Ch. 14

area where the earth’s lithospheric plates are pushed together

area where the earth’s lithosphere plates move apart in opposite directions

removal of mud from the bottom of water bodies which can disturb the ecosystem causing silting that kills aquatic life

Rock formed when molten rock material (magma) wells up from the earth’s interior, cools, and solidifies into rock masses

outer shell of the earth, composed of the crust and the other rigid, outermost part of the mantle outside the asthenosphere; material found in the earth’s plates

rock produced when a preexisting rock is subjected to high temperatures, high presses, chemically active fluids, etc.

type of surface mining that uses the explosives, massive power shovels, and draglines to remove the top of a mountain and expose seams of coal

a geologic fault in which the hanging wall has moved downward relative to the football and occur where two blocks of rock are pulled apart, as by tension

removing minerals such as gravel, sand, and metal ores by digging them out of the earth’s surface and leaving the open pit behind

the process of looking for metals and precious stones in river sediments

to act of restoring an area of land after mining has taken place

occurs where two blocks of rock are forced together by compression

Rock that forms from the accumulated products of erosions and in some cases from compacted shells, skeletons, and other remains of dead organism

process in which a desired metal is separated from the other elements in an ore mineral

vertical fractures where the blocks have mostly moved horizontally

the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another and sinks into the mantle as the plates converge

extraction of a metal ore or fuel research funding such as coal from a deep underground deposit

removing soil, subsoil, and other strata and then extracting a mineral deposit found fairly close to the earth’s surface

physical and chemical processes in which solid rock exposed at earth’s surface is changed to separate solid particles and dissolved material, which can then be moved to another place as sediment

zone within the earth’s mantle made up of hot, partly melted rock that flows and can be deformed like soft plastic