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-A-
Aa: A blocky and fragmented form of lava occurring in flows with fissured and
angular surfaces.
A-horizon: The uppermost layer of a soil, containing organic material and leached
minerals.
Algal mat: A layered communal growth of algae observed in fossils an in present day
tidal zones associated with carbonate sedimentation.
Alluvial fan: A low, cone shaped deposit of terrestrial sediment formed where a
stream undergoes an abrupt reduction of slope.
Angle of repose: The steepest slope angle in which particular sediment will lie
without cascading down.
Astrobleme: A circular erosional feature that has been ascribed to the impact of a
meteorite or comet.
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Atmosphere (unit): A unit of pressure equal to 101,325 newtons per square meter, or
about 14.7 pounds per square inch.
Atoll: A continuous or broken circle of coral reef and low coral islands surrounding a
central lagoon.
-B-
Backwash: The return flow of water down a beach after a wave has broken.
Banded iron ore: A sediment consisting of layers of chert alternating with bands of
ferric iron oxides (hematite and limonite) in valuable concentrations.
Bankfull stage: The height of water in a stream that just corresponds to the level of the
surrounding floodplain.
Bar (stream): An accumulation of sediment, usually sandy, which forms at the borders
or in the channels of streams or offshore from a beach.
Barchan: A crescent-shaped sand dune moving across a clean surface with its convex
face upwind and its concave slip face downwind.
Barrier island: A long, narrow island parallel to the shore, composed of sand and built
by wave action.
Base-level: The level below which a stream cannot erode; usually sea level sometimes
locally the level of a lake or resistant formation.
Basic rock: Any igneous rock containing mafic minerals rich in iron and magnesium,
but containing no quartz and little sodium rich plagioclase feldspar.
Bed-load: The sediment that a stream moves along the bottom of its channel by
rolling and bouncing.
Beta-particle: An electron emitted with high energy and velocity from a nucleus
undergoing radioactive decay.
B-horizon: The intermediate layer in a soil, situated below the A-horizon and
consisting of clays and oxides. Also called the zone of accumulation.
Block fault: A structure formed when the crust is divided into blocks of different
elevation by a set of normal faults.
Bolson: In arid regions, a basin filled with alluvium and intermittent playa lakes and
having no outlet.
Bond: The force that holds together two atoms in a compound. It may be derived from
the sharing of electrons (covalent) or from electrostatic attraction between ions.
Butte: A steep sided and flat topped hill formed by erosion of flat laying strata where
remnants of a resistant layer protect the softer rocks underneath.
-C-
Caldera: A large, circular depression in a volcanic terrain, typically originating in
collapse, explosion, or erosion.
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Carbonate ion: The anion group CO3 with a charge of minus two.
Carbonic acid: The weak acid H2CO3 formed by the dissolution of CO2 in water.
Cataclastic rock: A breccia of powdered rock formed by crushing and shearing during
tectonic movements.
Central vent: The largest vent of a volcano, situated at the center of its cone.
Chemical sediment: One that is formed at or near its place of deposition by chemical
precipitation, usually from seawater.
Chemical weathering: The total set of all chemical reactions that act on rock exposed
to water and atmosphere and so change it minerals to stable forms.
C-horizon: The lowest layer of soil, consisting of fragments of rock and their
chemically weathered products.
Cinder cone: A steep, conical hill built up about a volcanic vent and composed of
coarse pyroclasts expelled from the vent by escaping gases.
Cirque: The head of a glacial valley, usually with the form of one half of an inverted
cone. The upper edges have the steepest slopes, approaching vertical, and the base
may be flat or hollowed out and occupied by a small lake or pond.
Clastic rock: A sedimentary rock formed from mineral particles (clasts) that were
mechanically transported.
Coal: The metamorphic product of stratified plant remains. It contains more than 50
percent carbon compounds and burns readily.
Coastal plain: A low plain of little relief adjacent to the ocean and covered with gently
dipping sediments.
Composite cone: The volcanic cone of a stratovolcano, composed of both cinders and
lava flows.
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-D-
Datum plane: An artificially established, well surveyed horizontal plane against which
elevations, depths, tides, etc. are measured (for example mean sea-level).
Daughter element: Also "daughter product". An element that occurs in a rock as end
product of the radioactive decay of another element.
Declination: At any place on Earth, the angle between the magnetic and rotational
poles.
Deflation: The removal of clay and dust from dry soil by strong winds.
Delta kame: A deposit having the form of a steep, flat topped hill, left at the front of a
retreating continental glacier.
Density: The mass per unit volume of a substance, commonly expressed in grams/
cubic centimeter.
Density current: A subaqueous current that flows on the bottom of a sea or lake
because entering water is denser due to temperature or suspended sediments.
Diatom: A one celled plant that has a siliceous framework and grows in oceans and
lakes.
Diatomite: A siliceous chert-like sediment formed from the hard parts of diatoms.
Diatom ooze: A fine muddy sediment consisting of the hard parts of diatoms.
Diatreme: A volcanic vent filled with breccia by the explosive escape of gases.
Differentiated planet: One that is chemically zoned because heavy materials have
sunk to the center and light materials have accumulated in a crust.
Dip: The angle by which a stratum or other planar feature deviates from the
horizontal. The angle is measured in a plane perpendicular to the strike.
Divide: A ridge of high ground separating two drainage basins emptied by different
streams.
Drainage basin: A region of land surrounded by divides and crossed by streams that
eventually converge to one river or lake.
Drift (glacial): A collective term for all the rock, sand, and clay that is transported and
deposited by a glacier either as till or as outwash.
Dry wash: An intermittent streambed in an arroyo or canyon that carries water only
briefly after a rain.
-E-
Earthflow: A detachment of soil and broken rock and its subsequent downslope
movement at slow or moderate rates in a stream- or tongue like form.
Earthquake: The violent oscillatory motion of the ground caused by the passage of
seismic waves radiating from a fault along which sudden movement has taken place.
Ebb tide: The part of the tide cycle during which the water level is falling.
Echo-sounder: An oceanographic instrument that emits sound pulses into the water
and measures its depth by the time elapsed before they return.
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Ecliptic: The plane that contains the Earth's orbit around the Sun.
Ecology: The science of the life cycles, populations, and interactions of various
biological species as controlled by their physical environment, including also the
effect of life forms upon the environment.
Elastic limit: The maximum stress that can be applied to a body without resulting in
permanent strain.
Elastic rebound theory: A theory of fault movement and earthquake generation that
holds that faults remain locked while strain energy accumulates in the country rock,
and then suddenly slip and release this energy.
Electron: A negatively charged particle with negligible mass orbiting around the
nucleus of an atom.
Elevation: The vertical height of one point on the Earth above a given datum plane,
usually sea level.
Elliptical orbit: An orbit with the shape of a geometrical ellipse. All orbits are
elliptical or hyperbolic, with the Sun occupying one focus.
Eon: The largest division of geologic time, embracing several Eras, for example, the
Phanerozoic, 600 m.y. ago to present); also any span of one billion years.
Epicenter: The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus or hypocenter of
an Earthquake.
Era: A time period including several periods, but smaller than an eon. Commonly
recognized eras are Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic.
Erosion: The set of all processes by which soil and rock are loosened and moved
downhill or downwind.
Eskar: A glacial deposit in the form of a continuous, winding ridge, formed from the
deposits of a stream flowing beneath the ice.
Eustatic change: Sea level changes that affect the whole Earth.
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Exfoliation: A physical weathering process in which sheets of rock are fractured and
detached from an outcrop.
-F-
Facies: The set of all characteristics of a sedimentary rock that indicates its particular
environment of deposition and which distinguish it from other facies in the same rock.
Fault: A planar or gently curved fracture in the Earth's crust across which there has
been relative displacement.
Fault plane: The plane that best approximates the fracture surface of a fault.
Felsic: An adjective used to describe a light-colored igneous rock poor in iron and
magnesium content, abundant in feldspars and quartz.
Fiord: A former glacial valley with steep walls and a U-shaped profile now occupied
by the sea.
Fissure vein: A cleft or crack in the rock material of the earth's crust, filled with
mineral matter different from the walls and precipitated therin from aqueous solution.
Flood basalt: A plateau basalt extending many kilometers in flat, layered flows
originating in fissure eruptions.
Flood plain: A level plain of stratified alluvium on either side of a stream; submerged
during floods and built up silt and sand carried out of the main channel.
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Flood tide: The part of the tide cycle during which the water is rising or leveling off at
high water.
Flow cleavage: In a metamorphic rock, the parallel arrangement of all planar or linear
crystals as a result of rock flowage during metamorphism.
Fluid inclusion: A small body of fluid that is entrapped in a crystal and has the same
composition as the fluid from which the crystal formed.
Focus (earthquake): The point at which the rupture occurs; synonymous with
hypocenter.
Fold: A planar feature, such as a bedding plane, that has been strongly warped,
presumably by deformation.
Forset bed: One of the inclined beds found in crossbedding; also an inclined bed
deposited on the outer front of a delta.
Formation: The basic unit for the naming of rocks in stratigraphy: a set of rocks that
are or once were horizontally continuous, that share some distinctive feature of
lithology, and are large enough to be mapped.
Fossil: An impression, cast, outline, or track of any animal or plant that is preserved in
rock after the original organic material is transformed or removed.
Fossil fuel: A general term for combustible geologic deposits of carbon in reduced
(organic) form and of biological origin, including coal, oil, natural gas, oil shales, and
tar sands.
Friction breccia: A breccia formed in a fault zone or volcanic pipe by the relative
motion of two rock bodies.
Fringing reef: A coral reef that is directly attached to a landmass not made of coral.
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Fumarole: A small vent in the ground from which volcanic gases and heated
groundwater emerge, but not lava.
-G-
Gabbro: A black, coarse-grained, intrusive igneous rock, composed of calcic feldspars
and pyroxene. The intrusive equivalent of basalt.
Geologic cycle: The sequence through which rock material passes in going from its
sedimentary form, through diastrophism and deformation of sedimentary rock, then
through metamorphism and eventual melting and magma formation, then through
volcanism and plutonism to igneous rock formation, and finally through erosion to
form new sediments.
Geosyncline: A major downwarp in the Earth's crust, usually more than 1000
kilometers in length, in which sediments accumulate to thicknesses of many
kilometers. The sediments may eventually be deformed and metamorphosed during a
mountain-building episode.
Geotherm: A curving surface within Earth along which the temperature is constant.
Geyser: A hot spring that throws hot water and steam into the air. The heat is thought
to result from the contact of groundwater with magma bodies.
Glacial rebound: Epeirogenic uplift of the crust that takes place after the retreat of a
continental glacier, in response to earlier subsidence under the weight of the ice.
Glacial striations: Scratches left on bedrock and boulders by overriding ice, and
showing the direction of motion.
Glacier: A mass of ice and surficial snow that persists throughout the year and flows
downhill under its own weight. The size range is from 100 meters to 10,000
kilometers.
Glass: A rock formed when magma is too rapidly cooled (quenched) to allow crystal
growth.
Graben: A downthrown block between two normal faults of parallel strike but
converging dips; hence a tensional feature. See also horst.
Graded bedding: A bed in which the coarsest particles are concentrated at the bottom
and grade gradually upward into fine silt, the whole bed having been deposited by a
waning current.
Graded stream: A stream whose smooth profile is unbroken by resistant ledges, lakes,
or waterfalls, and which maintains exactly the velocity required to carry the sediment
provided to it.
Granular snow: Snow that has been metamorphosed into small granules of ice.
Gravel: The coarsest of alluvial sediments, containing mostly particles larger than 2
mm in size and including cobbles and boulders.
Gravity anomaly: The value of gravity left after subtracting from a gravity
measurement the reference value based on latitude, and possibly the free-air and
Bouguer corrections.
Gravity survey: The measurement of gravity at regularly spaced grid points with
repetitions to control instrument drift.
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Greenschist: A metamorphic schist containing chlorite and epidote (which are green)
and formed by low-temperature, low-pressure metamorphism.
Ground moraine: A glacial deposit of till with no marked relief, interpreted as having
been transported at the base of the ice.
Groundwater: The mass of water in the ground below the phreatic zone, occupying
the total pore space in the rock and moving slowly downhill where permeability
allows.
Gyre: The circular rotation of the waters of each major sea, driven by prevailing
winds and the Coriolis effect.
-H-
Half-life: The time required for half of a homogeneous sample of radioactive material
to decay.
Hanging valley: A former glacial tributary valley that enters a larger glacial valley
above its base, high up on the valley wall.
Hard water: Water that contains sufficient dissolved calcium and magnesium to cause
a carbonate scale to form when the water is boiled or to prevent the sudsing of soap.
Heat conduction: The transfer of the rapid vibrational energy of atoms and molecules,
which constitutes heat energy, through the mechanism of atomic or molecular impact.
Heat engine: A device that transfers heat from a place of high temperature to a place
of lower temperature and does mechanical work in the process.
Hill: A natural land elevation, usually less than 1000 feet above its surroundings, with
a rounded outline. The distinction between hill and mountain depends on the locality.
Hooke's Law: The principle that the stress within a solid is proportional to the strain.
It holds only for strains of a few percent or less.
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Hot spring: A spring whose waters are above both human body and soil temperature
as a result of plutonism at depth.
Hydrologic cycle: The cyclical movement of water from the ocean to the atmosphere,
through rain to the surface, through runoff and groundwater to streams, and back to
the sea.
Hydrology: The science of that part of the hydrologic cycle between rain and return to
the sea; the study of water on and within the land.
Hypocenter: The point below the epicenter at which an earthquake actually begins;
the focus.
Hypsometric diagram: A graph that shows in any way the relative amounts of the
Earth's surface at different elevations with regard to sea level.
-I-
Igneous rock: A rock formed by congealing rapidly or slowly from a molten state.
Ignimbrite: An igneous rock formed by the lithification of volcanic ash and volcanic
breccia.
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Inclination: The angle between a line in the Earth's magnetic field and the horizontal
plane; also a synonym for dip.
Index of refraction: The ratio of the speed of light in a vacuum to the speed in a
material; this ratio determines the amount that light is refracted as it passes into a
crystal.
Interfacial angle: The angle between two crystal faces of a crystal, characteristic of a
mineral's symmetry.
Interior drainage: A system of streams that converge in a closed basin and evaporate
without reaching the sea.
Intermontane basin: A basin between mountain ranges, often formed over a graben.
Intrusion: An igneous rock body that has forced its way in a molten state into
surrounding country rock.
Intrusive rock: Igneous rock that is interpreted as a former intrusion from its cross-
cutting contacts, chilled margins, or other field relations.
Ion: An atom or group of atoms that has gained or lost electrons and so has a net
electric charge.
Iron formation: A sedimentary rock containing much iron, usually more than 15
percent as sulfide, oxide, hydroxide, or carbonate; a low-grade ore of iron.
Isograd: A line or curved surface connecting rocks that have undergone an equivalent
degree of metamorphism.
Isostasy: The mechanism whereby areas of the crust rise or subside until the mass of
their topography is buoyantly supported or compensated by the thickness of crust
below, which "floats" on the denser mantle. The theory that continents and mountains
are supported by low-density crustal "roots."
Isotope: One of several forms of one element, all having the same number of protons
in the nucleus, but differing in their number of neutrons and thus atomic weight.
-J-
Joint: A large and relatively planar fracture in a rock across which there is no relative
displacement of the two sides.
Juvenile gas: Gases that come to the surface for the first time from the deep interior.
-K-
Kerogen: A mixture of organic substances found in many fine-grained sedimentary
rocks and a major constituent of oil shale.
Kettle: A small hollow or depression formed in glacial deposits when outwash was
deposited around a residual block of ice that later melted.
Kimberlite: A peridotite containing garnet and olivine and found in volcanic pipes,
through which it may come from the upper Mantle.
- L-
Laccolith: A sill-like igneous intrusion that forces apart two strata and forms a round,
lens-shaped body many times wider than it is thick.
Lahar: A mudflow of unconsolidated volcanic ash, dust, breccia, and boulders mixed
with rain or the water of a lake displaced by a lava flow.
Laminar flow: A flow regime in which particle paths are straight or gently curved and
parallel.
Landslide: The rapid downslope movement of soil and rock material, often lubricated
by groundwater, over a basal shear zone; also the tongue of stationary material
deposited by such an event.
Lapilli: A fragment of volcanic rock formed when magma is ejected into the air by
expanding gases. The size of the fragments ranges from sand- to cobble-size.
Lateral moraine: A moraine formed along the side of a valley glacier and composed of
rock scraped off or fallen from the valley sides.
Lava tube: A sinuous, hollow tunnel formed when the outside of a lava flow cools and
solidifies and the molten material passing through it is drained away.
Left-lateral fault: A strike-slip fault on which the displacement of the far block is to
the left when viewed from either side.
Levee: A low ridge along a stream bank, formed by deposits left when floodwater
decelerates on leaving the channel; also an artificial barrier to floods built in the same
form.
Limb (fold): The relatively planar part of a fold or of two adjacent folds (for example,
the steeply dipping part of a stratum between an anticline and syncline).
Lithosphere: The outer, rigid shell of the Earth, situated above the asthenosphere and
containing the crust, continents, and plates.
Longitudinal dune: A long dune parallel to the direction of the prevailing wind.
Longitudinal profile: A cross section of a stream from its mouth to its head, showing
elevation versus distance to the mouth.
Longshore current: A current that moves parallel to a shore and is formed from the
momentum of breaking waves that approach the shore obliquely.
Longshore drift: The movement of sediment along a beach by swash and backwash of
waves that approach the shore obliquely.
Lopolith: A large laccolith that is bowl-shaped and depressed in the center, possibly
by subsidence of an emptied magma chamber beneath the intrusion.
Lowland: Land of general low relief at the lower levels of regional elevation.
Low-velocity zone: A region in the Earth, especially a planar layer that has lower
seismic-wave velocities than the region immediately above it.
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Luster: The general textural impression of a mineral surface, given by the light
reflected from it. Terms such as metallic, submetallic are standardized but subjective.
-M-
Maar volcano: A volcanic crater without a cone, believed to have been formed by an
explosive eruption of trapped gases.
Magma: Molten rock material that forms igneous rocks upon cooling. Magma that
reaches the surface is referred to as lava.
Magmatic water: Water that is dissolved in a magma or that is derived from such
water.
Magnetic anomaly: The value of the local magnetic field remaining after the
subtraction of the dipole portion of the Earth's field.
Magnetic north pole: (1) The point where the Earth's surface intersects the axis of the
dipole that best approximates the Earth's field. (2) The point where the Earth's
magnetic field dips vertically downward.
Magnetic stratigraphy: The study and correlation of polarity epochs and events in the
history of the Earth's magnetic field as contained in magnetic rocks.
Manganese nodule: A small, rounded concretion found on the deep ocean floor that
may contain as much as 20 percent manganese and smaller amounts of iron, copper,
and nickel oxides and hydroxides.
Mantle: The main bulk of the Earth, between the crust and core, ranging from depths
of about 40 to 3480 kilometers. It is composed of dense mafic silicates and divided
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into concentric layers by phase changes that are caused by the increase in pressure
with depth.
Massive rock: A rock that is little or not at all broken by joints, cracks, foliation, or
bedding, tending to present a homogeneous appearance.
Mass movement: A downhill movement of soil or fractured rock under the force of
gravity.
Mass spectrometer: An instrument for separating ions of different mass but equal
charge (mainly isotopes in geology) and measuring their relative quantities.
Maturity: A stage in the geomorphic cycle in which maximum relief and well-
developed drainage are both present.
Meander: Broad, semicircular curves in a stream that develop as the stream erodes the
outer bank of a curve and deposits sediment against the inner bank.
Medial moraine: A long stripe of rock debris carried on or within a glacier resulting
from the convergence of lateral moraines where two glaciers join.
Meteorite: A stony or metallic object from inter-planetary space that penetrates the
atmosphere to impact on the surface.
Migmatite: A rock with both igneous and metamorphic characteristics that shows
large crystals and laminar flow structures. Probably formed metamorphically in the
presence of water and without melting.
Mohorovic discontinuity: The boundary between crust and mantle, marked by a rapid
increase in seismic wave velocity to more than 8 kilometers per second. Depth: 5 to
45 kilometers. Abbreviated "Moho" or "M-discontinuity."
Mohs scale of hardness: An empirical, ascending scale of mineral hardness with talc
as 1, gypsum 2, calcite 3, fluorite 4, apatite 5, orthoclase 6, quartz 7, topaz 8,
corundum 9, and diamond 10.
Monocline: The S-shaped fold connecting two horizontal parts of the same stratum at
different elevations. Its central limb is usually not overturned.
Moraine: A glacial deposit of till left at the margin of an ice sheet. See specifically by
name, ground moraine, longitudinal moraine, medial moraine, and terminal moraine.
Mudflow: A mass movement of material finer than sand, lubricated with large
amounts of water. Mudstone: The citified equivalent of mud, a fine grained
sedimentary rock similar to shale but more massive.
Mylonite: A very fine lithified fault breccia commonly found in major thrust faults
and produced by shearing and rolling during fault movement.
-N-
Native metal: A natural deposit of a metallic element in pure metallic form, neither
oxidized nor combined with sulfur or other elements.
Neap tide: A tide cycle of unusually small amplitude, which occurs twice monthly
when the lunar and solar tides are opposed-that is, when the gravitational pull of the
Sun is at right angles to that of the Moon.
Nebula: An immense, diffuse body of interstellar gas and dust that has not condensed
into a star.
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Nebular hypothesis: A theory of the formation of the planets that states that a rotating
nebula contracted and was then torn into fragments by centrifugal forces, with planets
condensing from the fragments.
Neutron: An electrically neutral elementary particle in the atomic nucleus having the
mass of one proton.
Normal fault: A dip-slip fault in which the block above the fault has moved
downward relative to the block below.
-O-
Oblique-slip fault: A fault that combines some strike slip motion with some dip-slip
motion.
Octahedral coordination: The packing of six ions around an ion of opposite charge to
form an octahedron.
Oil shale: A dark-colored shale containing organic material that can be crushed and
heated to liberate gaseous hydrocarbons.
Opaque mineral: A mineral which transmits no light through a thin section under a
microscope. Usually a native metal, sulfide, or metallic oxide mineral.
Ophiolite suite: An assemblage of mafic and ultra-mafic igneous rocks with deep-sea
sediments supposedly associated with divergence zones and the sea-floor
environment.
Ore: A natural deposit in which a valuable metallic element occurs in high enough
concentration to make mining economically feasible.
Ore mineral: The mineral of an ore that contains the useful element.
Original Horizontality, Principle of: The proposition of Steno, that all sedimentary
bedding is horizontal at the time of deposition.
Orogenic belt: A linear region, often a former geo-syncline, that has been subjected to
folding, and other deformation in a mountain-building episode.
Orogeny: The tectonic process in which large areas are folded, thrust-faulted,
metamorphosed, and subjected to plutonism. The cycle ends with uplift and the
formation of mountains.
Oscillation ripple: A ripple with a symmetrical cross section and a sharp peak formed
by waves.
Outgassing: The release of juvenile gases to the atmosphere and oceans by volcanism.
Oxidation: A chemical reaction in which electrons are lost from an atom and its
charge becomes more positive.
-P-
Pahoehoe: A basaltic lava flow with a glassy, smooth, and undulating, or ropy,
surface.
Paleoclimate: The average state or typical conditions of climate during some past
geologic period.
Paleocurrent map: A map of depositional currents that have been inferred from cross-
bedding, ripples, or other sedimentary structures.
Paleogeographic map: A map showing the surface landforms and coastline of an area
at some time in the geologic past.
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Paleowind: A prevailing wind direction in an area, inferred from dune structure or the
distribution of volcanic ash for one particular time in geologic history.
Pangaea: According to some theories, a great proto-continent from which all present
continents have broken off by the mechanism of sea-floor spreading and continental
drift.
Peat: A marsh or swamp deposit of water-soaked plant remains containing more than
50 percent carbon.
Pediment: A planar, sloping rock surface forming a ramp up to the front of a mountain
range in an arid region. It may be covered locally by thin alluvium.
Pegmatite: An igneous rock with extremely large grains, more than a centimeter in
diameter. It may be of any composition but most frequently is granitic.
Peneplain: A hypothetical extensive area of low elevation and relief reduced to near
sea level by a long period of erosion and representing the end product of the ideal
geomorphic cycle.
Potable water: Water that is agreeable to the taste and not dangerous to the health.
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Pratt isostatic compensation: The mechanism in which variations in crustal density act
to counterbalance the varying weight of topographic features. The crust is here
assumed to be of approximately uniform thickness, thus a mountain range would be
underlain by lighter rocks.
Proto-sun: A large cloud of dust and gas gradually coalescing into a star under the
force of gravity.
Proven reserves: Deposits of fossil fuels whose location and extent are known, as
opposed to potential but unproved ('*discovered") deposits.
P-wave: The primary or fastest wave traveling away from a seismic event through the
solid rock, and consisting of a train of compressions and dilations of the material.
Pyroclastic texture: The unsorted, angular, and un-rounded texture of the fragments in
a pyroclastic rock.
-Q-
Quartz arenite: A sandstone containing very little except pure quartz grains and
cement.
Quartzite: (1) A very hard, clean, white metamorphic rock formed from a quartz
arenite sandstone. (2) A quartz arenite containing so much cement that it resembles (
1 ).
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Quartzose sandstone: (1) A quartz arenite. (2) A clean quartz sandstone, less pure than
a quartz arenite, that may contain a moderate amount of other detrital minerals and/or
calcite cement.
-R-
Radial drainage: A system of streams running in a radial pattern away from the center
of a circular elevation, such as a volcano or dome.
Radiative transfer: One mechanism for the movement of heat, in which it takes the
form of long-wavelength infrared radiation.
Radiolarian: A class of one-celled marine animals with siliceous skeletons that have
existed in the ocean throughout the Phanerozoic Eon.
Ray: A linear landform of the lunar surface emanating from a large crater and
extending as much as 100 kilometers outward, probably consisting of fine ejecta
thrown out by the impact of a meteorite.
Recrystallization: The growth of new mineral grains in a rock at the expense of old
grains, which supply the material.
Refraction (wave): The departure of a wave from its original direction of travel at the
interface with a material of different index of refraction (light) or seismic wave
velocity (see also Seismic refraction).
Regolith: Any solid material lying on top of bedrock. Includes soil, alluvium, and
rock fragments weathered from the bedrock.
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Regression: A drop in sea level that causes an area of the Earth to be uncovered by
seawater, ending marine deposition.
Remote sensing: The study of Earth surface conditions and materials from airplanes
and satellites by means of photography, spectroscopy, or radar.
Rheidity: (1) The ability of a substance to yield to viscous flow under large strains. (2)
One thousand times the time required for a substance to stop changing shape when
stress is no longer applied.
Ridge (mid-ocean): A major linear elevated landform of the ocean floor, from 200 to
20,000 kilometers in extent. It is not a single ridge, but resembles a mountain range
and may have a central rift valley.
Rift valley: A fault trough formed in a divergence zone or other area of tension.
Right-lateral fault: A strike-slip fault on which the displacement of the far block is to
the right when viewed from either side.
Ring dike: A dike in the form of a segment of a cone or cylinder, having an arcuare
outcrop.
Rip current: A current that flows strongly away from the sea shore through gaps in the
surf zone at intervals along the shoreline.
Ripple: A very small dune of sand or silt whose long dimension is formed at right
angles to the current. River order: See Stream order.
Rock cycle: The geologic cycle, with emphasis on the rocks produced; sedimentary
rocks are metamorphosed to metamorphic rocks, or melted to create igneous rocks,
and all rocks may be uplifted and eroded to make sediments, which lithify to
sedimentary rocks.
Rock flour: A glacial sediment of extremely fine (silt-and clay-size) ground rock
formed by abrasion of rocks at the base of the glacier.
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Rock glacier: A glacier-like mass of rock fragments or talus with interstitial ice that
moves downhill under the force of gravity.
Rockslide: A landslide involving mainly large blocks of detached bedrock with little
or no soil or sand. Rounding: The degree to which the edges and corners of a particle
become worn and rounded as a result of abrasion during transportation. Expressed as
angular, subrounded, well-rounded, etc.
Runoff: The amount of rain water directly leaving an area in surface drainage, as
opposed to the amount that seeps out as groundwater.
Rupture strength: The greatest stress that a material can sustain without fracturing at
one atmosphere pressure.
-S-
Saltation: The movement of sand or fine sediment by short jumps above the ground or
stream bed under the influence of a current too weak to keep it permanently
suspended.
Schistosity: The parallel arrangement of shaly or prismatic minerals like micas and
amphiboles resulting from nonhydrostatic stress in metamorphism.
Scoria: Congealed lava, usually of mafic composition, with a large number of vesicles
formed by gases coming out of solution.
Sea-floor spreading: The mechanism by which new sea floor crust is created at ridges
in divergence zones and adjacent plates are moved apart to make room. This process
may continue at 0.5 to 10 centimeters/year through many geologic periods.
Seamount: An isolated tall mountain on the sea floor that may extend more than 1
kilometer from base to peak (see also Guyot).
Secular variation: Slow changes in the orientation of the Earth's magnetic field that
appear to be long lasting and internal in origin as opposed to rapid fluctuations, which
are external in origin.
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Seismic discontinuity: A surface within the Earth across which P-wave or S-wave
velocities change rapidly, usually by more than +~0.2 kilometer/second.
Seismic profile: The data collected from a set of seismographs arranged in a straight
line with an artificial seismic source, especially the times of P-wave arrivals.
Seismic surface wave: A seismic wave that follows the earth's surface only, with a
speed less than that of S-waves. There are Raleigh waves (forward and vertical
vibrations) and Love waves (transverse vibrations).
Seismic transition zone: A seismic discontinuity, found in all parts of the Earth, at
which the velocity increases rapidly with depth; especially the one at 300 to 600
kilometers.
Stratigraphic sequence: A set of beds deposited that reflects the geologic history of a
region.
Stratovolcano: A volcanic cone consisting of both lava and pyroclastic rocks, often
conical.
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Streak: The fine deposit of mineral dust left on an abrasive surface when a mineral is
scraped across it; especially the characteristic color of the dust.
Stream order: The hierarchical number of a stream segment in dendritic drainage: the
smallest tributary streams have order one and at each junction of streams of equal
order the order of the subsequent segment is one higher.
Stress: A quantity describing the forces acting on each part of a body in units of force
per unit area. Striation: See Glacial striation.
Strike: The angle between true North and the horizontal line contained in any planar
feature (inclined bed, dike, fault plane, etc.); also the geographic direction of this
horizontal line.
Stromatolite: A fossil form representing the growth habit of an algal mat: concentric
spherules, stacked hemispheres, or flat sheets of calcium carbonate and trapped silt
encountered in limestones.
Subduction zone: A dipping planar zone descending away from a trench and defined
by high seismicity, interpreted as the shear zone between a sinking oceanic plate and
an overriding plate.
Sublimation: A phase change from the solid to the gaseous state, without passing
through the liquid state.
Subsidence: A gentle epeirogenic movement where a broad area of the crust sinks
without appreciable deformation.
Superposed stream: A stream that flows through resistant formations because its
course was established at a higher level on uniform rocks before down-cutting began.
Superposition, Principle of: The principle stated by Steno that, except in extremely
deformed strata, a bed that overlies another bed is always the younger.
Supersaturation: The unstable state of a solution that contains more solute than its
solubility allows.
Surf: The breaking or tumbling forward of water waves as they approach the shore.
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Surf zone: An offshore belt along which the waves collapse into breakers as they
approach the shore.
Suspended load: The fine sediment kept suspended in a stream because the settling
velocity is lower than the upward velocity of eddies.
Swash: The landward rush of water from a breaking wave up the slope of the beach.
S-wave: The secondary seismic wave, traveling slower than the P-wave, and
consisting of elastic vibrations transverse to the direction of travel. It cannot penetrate
a liquid.
Swell: An oceanic water wave with a wavelength on the order of 30 meters or more
and a height of perhaps 2 meters or less that may travel great distances from its
source.
Symbiosis: The interaction of two mutually supporting species that do not compete
with or prey upon each other.
Syncline: A large fold whose limbs are higher than its center; a fold with the youngest
strata in the center.
System (stratigraphy): A stratigraphic unit larger than a series, consisting of all the
rocks deposited in one period of an era.
-T-
Tableland: A large elevated region with a relatively low relief surface.
Tar sand: A sandstone containing the densest asphaltic components of petroleum - the
end-product of evaporation of volatile components or of some thickening process.
Tectonics: The study of the movements and deformation of the crust on a large scale,
including epeirogeny, metamorphism, folding, faulting, and plate tectonics.
Terminal moraine: A sinuous ridge of unsorted glacial till deposited by a glacier at the
line of its farthest advance.
Terrestrial planet: A planet similar in size and composition to the Earth; especially
Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury.
Terrestrial sediment: A deposit of sediment that accumulated above sea level in lakes,
alluvial fans, floodplains, moraines, etc., regardless of its present elevation.
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Texture (rock): The rock characteristics of grain or crystal size, size variability,
rounding or angularity, and preferred orientation.
Thermonuclear reaction: A reaction in which atomic nuclei fuse into new elements
with a large release of heat; especially a reaction that is self-sustaining. Occasionally
used to include fission reactions as well.
Thrust fault: A dip-slip fault in which the upper block above the fault plane moves up
and over the lower block, so that older strata are placed over younger.
Tidal flat: A broad, flat region of muddy or sandy sediment, covered and uncovered in
each tidal cycle.
Time scale: The division of geologic history into eras, periods, and epochs
accomplished through stratigraphy and paleontology.
Topography: The shape of the Earth's surface, above and below sea level; the set of
landforms in a region; the distribution of elevations.
Topset bed: A horizontal sedimentary bed formed at the top of a delta and overlying
the foreset beds.
Transgression: A rise in sea level relative to the land which causes areas to be
submerged and marine deposition to begin in that region.
Transpiration: The removal of water from the ground into plants, ultimately to be
evaporated into the atmosphere by them.
Transverse dune: A dune that has its axis transverse to the prevailing winds or to a
current. The upwind or upcurrent side has a gentle slope, and the downwind side lies
at the angle of repose.
Trap (oil): A sedimentary or tectonic structure that impedes the upward movement of
oil and gas and allows it to collect beneath the barrier.
Travel-time curve: A curve on a graph of travel time versus distance for the arrival of
seismic waves from distant events. Each type of seismic wave has its own curve.
Travertine: A terrestrial deposit of limestone formed in caves and around hot springs
where cooling, carbonate-saturated groundwater is exposed to the air.
Trellis drainage: A system of streams in which tributaries tend to lie in parallel valleys
formed in steeply dipping beds in folded belts.
Trench: A long and narrow deep trough in the sea floor; interpreted as marking the
line along which a plate bends down into a subduction zone.
Triple junction: A point that is common to three plates and which must also be the
meeting place of three boundary features, such as divergence zones, convergence
zones, or transform faults.
Tuff: A consolidated rock composed of pyroclastic fragments and fine ash. If particles
are melted slightly together from their own heat, it is a "welded tuff."
Turbidity current: A mass of mixed water and sediment that flows downhill along the
bottom of an ocean or lake because it is denser than the surrounding water. It may
reach high speeds and erode rapidly (see also Density current).
Turbulent flow: A high-velocity flow in which streamlines are neither parallel nor
straight but curled into small tight eddies (compare Laminar flow).
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Ultramafic rock: An igneous rock consisting dominantly of mafic minerals,
containing less than 10 percent feldspar. Includes dunite, peridotite, amphibolite, and
pyroxenite.
Uniformitarianism, Principle of: The concept that the processes that have shaped the
Earth through geologic time are the same as those observable today.
Unit cell: The smallest contiguous group of atomic structural units in a mineral that
can be repeated in three directions to form a crystal.
Uplift: A broad and gentle epeirogenic increase in the elevation of a region without a
eustatic change of sea level.
Upwelling current: The upward movement of cold bottom water in the sea, which
occurs when wind or currents displace the lighter surface water.
U-shaped valley: A deep valley with steep upper walls that grade into a flat floor,
usually eroded by a glacier.
-V-
Vadose zone: The region in the ground between the surface and the water table in
which pores are not filled with water. Also called the unsaturated zone.
Valence electron: An electron of the outermost shell of an atom; one of those most
active in bonding.
Valley glacier: A glacier that is smaller than a continental glacier or an icecap, and
which flows mainly along well-defined valleys, many with tributaries.
Van der Waals bond: A bond much weaker than the ionic or covalent, which bonds
atoms by small electrostatic attraction.
Varve: A thin layer of sediment grading upward from coarse to fine and light to dark,
found in a lake bed and representing one year's deposition of glacial outwash.
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Vector: A mathematical element that has a direction and magnitude, but no fixed
position. Examples are force and gravity.
Vertical exaggeration: The ratio of the horizontal scale (for example, 100,000: 1) to
the vertical scale (for example, 500: 1) in an illustration.
Volcanic ash: A volcanic sediment of rock fragments, usually glass, less than 4
millimeters in diameter that is formed when escaping gases force out a fine spray of
magma.
Volcanic ash fall: A deposit of volcanic ash resting where it was dropped by eruptions
and winds.
Volcanic ash flow: A mixture of volcanic ash and gases that moves downhill as a
density current in the atmosphere.
Volcanic block: A pyroclastic rock fragment ranging from about fist- to car-sized.
Volcanic bomb: A pyroclastic rock fragment that shows the effects of cooling in flight
in its streamlined or "bread-crust" surface.
Volcanic breccia: A pyroclastic rock in which all fragments are more than 2
millimeters in diameter.
Volcanic cone: The deposit of lava and pyroclastic materials that has settled close to
the volcano's central vent.
Volcanic ejecta blanket: A collective term for all the pyroclastic rocks deposited
around a volcano, especially by a volcanic explosion.
Volcanic emanations: Gases, especially steam, emitted from a vent or released from
lava.
Volcanic pipe: The vertical chamber along which magma and gas ascend to the
surface; also, a formation of igneous rock that cooled in a pipe and remains after the
erosion of the volcano.
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Volcano: Any opening through the crust that has allowed magma to reach the surface,
including the deposits immediately surrounding this vent.
V-shaped valley: A valley whose walls have a more-or-less uniform slope from top to
bottom, usually formed by stream erosion.
-W-
Wadi: A steep-sided valley containing an intermittent stream in an arid region.
Warping: In tectonics, refers to the gentle, regional bending of the crust, which occurs
in epeirogenic movements.
Water mass: A mass of water that fills part of an ocean or lake and is distinguished by
its uniform physical and chemical properties, such as temperature and salinity.
Water table: A gently-curved surface below the ground at which the vadose zone ends
and the phreatic zone begins; the level to which a well would fill with water.
Wave-cut terrace: A level surface formed by wave erosion of coastal bedrock to the
bottom of the turbulent breaker zone. May appear above sea level if uplifted.
Weathering: The set of all processes that decay and break up bedrock, by a
combination of physically fracturing or chemical decomposition.
-X-
Xenolith: A piece of country rock found engulfed in an intrusion.
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Zeolite: A class of silicates containing H=O in cavities within the crystal structure.
Formed by alteration at low temperature and pressure of other silicates, often volcanic
glass.
Zoned crystal: A single crystal of one mineral that has a different chemical
composition in its inner and outer parts. Formed from minerals belonging to a solid-
solution series, and caused by the changing concentration of elements in a cooling
magma that results from crystals settling out.