Science Notes Review

Front

What are P waves?

Back

P waves, or primary waves, are seismic waves that compress and expand the ground. They are the fastest seismic waves and can travel through solids, liquids, and gases.

Front

What are S waves?

Back

S waves, or secondary waves, are seismic waves that move the ground up and down or side to side. They are slower than P waves and can only travel through solids.

Front

What is the Ring of Fire?

Back

The Ring of Fire is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. It is shaped like a horseshoe and is home to about 75% of the world's active volcanoes.

Front

What is continental drift?

Back

Continental drift is the theory that continents have moved over geological time and were once joined together in a single landmass called Pangaea.

Front

What evidence supports the theory of continental drift?

Back

Evidence for continental drift includes the distribution of fossils, similarities in rock formations across continents, and climatic evidence such as glacial deposits.

Front

What is an earthquake?

Back

An earthquake is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves.

Front

What is the Richter Scale?

Back

The Richter Scale is a logarithmic scale used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes, quantifying the amount of energy released.

Front

What causes earthquakes?

Back

Earthquakes are caused by the movement of tectonic plates, which can create stress along faults in the Earth's crust.

Front

What are tectonic plates?

Back

Tectonic plates are large sections of the Earth's lithosphere that move and interact with one another, causing geological activity such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

Front

What is a fault?

Back

A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock, which can cause earthquakes when stress is released.