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Questions and Answers
What is the outermost layer of the Earth called?
What is the outermost layer of the Earth called?
Which layer of the Earth is primarily composed of liquid?
Which layer of the Earth is primarily composed of liquid?
What causes the movement of tectonic plates?
What causes the movement of tectonic plates?
What is referred to as the area where two tectonic plates meet?
What is referred to as the area where two tectonic plates meet?
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In which tectonic boundary do two plates move away from each other?
In which tectonic boundary do two plates move away from each other?
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What occurs during subduction?
What occurs during subduction?
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Which layer of the Earth is the thickest?
Which layer of the Earth is the thickest?
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Which layer of the Earth is solid despite the high temperatures?
Which layer of the Earth is solid despite the high temperatures?
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What characterizes active faults?
What characterizes active faults?
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What does the intensity of an earthquake measure?
What does the intensity of an earthquake measure?
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What type of fault is characterized by a vertical movement?
What type of fault is characterized by a vertical movement?
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What can compression force cause in geological formations?
What can compression force cause in geological formations?
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Which of the following defines the focus of an earthquake?
Which of the following defines the focus of an earthquake?
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What are body waves?
What are body waves?
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Which type of seismic waves are directly above the focus?
Which type of seismic waves are directly above the focus?
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What describes an oblique-slip fault?
What describes an oblique-slip fault?
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Study Notes
Layers of the Earth
- Crust: Outermost, thinnest layer (50km), composed of different landforms.
- Mantle: Beneath the crust, thickest layer (2900km), solid rock. Contains the asthenosphere.
- Outer Core: Liquid layer, composed of iron and nickel (2200km), 5000°C.
- Inner Core: Solid, densest layer (1200km), 6000°C.
Tectonic Plates
- Tectonic Plates: Large sections of rock within the lithosphere.
- Plate Boundaries: Where two plates meet.
- Plate Tectonic Theory: Earth's crust is made up of moving plates driven by convection currents in the mantle.
- Types of Plate Movement: Plates can move towards each other (convergent), away from each other (divergent), or slide past each other (transform).
Types of Tectonic Boundaries
- Convergent (Destructive): Two plates move together, one may be driven down into the mantle (subduction).
- Divergent (Constructive): Two plates move apart.
- Transform (Conservative): Two plates slide past each other.
Earthquakes
- Active Faults: Generated earthquakes in the past 10,000 years; may still generate earthquakes.
- Inactive Faults: Show no signs of generating earthquakes in the past 10,000 years; may potentially generate earthquakes in the future.
- Earthquake Causes: Sudden movement along fractures in the Earth's crust known as faults, releasing energy from beneath the ground.
- Intensity: Measure of damage caused by an earthquake.
- Magnitude: Total amount of energy released by the earthquake.
- Faults: Fractures or breaks in the earth's crust where earthquakes are likely to occur.
- Types of Faults: Vertical movement (dip-slip) such as normal, reverse, thrust faults and horizontal movement (strike-slip) such as left lateral, right lateral and oblique-slip faults.
Seismic Waves
- Seismic Waves: Waves of energy caused by the sudden breaking of rock within the earth.
- Types of Seismic Waves: Body waves (travel through the Earth's interior: P-waves and S-waves), and Surface waves (travel on Earth's surface: Love waves and Rayleigh waves). Body waves arrive first, followed by surface waves, which cause the most damage.
Measuring Earthquakes
- Mercalli Scale: Measures intensity of an earthquake based on the observed effects.
- Richter Scale: Measures the magnitude of an earthquake; logarithmic scale.
- Seismogram: A record of ground motion during an earthquake, used to determine magnitude and type of earthquake.
- Seismograph: Instrument used to measure earthquake waves.
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Description
Explore the fascinating concepts of Earth's layers and tectonic plates in this quiz. Learn about the crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core, along with the types of plate boundaries and their movements. Test your understanding of plate tectonic theory and its implications for the Earth's structure.