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| subdivision of the mantle situated below the lithosphere |
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| the gaseous portion of a planet;the planets envelop of air |
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| the portion of the Earth that contains all life |
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| the concept that Earth was shaped by catastrophic events of a short-term duration |
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| a boundary in which two plates move together, causing one of the slabs of lithosphere to be consumed into the mantle as it descends beneath the overriding plate |
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| located beneath the mantle, it is Earth's innermost layer. The core is divided into an outer core and an inner core |
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| the very thin, outermost layer of Earth |
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| a boundary in which two plates move apart, resulting in upwelling of material from the mantle to create new seafloor |
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| the remains or traces of organisms preserved from the geologic past |
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| fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite and determinable order, and any time period can be recognized by its fossil content |
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| the science that examines Earth, its form and composition, and the changes it has undergone and is undergoing |
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| a major division of geology that deals with the origin of Earth and its development through time. Usually involves the study of fossils and their sequence in rock beds. |
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| the water portion of our planet; one of the traditional subdivisions of Earth's physical environment |
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| a rock formed by the crystallization of molten magma |
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| the rigid outer layer of Earth, including the crust and upper mantle |
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| a body of molten rock found at depth, including any dissolved gases and crystals |
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| the 2885 km thick layer of Earth located below the crust |
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| rock formed by the alteration of preexisting rock deep within Earth by heat, pressure, and/or chemically active fluids |
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| a major division of geology that examines the materials of Earth and seeks to understand the processes and forces acting upon Earth's surface from below |
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| one of numerous rigid sections of the lithosphere that moves as a unit over the material of the asthenosphere |
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| the theory that proposes Earth's outer shell consists of individual plates, which interact in various ways and thereby produce earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains, and the crust itself |
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| rocks are placed in their proper sequence or order. Only the chronological order of events is determined |
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| a model that illustrates the origin of the three basic rock types and the interrelatedness of Earth's materials and processes |
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| the hypothesis first proposed in the 1960's by Harry Hess that suggested that new oceanic crust is produced at the crests of mid-ocean ridges, which are the sites of divergence. |
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| unconsolidated particles created by the weathering and erosion of rock, by chemical precipitations from solution in water, or from the secretions of organisms, and transported by water, wind, or glaciers. |
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| rock formed from the weathered products of preexisting rocks that have been transported, deposited, an lithified |
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| a long, narrow zone where on lithospheric plate descends beneath another |
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| in any undeformed sequence of sedimentary rocks, each bed is older than the one above and younger than the one below |
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| a boundary in which two plates slide past one another without creating or destroying lithosphere |
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| the concept that the processes that have shaped Earth n the geologic past are essentially the same as those operating today |
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