Geology Rocks!: Super Seismic: Words for Volcanoes and Earthquakes

Though most geological movement is far too slow for us to see, sometimes the incredible heat and pressure created by our ever-changing planet bursts to the surface with awesome force. This list will get your volcanic vocabulary on solid ground.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. aftershock
    a tremor following the main tremor of an earthquake
    The worst of the drought is concentrated in Puerto Rico's southern region, which continues to be affected by aftershocks following a 6.0-magnitude earthquake that hit in early January and caused millions in damage. Fox News
  2. continent
    one of the large landmasses of the earth
    He also deduced that it was heat within the Earth that created new rocks and continents and thrust up mountain chains. A Short History of Nearly Everything
    The Earth's seven continents are made up of huge plates, which are slowly moving around and rubbing against each other. When there's a sudden release of pressure between two plates, the result is an earthquake. Areas where magma bursts to the surface as lava are better known as volcanoes.
  3. core
    the central part of the Earth
    About the size of Pluto, Earth’s inner core is made of solid iron and helps power the magnetic field that protects life from harmful space radiation. Science
  4. crust
    the outer layer of the Earth
    Now, a new study suggests why they occurred: The landslides scraped away so much soil and rock that Earth’s crust, newly lightened, buckled in new ways. Science
  5. dormant
    not erupting but not extinct
    On the dormant volcano Maunakea in Hawaii, she finds a tiny fern thriving beneath fragments of broken lava. Nature
    Dormant means "sleeping" in Latin, and French borrowed that. This is a useful way of thinking about a volcano that hasn't erupted for a long time, but still might.
  6. earthquake
    vibration from underground movement along a fault plane
    In 1811 and 1812 the largest earthquakes in U.S. history abruptly lifted or lowered much of the central Mississippi Valley by as much as twelve feet. 1491
  7. epicenter
    a point on the Earth's surface directly above an earthquake
    They radiate from the epicenter, shaking the ground like buried thunder, traveling the globe in less than twenty minutes. We Are the Ants
    Epicenter is a technical term referring to the spot on the Earth's surface directly above the center of an earthquake. Over time, its meaning has shifted to include "the center," but it's not accurate; the Greek prefix epi- means "above."
  8. extinct
    (of e.g. volcanos) permanently inactive
    Altogether there are some ten thousand of these intrusively visible volcanoes on Earth, all but a few hundred of them extinct. A Short History of Nearly Everything
    Extinct is the word used for a volcano that is not dormant, but fully dead: no longer active in any way.
  9. fault
    a crack in the earth's crust resulting from displacement
    Earth scientists have wondered whether both faults ruptured separately, or at once in a single massive earthquake. Science
  10. geyser
    a spring that discharges hot water and steam
    The heat from the hot spot is what powers all of Yellowstone’s vents, geysers, hot springs, and popping mud pots. A Short History of Nearly Everything
    Geysir means "gusher" in Icelandic, from the Old Norse verb gøysa. When water hits magma underground, the resulting steam and hot water sometimes shoots high up into the air through vents in the ground. Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park is the most famous geyser in the U.S.
  11. lava
    rock that in its molten form issues from volcanos
    Dark clouds of ash spew out of the top, and red lava snakes down the side of the mountain. Dragons in a Bag
  12. lithosphere
    the solid part of the Earth
    The Earth's outermost layer, the lithosphere, is made up of plates of rock that are cracked like puzzle pieces. Salon
    The Earth's core is molten iron, but everything above that—the mantle and the crust—that isn't water is known as the lithosphere. Litho- means "rock" in Greek.
  13. magma
    molten rock in the earth's crust
    It turned out that under the western United States there was a huge cauldron of magma, a colossal volcanic hot spot which erupted cataclysmically every 600,000 years or so. A Short History of Nearly Everything
  14. mantle
    the layer of the earth between the crust and the core
    Then some unexplained turmoil within the earth’s mantle caused the land to break apart and drift off as vast asymmetrical chunks. A Walk in the Woods
    A mantellum is a cloak in Latin, which gave us mantle in English. Besides referring to big, drapey outerwear, it can also describe something that encloses, encircles, or otherwise wraps another thing. The layer between the Earth's core and crust is called the mantle because it surrounds the core.
  15. plate
    a rigid layer of the Earth's crust
    As North America’s tectonic plate slowly drifts over that plume, the supervolcano’s surface activity moves from place to place. Scientific American
  16. seismic
    subject to or caused by an earthquake or earth vibration
    I had seen the earth tremble, felt the preliminary shock; now I waited for the seismic event that would transform the landscape. Educated
    Seismos is Greek for "earthquake," so words containing that root—like seismology, the study of earthquakes, or seismograph, a device for measuring their magnitude—all relate to that subject.
  17. tremor
    a small earthquake
    The quake hit the southern state of Oaxaca but the tremors were felt as far as 400 miles away in Mexico City. The Guardian
  18. tsunami
    a cataclysm resulting from a destructive sea wave
    “The earthquake was in the Atlantic, and lower Manhattan got hit by a tsunami. Big one, too. Like the tidal waves haven’t been enough to wash New York clean of sin.” The Dead and the Gone
    Tsunami is a Japanese word. Sometimes people use "tidal wave" as a synonym, but tsunamis are the result of earthquakes under the ocean floor, not tides.
Created on Sat Jun 27 11:45:45 EDT 2020 (updated Thu May 25 10:38:50 EDT 2023)

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