what can erase a geologic feature such as a crater over the course of time?

by Reva Walter 9 min read

What is a crater in geology?

A crater is a bowl-shaped depression, or hollowed-out area, produced by the impact of a meteorite, volcanic activity, or an explosion. Craters produced by the collision of a meteorite with the Earth (or another planet or moon) are called impact craters.

How does a geologist observe a landscape?

True of false: Only one strategy is employed by geologist to observe a landscape. False. There are many helpful strategies to help a geologist make observations about a landscape, including focusing on individual features, noticing layers and colors of rocks, and sketching major components.

What does a geologist use to study the geologic history?

Shows the progression of changes in an area undergoes through time. Uses a sequence of a geologic diagrams to depict the geologic history of an area. May use block diagrams, cross sections, or maps. Geologists primarily use telescopes, high resolution imaging device, and remote probes to study ___________. Inaccessible places

What are the methods of geology exploration?

Exploration: A hot spot magma chamber caused local uplift of land north of the lake. Match the environment with a way which a geologist might study that area. Volcano. Take lava samples. Match the environment with a way which a geologist might study that area. Glacier Gather ice temperature data.

What can erase a crater once it has formed?

Liquid water, wind and other erosional forces erase impact craters on the Earth. There are still many craters on Earth which are visible from space.

How does erosion help erase a crater?

The process of erosion uses weather, water, and plants to break down the ground on earth so that craters become virtually nothing. C. The Earth's gravity is stronger than the moon's, so it attracts more space debris than the moon does.

What causes the craters on Earth to become erased from our surface?

The first reason is that Earth's surface is continuously changing because we live on a geologically active planet. Impact craters are relatively shallow, so these “dents” in Earth's rocky crust (the surface bit we can see with our eyes) can be easily buried or wiped out by erosion.

What causes a crater?

A crater is a bowl-shaped depression, or hollowed-out area, produced by the impact of a meteorite, volcanic activity, or an explosion. Craters produced by the collision of a meteorite with the Earth (or another planet or moon) are called impact craters.

What erases craters?

Produced by falling space rocks, most impact craters on Earth have been wiped away over time by wind, rain, shifting ice and the crawl of tectonic plates.

What factors affect the size of a crater?

The size and shape of a crater depend on several factors:the mass of the impacting object;the density of the impacting object;the velocity of the impacting object; and.the geology (type of rock) of the surface the object strikes.

How do craters disappear?

"The Earth's crust is very dynamic and active, and over time it pushes and pulls these craters deep below the surface, until eventually they are sunk into the Earth's mantle and disappear."

What rapid change can cause a crater to form on Earth?

The Stages Of An Impact Crater. Impact craters are formed rapidly. A meteor enters a celestial body's exosphere (or outer atmosphere) and then hits the surface. There are generally three stages to creating an impact crater: contact, excavation, and modification.

What happens to craters on Earth?

On the Earth, however impact craters are continually erased by erosion or transformed by tectonics over time.

How do volcanoes create craters?

Craters are commonly found at the summit of volcanic edifices, but they may form above satellite (flank) vents of composite and shield volcanoes. Craters are landscape features that form during eruptions. They are formed by blasts or other explosive eruptive phenomena, including phreatic and phreatomagmatic processes.

What is the crater of a volcano called?

A caldera is a depression created after a volcano releases the majority of the contents of its magma chamber in an explosive eruption. Without any structural support below, the land around the erupting volcanic vent or vents collapses inwardly, creating the bowl-shaped caldera.

What properties of an object might affect the type of crater it forms?

The size and shape of the crater and the amount of material excavated depends on factors such as the velocity and mass of the impacting body and the geology of the surface. The faster the incoming impactor, the larger the crater.

What is the flow of gas and rock from a flank crater?

Lava, gas, rocks, and other material ejected from a flank crater can rush down the side of a mountain in a phenomenon called a pyroclastic flow. Mount Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in Europe, has had a number of dangerous eruptions.

What is a crater?

Encyclopedic Entry. Vocabulary. A crater is a bowl-shaped depression, or hollowed-out area, produced by the impact of a meteorite, volcanic activity, or an explosion. Impact Craters. Craters produced by the collision of a meteorite with the Earth (or another planet or moon) are called impact crater s. The high-speed impact of a large meteorite ...

Why are meteor craters so hard to detect?

One of the reasons Meteor Crater is so well-known is because the stark Arizona desert makes it an obvious feature of the area’s physical geography.

What is the name of the crater formed by a volcano?

When this happens, a small explosion occurs and a crater forms around the explosion. This type of volcanic crater is called a maar.

What are the craters on volcanoes called?

Craters are usually much smaller features than calderas, and calderas are sometimes considered giant craters. Craters at the top of volcano es are called summit craters. Summit craters are where volcanic material is at or near the Earth’s surface. Volcanoes may have one summit crater, such as Mount Fuji in Japan.

How big is the meteor crater?

Meteor Crater is 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles) in diameter and 175 meters (575 feet) deep.

What was the impact of the Chicxulub crater?

The impact was so powerful the crater is called the Chicxulub Extinction Event Crater. Scientists say half the species on Earth—including the dinosaur s—went extinct as a result of the impact.