are igneous rocks that have cooled at the surface of the Earth. They usually have a finegrained texture.

fissure
A fissure is a crack in a rocks. A volcanic fissure is one fold mountains from which lava Fold mountains are a type of mountain range that is formed when erupts. two continental plates collide (or one continental plate colliding with an oceanic plate). The colliding crust is compressed and pushed upwards (uplifted), forming mountains. For example, the Himalayas were slowly formed when the Indian plate collided with the Asia-European plate millions of years ago.

fumarole
A fumarole is a vent from which volcanic gases (like sulphur vapor) escape. Fumaroles can occur along small cracks or long fissures.

GAS

GEOLOGICAL TIME GEOLOGY

Geology is the study of the

Gas is a phase of matter The history of the earth is described in which the molecules in geological time, which is measured are widely separated, in millions of years and billions of move around freely, and years. The divisions used are: eon, move at high speeds. era, period, and epoch.

Earth's structure, including rocks.

glacier outburst flood

A glacier outburst flood is a sudden flood caused GONDWANALAND GEOLOGIS as water flows quickly Gondwanaland (also known as Gondwana) T from a glacier or a was the southern supercontinent formed A geologist is glacier-dammed lake. It after Pangaea broke up during the Jurassic a scientist is caused as volcanic period. It included what are now South who studies activity under the America, Africa, India, Australia, and geology. glacier melts the ice. Antarctica.

graben
A graben (or rift) is a valley between two faults.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT
The greenhouse effect is an increase in the temperature of a planet as heat energy from sunlight is trapped in the atmosphere. Excess carbon dioxide and water vapor increase this effect. The greenhouse effect is strong on Earth and Venus, maintaining warm temperatures.

granite
Granite is a type of igneous rock

GUTENBERG, BENO
Beno Gutenberg ( June 4, 1889 - 1960) was a

(volcanic rock that has cooled) that is light-colored and coarse grained. Granite is characterized by the minerals orthoclase and quartz with some plagioclase feldspar and ironmagnesium minerals. Granite underlies much of the continents.

German geophysicist. In 1913, he accurately determined the size of the core of the Earth. Gutenberg discovered that the Earth has a low-velocity zone in the upper mantle; this zone is now called the Gutenberg discontinuity. Gutenberg published a series of papers with Charles Richter (they were titled "On Seismic Waves" and published between 1931 and 1939) and Seismicity of the Earth (published in 1941).

GUYOT
A guyot is a flat-topped, undersea mountain (a seamount) formed from a volcano.

GUTENBERG DISCONTINUITY
The Gutenberg discontinuity separates the outer core and the mantle of the Earth.

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half-life
The half-life of a radioisotope is the amount of time it takes for half of the radioisotope to decay.

hemisphere
A hemisphere is half of a sphere.

Holocene

hotspot

The Holocene (meaning A hot spot is a an area "entirely recent" in Greek) is in the Earth's the most recent epoch in lithosphere through geologic time, lasting from which magma (molten hydrologic cycle about 11,000 years ago until rock) rises. Volcanoes The Hydrologic cycle (also the present day (the time often erupt over hot known as the water cycle) is since the last Ice Age). spots. the journey water takes as it circulates from the Earth to the sky and back again.

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igneous intrusion
An igneous intrusion (also called a laccolith or a plutonic formation) is a formation in which magma (molten rock) is trapped beneath the surface of the Earth and pushes the rock located above it into a dome shape. It has a flat base and a convex upper surface. The magma cools and solidifies, and eventually, it is exposed (as the fractured sedimentary rock above it erodes away).

igneous rock
When molten rock cools, igneous rock is formed. Intrusive rocks are igneous rocks that have formed (and cooled slowly) beneath the surface of the Earth. Extrusive rocks are igneous rocks that have formed (and cooled more quickly) at the surface of the Earth (like obsidian). Some igneous rocks include granite, obsidian (volcanic glass), basalt, and andesite porphyry.

ice age
An ice age is a time lasting thousands of years during which the Earth is very cold and largely covered by ice and glaciers.

ignimbrite
Ignimbrite (meaning "fire rain index fossil stone") is a type of igneous rock impact Index fossils are commonly that is formed in the pyroclastic crater found fossils that are limited in flow (the pumice flow deposit) of Impact craters time span. They help in dating violently explosing volcanoes. are the remains other fossils. For example: Ignimbrite forms as molten lava of collisions trilobites were common during and ash fuse; this rock is between an the Paleozoic, but not found streaked with parallel bands of asteroid or before the Permian period, and black glass. The texture of meteorite and ammonites were common ignimbrite varies from hard to the Earth. during the Mesozoic Era, but soft. not found after the Cretaceous period.

intrusive igneous rock

Intrusive rocks are igneous rocks that have formed (and cooled slowly)

ion
An ion is an atom that is missing one or

intertidal zone beneath the surface of the Earth. These more electrons; ions have an electrical The intertidal rocks usually have a coarse-grained or medium-grained texture, like granite. charge. zone is where the sea meets the land.

Iridium anomaly
Iridium is an element that is rare on the Earth's surface, but abundant on chondritic meteors. The presence of excess Iridium at the K-T layer (the Iridium anomaly) supports the Alvarez asteroid theory.

ISOTOPE
An isotope of an element is another form of the same element, that has a different number of neutrons in the nucleus (giving it a different atomic weight).

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JURASSIC PERIOD
Birds evolved and many dinosaurs flourished during the Jurassic period, 208-146 million years ago.

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laccolith
A laccolith (also called a plutonic formation or an igneous intrusion) is a formation in which magma (molten rock) is trapped beneath the surface of the Earth and pushes the rock located above it into a dome shape. It has a flat base and a convex upper surface. The magma cools and solidifies, and eventually, it is exposed (as the fractured sedimentary rock above it erodes away). Laccolith means "cistern stone" in Greek.

lahar

lapilli

A lahar (also called a Lapilli are pieces of mudflow or debris flow) rock or lava that is a moving mixture of range from 2 and 64 millimeters rock, water, and other across. Lipilli are debris that falls down thrown into the air the slopes of a volcano by volcanic and/or a river valley. explosions Lahar is an Indonesian word

lateral blast
A lateral blast is a volcanic eruption latitude that occurs on the Latitude is the angular side of a volcano; distance north or south Laurasia the energy of the Laurasia was the northern from the equator to a blast is directed particular location. The supercontinent formed after Pangaea horizontally. equator has a latitude of broke up during the Jurassic period. Laurasia included what are now zero degrees. The north North America, Europe, Asia, and south poles have a

latitude of 90 degrees. The rest of the world is between zero and ninety degrees.

Greenland, and Iceland.

lava bomb lava

Lava is molten rock. It usually comes out of erupting volcanoes. A volcanic bomb is a chunk of viscous lava (over 64 mm) that is ejected (thrown) from a volcano. Since they are still viscous when sjected, they often have rounded, aerodynamic shapes. Type of bombs include: breadcrust bombs, ribbon bombs, spindle bombs, spheroidal bombs, and "cow-dung" bombs.

lava dome
A lava dome is a dome-shaped mound that is formed around a vent by viscous lava.

lava lake A lava tube is a tube-like, underground A lava flow is moving A lava lake is a conduit formed by flowing lava. The mass of molten lava on lake of basaltic flowing lava crusts over at the edges and the Earth's surface. The lava contained drains out onto lower ground - what is left solidified lava deposit in a volcanic is a smooth, tube-like tunnel with from a molten lava flow caldera. hanging lava stalactites and a flat floor is also called a lava flow. a lava tube.

lava flow

lava tube

liquid
Liquid is a phase of matter in which the molecules are close together and can move around slowly.

lithospheric plates
Llithospheric plates are a series of slabs that make up the Earth's hard outer shell. There are 16 major lithospheric plates that float on softer layers of the Earth's mantle.

lithosphere

The lithosphere is the solid, rocky, outer part of the Earth consisting of the crust and the upper mantle.

Littoral Zone The littoral (intertidal) zone is where the sea meets the land.

Longitude is the angular distance east or west of Loess is a the prime meridian (the north-south line that deposit of passes through Greenwich, England) to a particular tiny, location. Greenwich, England has a latitude of zero windblown degrees. The farther east or west of Greenwich particles. you are, the greater your longitude. Midway Islands (in the Pacific Ocean) have a longitude of 180 degrees (they are on the opposite side of the globe from Greenwich).

loess

longitude

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maar
A maar is a shallow, flatbottomed crater that forms above a diatreme (volcanic vent) when steam explodes. Maars range in size from 200

mafic
Mafic refers to darkcolored igneous rock or magma that have significant amounts of iron and magnesium. For

magma
Magma is molten rock

to 6,500 feet in diameter and example, olivine, augite, from 30 to 650 feet deep. and hypersthene are Maars often fill with water and mafic rocks. form lakes.

(lava) from which igneous rock forms. Magma is be formed from many types of rocks, including basalt, andesite, dacite, and rhyolite

magnitude
The intensity of an earthquake is described by a number in the Richter scale, called the magnitude. The magnitude of an earthquake is calculated from the logarithm of the amplitude of waves recorded by seismographs. A magnitude 2.0 or less earthquake is called a microearthquake and is not felt by people. A magnitude 4.5 or more earthquake can be measured by seismographs all over the world. Tsunamis can be caused by undersea earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or greater.

magma chamber
A magma chamber is an underground cavity filled with gas-rich magma (molten rock). This magma erupts through volcanoes.

magnetic field
The Earth's magnetic field is aligned with the north and south poles, and has reversed many times during geologic history. Sharks may use the magnetic field of the Earth for navigation purposes on migrations.

mass extinction
Mass extinction is the process in which huge numbers of species die out suddenly. The mantle dinosaurs (and The mantle is the layer many other of the Earth located between the crust and species) went extinct during the molten core.

Mesozoic Era
The Mesozoic Era ("The metamorp Age of Reptiles"), hic rock occurred from 245-65 Metamorphic million years ago. It is rocks are divided into the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous compacted by pressure and periods. Dinosaurs, heat from deep mammals, and flowering inside the plants evolved during the Mesozoic, and Pangaea

the K-T extinction, which was probably caused by an asteroid colliding with the Earth.

broke up. The era ended with the K-T mass extinction.

earth.

meteoroid A meteor is a meteoroid that has A meteorite is a meteor Meteoroids are tiny entered the Earth's atmosphere, that has fallen to Earth. stones or pieces of usually making a fiery trail as it falls. Meteorites are either metal that travel It is sometimes called a shooting star. stone, iron, or stonythrough space. Most burn up before hitting the Earth. iron.

meteor

meteorite

1,000,000

Miocene epoch

The Miocene epoch was a geologic time span that lasted from 24 million to 5 million years million ago. During the Miocene, modern birds and A million is a mineral many mammals evolved (including the thousand A mineral is a horses, dogs, bears, South American thousand. The naturally-occurring monkeys, and apes in southern Europe). dinosaurs lived solid of definite Ramapithecus appeared; this primate was millions of chemical pehaps an ancestor of man. The climate was years ago. composition whose relatively warm (as compared to the earlier atoms usually form Oligocene or the later Pliocene). There were a regular pattern. extensive grasslands (and grasses diversified), and the interior of the continents were relatively dry; northern coniferous forests expanded. Kelp forests appeared in the seas. In North America, the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Cascade Mountains were formed; in the South America, the Andes Mountains arose. The Bering land bridge formed during the Miocene, connecting Russia and Alaska, allowing many animals to

migrat across continents. The Isthmus of Panama also formed during this time. Australia became very dry (but went through wet and dry periods). In Europe, the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean were separated (they had been connected by the Tethys Sea).

Mohorovicic, Andrija
Andrija Mohorovicic (1857 - 1936) was a Yugoslavian geophysicist. After examining seismic waves from the 1909 Kulpa Valley earthquake, Mohorovicic theorized that a boundary between the Earth's crust and the upper mantle existed (about 50 km beneath the surface) in which the speed of earthquake waves became very rapid. This region is now called the Mohorovicic discontinuity. A crater on the dark side of the moon was also named for Mohorovicic.

monogenetic volcano
A monogenetic volcano is one that was formed during a relatively short time period and during a single eruption. Most monogenetic volcanos are basaltic.

MOHOROVICIC DISCONTINUITY
The Mohorovicic discontinuity separates the crust and the upper mantle of the Earth.

1,000,000 mudflow
A mudflow (also called a debris flow or lahar) is a moving mixture of rock, water, and other debris.

mya
"mya" stands for millions of years ago.

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N
neretic neck
A neck (also called a volcanic plug) is solidified lava that fills the conduit of a volcano.

nuees ardente

Pertaining to the Nuees ardente (also called shallow waters near the pyroclastic flow) is very hot gas shore over the and ash that explodes from a continental shelf. volcano at high speeds.

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obsidian
Obsidian (also called Apache An ocean is a vast body of salt water. Oceans cover tears) is a volcanic glass that is usually black, but is more than three-quarters of the surface of the

ocean

Earth. The oceans on Earth include the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean. The ocean floors are composed mostly of basalt.

occasionally red, brown, gray, green (rare), dark with "snowflakes," or even clear. This glassy, lustrous mineral is found in lava flows, and obsidian stones can be massive. Obsidian is formed when viscous lava (from volcanos) cools rapidly. Most obsidian is 70 percent silica. Obsidian has a hardness of 5 and a specific gravity of 2.35. The pin above is mahogany (brown) obsidian.

oceanography outcrop
Oceanography is the science that studies the physical geography of oceans. An outcrop is a place where bedrock is visible on the surface of the Earth.

oceanic plates
The crust of the Earth is broken into plates. The plates are enormous chunks of rock that float atop the soft mantle. The plates are moving at a speed that has been estimated at 1 to 10 cm per year. Oceanic plates (those that are under the ocean) are thinner, younger, and denser than continental plates. These underwater plates are about 75 kilometers thick and are made of basalt rock. They are relatively young since plate formation (seafloor spreading) occurs at the margins of oceanic plates.

outgassing
Outgassing is the release of gases into the ozone atmosphere during Ozone is a form of volcanic eruptions. oxygen (O3); it consists A lot of of our of three connected atmosphere (including water oxygen atoms. Ozone is formed when oxygen vapor, nitrogen, molecules (O2) bonds and argon) came are broken by high from outgassing. energy (bombardment by energetic electrons or high energy radiation).

ozone layer
The ozone layer is a region of the stratosphere which contains most (about 90%) of the Earth's atmospheric ozone. It is about10-25 miles (15-40 km) above the Earth's surface. The ozone layer shields the Earth from Ultraviolet B rays that come from the Sun. The ozone layer is becoming depleted, and there is an "ozone hole" over Antarctica.

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Pahoehoe
Pahoehoe (pronounced "pah-hoy-hoy") is a Hawaiian term for lava that, when solid, has a

paleontology

smooth or rope-like surface.

Paleontology is the branch A paleontologist is a scientist of biology that studies the who studies paleontology, the forms of life that existed in forms of life that existed in former geologic periods, former geologic periods, chiefly by studying fossils. chiefly by studying fossils.

paleontologist

Pele's hair is a The Paleozoic era Hawaiian term for (540 to 245 million natural spun glass Pangaea years ago) saw an that can be as much Pangaea was a supercontinent explosion of new life as 2 m long. It is consisting of all of Earth's land forms. It ended with formed from the masses. It existed during the Permian the largest mass fountaining of fluid extinction in history and Jurassic period. It began breaking basaltic lava, and was followed by up during the Jurassic period, forming cascading lava falls, continents Gondwanaland and the Mesozoic Era. or from turbulent lava Laurasia, separated by the Tethys flows. Sea.

Paleozoic era

Pele's hair

period
The period is Permian period the basic unit Also known as "The Age of of geological Amphibians" (280 to 245 time in which million years ago), this is a single type the time when Pangaea of rock system formed and Earth's is formed, atmosphere was lasting tens of oxygenated to modern millions of levels. It ended with the phases of matter years. largest mass extinction Matter can exist in four phases (solid, and was followed by the liquid, gas, and plasma) and a few other Mesozoic Era. Ancient extreme phases, like critical fluids and sharks swam the seas degenerate gases. The phase diagram during the Permian period. of water (above) shows its phase at

various temperatures and pressures.

pillow lava
Pillow lava is lava that cools under the sea, with an interconnected, sacklike form.

pipe
A pipe is a vertical passageway that runs through the Earth's crust under a volcano. Pipes are formed as magma (molten rock) travels upward through the crust. Pipes are often filled with breccia and other rock debris.

plates

The crust of the Earth is broken into plates. The plates are enormous chunks of Forward Backward rock that float atop the soft mantle. The plate tectonics plates are moving at a speed that has Plate tectonics is the now-established been estimated at 1 to 10 cm per year. Oceanic plates (those that are under the theory that chunks of the Earth's crust (plates) float on the surface and change ocean) are thinner and denser than both position and size over time. continental plates.
Bottom of Form

Top of Form

plug plutonic formation

A plutonic formation (also called a laccolith or an igneous intrusion) is a formation in which magma (molten rock) is A plug (also called a volcanic neck) is solidified lava that

trapped beneath the surface of the Earth and pushes the rock located above it into a dome shape. It has a flat base and a convex upper surface. The magma cools and solidifies, and eventually, it is exposed (as the fractured sedimentary rock above it erodes away).

fills the conduit of a volcano.

Precambrian
The Precambrian is the time 540 before precipitation the Cambrian period (before million years ago). It is the time from when the Earth Precipitation is rain, sleet, hail, snow, or other condensation products falling formed until simple life-forms evolved. from the atmosphere. Precipitation on Earth is is key in the water cycle.

pumice
Pumice is a light-weight, spongy rock that is formed Prehistoric refers to the time in explosive volcanic eruptions. This igneous rock is light and porous, containing a network of gas bubbles before people began recording history in writing. in volcanic glass and minerals. Pumice can form from any types of magma, including basalt, andesite, This time varies from culture dacite, and rhyolite. to culture.

prehistoric

pyroclastic
Pyroclastic (meaning "fire fragmented") refers to brokenup rocks, pumice, ash, and other bits of material that are formed in a volcanic eruption.

pyroclastic flow
A pyroclastic flow is an avalanche of pyroclastic materials (broken rocks, pumice, and ash) and hot gases that erupts from within a volcano. A pyroclastic flow travels at up to 100 miles per hour. Within the flow, temperatures can reach 500 degrees C.

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Quaternary period
The Quaternary period, "The Age of Man" (1.8 million years ago to the present), is the most recent period of geological time.

quartz
Quartz is a common crystalline mineral.

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repose
Repose is the time between radioisotope dating volcanic Radioisotope dating is used to find eruptions. out how old fossils are. Different radioisotopes are used for different geologic time periods because of their different half-

reticulite
Reticulite (also called threadlace scoria) is a very light form of pumice. It is formed during very high fountaining volcanic eruptions, when a lot of air is included in the rock

lives.

these are the most explosive Charles Francis Richter Rhyolite is a a type volcanoes. They do not look like (April 26, 1900- April 30, of volcanic lava or common volcanoes -- after an 1985) was a who developed rock that is usually eruption, the result is a caldera the Richter scale, a light in color; it (crater) caused when the area logarithmic scale that contains 69 around the vent collapses. measures the intensity of percent silica and Examples are Yellowstone in an earthquake. He is high in Wyoming, USA and Lake Taupo in developed it in 1935 at the potassium and New Zealand (which erupted California Institute of sodium. around A.D. 80). Technology.

rhyolite

rhyolite caldera complex Richter, Charles F.

Richter scale
The Richter scale is a logarithmic scale that measures the intensity of an earthquake. It was developed in 1935 by rift Charles F. Richter. The magnitude of an earthquake is calculated from the A rift (or logarithm of the amplitude of waves graben) is recorded by seismographs. Beno a valley ring of fire Gutenberg also contributed to the more between The ring of fire is an area general application of the Richter scale. two around the Pacific Ocean that A magnitude 2.0 or less earthquake is faults. is high in volcanic, mountaincalled a microearthquake and is not felt building, and seismic activity. by people. A magnitude 4.5 or more earthquake can be measured by seismographs all over the world.

rock
A rock is an aggregation of solid matter, a random conglomerate of minerals. The

rock cycle

runoff

The rock cycle decribes Runoff is water (or the relationship between other liquids) that igneous, sedimentary, drains or flows from the

earth's crust is made of rock. land into streams and and metamorphic rocks. There are three types of rock: rivers, and eventually James Hutton (1727igneous, sedimentary, and into the seas. The water 1797) first developed the metamorphic. Petrology is the is generally from rain or concept of the rock cycle. scientific study of rocks. snowpack melt.

scoria
Scoria are bomb-sized (greater than 64 mm across) pyroclastic science fragments that are formed as People study blobs of lava cool when they are science to blasted through the air. Scoria learn about the are filled with cavities formed by physical world. trapped air bubbles.

seafloor spreading
Seafloor spreading is the movement of two oceanic plates away from each other, which results in the formation of new oceanic crust and a mid-ocean ridge.

seamount

seismograph

A seamount is an underwater A seismograph is a mountain that rises at least 1000 device that records and sedimentary meters above the sea floor. Some measures seismic waves rock seamounts rise above the water's (vibrations in the Earth), Sedimentary rock is surface. Most seamounts are like those from rock that has formed volcanic in orgin; only a few are earthquakes. from sediment. Most non-volcanic (caused by uplifting). fossils are found sedimentary rock.

shocked quartz
Shocked quartz is quartz that has undergone shield volcano skylight deformation due to extreme A shield volcano is a volcano A skylight is a an pressure and heat. It has that has gently sloping sides. opening in the roof of a been found in the layer that Shield volcanoes are lava tube. Skylights marks the K-T boundary, composed mostly of basalt are formed either leading credence to the (whose lava flows easily and when part of the roof Alvarez impact theory. quickly). The biggest collapses or as a gap in volcanoes on Earth (like those the tube when the on the islands of Hawaii) are tube initally forms. shield volcanoes.

silica
Silica is a very common mineral composed of A side vent is an opening in silicon and oxygen (SiO2). the side of a volcano Silicates make up about through which volcanic materials (like lava, gases, 95% of the Earth's crust. and pyroclastic debris) erupt.

silicates
Silicates are minerals composed of silicon and oxygen with one or more other elements. Silicates make up about 95% of the Earth's crust.

side vent

solid

spreading ridge

A solid is one phase A spreading ridge is of matter, a phase in an area of the ocean which the molecules floor in which new sky are very close crust is being formed The sky on Earth appears blue because together and cannot as magma erupts. our atmosphere scatters the blue move around. colors from the sunlight (which consists of all colors of light). The sky on planets with a different atmospheric composition would appear to be a different color.

dense form of quartz A stratovolcano that has only been is a composite found in meteorite volcano. impact craters, in which quartz has undergone highpressure shock.

stratovolca Stishovite is a very no

stishovite

states of matter
Matter can exist in four states or phases (solid, liquid, gas, and plasma) and a few other extreme phases (like critical fluids and degenerate gases). The phase diagram of water (above) shows its phase at various temperatures and pressures.

subduction zone
A subduction zone is an area on a planet's crust in which the edge of an oceanic continental plate is being pushed beneath another plate.

subduction
A subduction is a phenomenon in which one part of the Earth's crust (a plate) is pushed underneath another plate as two plates collide. The descending crust melts as it is pushed deep into the Earth's mantle. Subduction destroys crust and recycles it back into the mantle.

sublime

supervolcano

Subliming is when a A supervolcano is an enormous volcano that is an order of material goes directly magnitude larger than ordinary volcanoes. A supervolcano from being a solid to occurs when a huge magma chamber in the Earth's crust being a gas (it skips erupts after being under great pressure, causing a large the liquid phase caldera to form as the land over the magma chamber altogether). collaspses. This type of eruption is probably able to cause a major climate change and a mass extinction as it ejects dust, debris, and caustic gases into the atmosphere. Supervolcanos do not look like the familiar cone-shaped volcano - a supervolcano looks like a huge collapsed crater. Yellowstone National Park (in Wyoming and Montana, USA) is a supervolcano70 km long and 30 km wide; it is due to erupt soon (in terms of geological time).

T
Tertiary period

tectonic activity
Tectonic activity is the shifting of a planet's surface because of changes deep inside the body. Earthquakes, fissures, rifts, and volcanoes are some results of tectonic activity.

tephra The Tertiary period lasted from 65 to 1.8 million years ago. It followed the Tephra is Cretaceous period (the end of the volcanic Mesozoic Era) and the K-T material that is extinction. Many mammals airborne, like developed then, including primitive lava bombs, whales, rodents, pigs, cats, rhinos, lapilli, and ash. etc.

Tethys sea
The Tethys sea was a TRAP shallow sea that ROCK existed during the Trap rock is early Mesozoic Era. It a type of was the body of igneous water that separated rock. This the landmass of solidified tide Laurasia in the north lava often from Gondwanaland A tide is a periodic rise and fall of large bodies of contains water. Tides are caused by the gravitational in the south. pockets of

interaction between the Earth and the Moon. The gravitational attraction of the moon causes the oceans to bulge out in the direction of the moon. Another bulge occurs on the opposite side, since the Earth is also being pulled toward the moon (and away from the water on the far side). Since the earth is rotating while this is happening, two tides occur each day. Isaac Newton was the first person to explain tides scientifically.

crystals.

tropics
The tropics are a 3,000 mile (4800 km) wide band around the Triassic period equator, between Dinosaurs and mammals the Tropic of troposphere evolved during the Cancer (23.5 N The troposphere is the lowest region Triassic period, 245 - 208 latitude) and the in the Earth's (or any planet's) million years ago. Tropic of atmosphere. On the Earth, it goes Capricorn (23.5 from ground (or water) level up to S latitude). about 11 miles (17 kilometers) high. The weather and clouds occur in the troposphere. In the troposphere, the temperature generally decreases as altitude increases.

tuff
Tuff is pyroclastic rock.

tuya
A tuya is a volcano that erupts under a glacier.

tsunami
A tsunami is a huge wave, caused by undersea earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, rockslides, or, more

rarely, by asteroid or meteoroid impact (as in the case of the K-T extinction).

U
Ultramafic

Ultramafic rocks are a type of igneous rock that are composed mostly of the mafic minerals: hypersthene, augite, and/or olivine.

Viscosity is a measure of the Volcanic ash is a harsh A vent is an opening resistance to flow of a liquid. abrasive type of ash (unlike in the earth's surface Viscous liquids flow very ash from a wood fire) that is through which slowly; less viscous fluids flow made up of small rock, volcanic materials more quickly. For example, mineral, and volcanic glass (like lava, gases, and water has a low viscosity fragments (these fragments pyroclastic debris) while oil has a higher are less than 0.1 inch (2 mm) erupt. viscosity. in diameter).

vent

viscosity

volcanic ash

volcanic block
A volcanic block is a chunk of rock (over 64 mm) that is ejected (thrown) from a volcano. Blocks usually originate from the volcano's cone and are solid chunks of older lava flows.

volcanic bomb

A volcanic bomb is a chunk of viscous dust lava (over 64 mm) that is ejected Volcanic dust is a (thrown) from a volcano. Since they are solidified lava still viscous when sjected, they often that is tiny have rounded, aerodynamic shapes. particles. It is Type of bombs include: breadcrust ejected from bombs, ribbon bombs, spindle bombs, volcanos during spheroidal bombs, and "cow-dung" an eruption. bombs.

volcanic

volcanic neck
A volcanic neck (also

volcanic plug
A volcanic plug (also

volcanic seamount
called a volcanic plug) is solidified lava that fills the conduit of a volcano. called a volcanic neck) A volcanic seamount is an is solidified lava that underwater volcano that rises at fills the conduit of a least 50-100 m above the sea volcano. floor. Some seamounts rise above the water's surface.

volcano
A volcano is a place on the Earth's surface (or any other planet's or volatiles moon's surface) where molten rock, gases and pyroclastic debris erupt Volatiles are elements that vulcanologi through the earth's crust. Volcanoes have a very low boiling vary quite a bit in their structure temperature. Examples st some are cracks in the earth's crust include nitrogen, helium, A vulcanologist where lava erupts, and some are water, carbon dioxide. is a scientist domes, shields, or mountain-like Volatiles are usually found who studies structures with a crater at the summit. in liquid or gaseous form volcanoes. Some types of volcanoes include: (except at very cold caldera, cinder cone, hornito, lava temperatures). dome, maar, mud volcano, shield volcano, spatter cone, and stratovolcano. The word volcano is from Latin; it comes from the ancient Romans god of fire and metalworking, Vulcan.

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wave water cycle

The water cycle (also known as the hydrologic cycle) is the journey water takes as it circulates from the Earth to the sky and back again. Most waves are caused by the wind.

WEGENER, ALFRED L.
Alfred Lothar Wegener (1880-1930), the German geologist and meteorologist, proposed the theory of continental drift in his 1915 book, On the Origin of Continents and Oceans. This theory states that parts of the Earth's crust slowly drift atop a liquid core. The fossil record overwhelmingly supports and gives credence to the theory of continental drift (and that of plate tectonics). He proposed the existence of the supercontinent Pangaea, and named it (Pangaea means "all the land" in Greek). Wegener froze to death while heading an expedition crossing the Greenland ice cap in 1930.

xenocrist

xenolith

A xenocryst (meaning "foreign crystal") is A xenolith (meaning "foreign rock") is a a foreign crystal that is located in an foreign rock that is located in an igneous rock. igneous rock.

Types of Volcanoes
There are many types of volcanoes:

Shield Volcano - A gently-sloping volcano that emits mostly basaltic lava (very fluid lava) that flows in long-lasting, relatively gentle eruptions - explosions are minimal. Shield volcanoes can be very big. An example is Mt. Kilauea (in Hawaii, USA). Composite or Strato Volcano - A steep-coned volcano that explosively emits gases, ash, pumice, and a small amount of stiff, silica lava (called rhyolite). This type of volcano can have eruptions accompanied by lahars -- deadly mudflows. Most volcanoes on Earth are of this type. Stratovolcanoes kill more people than any other type of volcanoes - this is because of their abundance on Earth and their powerful mudflows. Examples are Krakatoa in Indonesia, Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines, and Mt. St. Helens in Washington state, USA. Lava Dome - A bulbous (rounded) volcano that forms when very viscous lava barely flows. An example is Mont Pele in Martinique. Cinder Cone - A cone-shaped volcano whose steep sides are formed by loose, fragmented cinders that fall to the Earth close to the vent. The lava flows through a single vent that is usually only up to about 1,000 feet tall. There is usually a bowl-shaped crater at the top. As the gas-filled lava erupts into the air, the lava fragments into pieces and forms cinders. Rhyolite Caldera Complex - these are the most explosive volcanoes. They do not look like common volcanoes -- after an eruption, the result is a caldera (crater) caused when the area around the vent collapses. Examples are Yellowstone in Wyoming, USA and Lake Taupo in New Zealand (which erupted around A.D. 80).