Field Trip to Mars

Glossary H-N

Terms and Definitions

Here are some basic terms used in the tour. At the bottom of each page in the tour is a short list of terms used on that page and their definitions. Find more science terms in the Kid's Cosmos Astronomy and Science Glossary.

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A-G | H-N | O-T | U-Z

H
Horst: A raised area between two parallel faults, opposite of a "graben".
Hypocenter: The area inside the Earth where an earthquake happened. Also known as the Focus.
I
Ice Age: A period in Earth's history when much of the continents are covered with ice sheets and glaciers.
Igneous Rock: Rock that has been melted, cooled and become solid.
Intensity: The observed effects that an earthquake shaking the ground has on people, buildings, man-made structures and natural features.
Intrusives: Places where magma flows don't break through the surface but do raise the ground above them.
J
Jokulhlaups: A flood created when a body of water held by a glacial dam breaks through the confining walls. The Lake Missoula Floods were jokulhlaups.
K
Kolk: A whirlpool or tornado effect that forms in deep, fast moving water. Kolks can pick up solid blocks of basalt in flood areas.

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L
Lava: Molten earth material (rock) that comes out of volcanoes or cracks in the Earth's crust.
Lahar: A mixture of water and rock debris that forms on the slopes of a volcano. Also known as a mudflow or debris flow. The term comes from Indonesia.
Loess: Fine dirt deposited by wind usually from arid or glaciated areas.
M
Magnitude: The seismic (earthquake) energy recorded on a seismograph.
Magma: Molten rock beneath the earth's surface. Magma is called "lava" when it erupts from a volcano.
Mantle: The layer of the Earth about 1800 miles thick between the crust and the core.
Mercalli Intensity Scale, Modified: Earthquake intensity measured on a scale that has 12 increasing levels. The scale takes into account how people "felt" the quake and the observed structural damage.
Metamorphic Rock: Rocks that have changed form through high pressure and heat. Examples are marble, gneiss and slate.
Miocene: The period of geologic time that began about 24 million years ago and ended approximately ten million years ago.
Moraine: Deposits of rocks, boulders, gravel and sand (called glacial drift) left behind by glaciers as they melted. Terminal moraines are at the end of a glacier.

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