A pale cliff, a folded layer and a dark volcanic rock each invite a different geological question. This guide teaches 100 geology vocabulary words through New Zealand: words for materials, plate movement, landforms, maps, evidence and the difference between a hazard and a risk.
New Zealand is a useful setting because its geology connects plate boundaries, volcanic processes, deformation, erosion and varied landscapes. A country with such variety needs more than the word dramatic. Precise vocabulary helps you describe what you see, explain a possible process and recognise what further evidence is needed.
Begin with the diagnostic, then choose a material, landscape or evidence route. Read ten entries at a time, cover the meanings and explain them in a new scene. “Top 100” is an editorial learning selection, not a measured frequency ranking. All classroom scenes and numerical examples are invented. This is a reading and writing guide, not a field itinerary, hazard forecast or collecting permission.
New Zealand · Geology vocabulary
Choose your reading route
- Find your starting point — check the distinction that matters first.
- Learn the first ten words — follow a meaningful group, then retrieve it.
- Read a worked example — see the terms doing real explanatory work.
- Try the practice and answers — check meaning before increasing difficulty.
- Move into speaking and writing — use a fresh scene and preserve evidence.
Browse the complete chapter index · Sources and checking · Further learning
Complete chapter index
Start here and word groups 1–5
Word groups 6–10
Context, examples, practice and next steps
- New Zealand’s geological context: several processes, several scales
- Worked example: read a rock diagram and a shaking report
- Meaning boundaries: material, process, evidence and consequence
- Practice: put the evidence back into the sentence
- Transfer: build a geological explanation someone can check
- Questions readers often ask
- Your next route: describe first, explain second
Imagine a photograph showing tilted rock layers beside a road. “The layers are tilted” describes a visible relationship. “A particular earthquake tilted them last year” adds a mechanism and a date that the photograph alone does not establish. That small leap is where geology vocabulary becomes useful.
Try three checks. Does erosion mean the same thing as weathering? Does an earthquake’s magnitude describe the shaking at every location? Does a mapped fault tell you when the next earthquake will occur? If those questions feel uncertain, begin with groups 6, 9 and 10 before adding specialised rock names.
Students can draw two columns headed observation and inference. Parents can ask which detail supports a proposed explanation. Teachers can offer an unfamiliar image after the first example: the fresh image checks whether the distinction transfers rather than whether learners remember the original answer.
Rock, mineral, sediment and landform are different objects or ideas. A colour photograph alone cannot identify every material or its age.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. geology | The study of Earth materials, structures, processes and history. | New Zealand geology | The project connects New Zealand geology with evidence on a map. |
| 2. rock | A naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals, glass or related geological material. | rock sample | The museum label identifies the rock from more than its colour. |
| 3. mineral | A naturally occurring inorganic solid with a characteristic composition and structure in the usual geological definition. | mineral specimen | The record distinguishes a mineral from a multi-mineral rock. |
| 4. crystal | A solid with an orderly internal arrangement of its constituent particles. | visible crystal | The close-up shows a crystal without identifying its composition alone. |
| 5. outcrop | Rock exposed at the Earth’s surface. | mapped outcrop | The photograph records an outcrop, not the whole underground layer. |
| 6. bedrock | Solid rock beneath soil or loose surface material. | underlying bedrock | The section distinguishes bedrock from the overlying gravel. |
| 7. soil | Surface material shaped by physical, chemical and biological processes. | soil layer | The caption separates the soil from its parent rock. |
| 8. sediment | Material transported or deposited through geological processes. | river sediment | The diagram follows sediment from a hillside towards a basin. |
| 9. landform | A feature of the Earth’s surface shaped by geological and other processes. | glacial landform | The writer describes the landform before explaining its origin. |
| 10. geological time | The timescale over which Earth’s history and processes are considered. | geological time scale | The lesson separates geological time from a human event calendar. |
New Zealand straddles a plate boundary with different interactions along its length. Keep the place and relationship attached to the explanation.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. tectonic plate | A moving section of Earth’s lithosphere. | tectonic plate boundary | New Zealand’s source account identifies the Pacific and Australian plates. |
| 12. plate boundary | The zone where tectonic plates meet and interact. | active plate boundary | The diagram shows a boundary rather than a national border. |
| 13. subduction | One tectonic plate moving beneath another into the mantle. | subduction zone | The North Island account places subduction in a specified setting. |
| 14. convergence | Movement of plates or crustal parts towards one another. | plate convergence | The arrows show convergence rather than separation. |
| 15. divergence | Movement of plates or crustal parts apart. | plate divergence | The exercise changes the arrows to illustrate divergence. |
| 16. transform boundary | A plate boundary dominated by movement alongside one another. | transform movement | The learner contrasts transform movement with subduction. |
| 17. uplift | Upward movement of land or rock relative to a reference. | tectonic uplift | The explanation considers uplift alongside erosion. |
| 18. subsidence | Downward movement of land or the ground surface. | ground subsidence | The observation needs evidence before its cause is assigned. |
| 19. deformation | Change in the shape or arrangement of rock under stress. | crustal deformation | The drawing shows deformation before naming a particular fault. |
| 20. stress | Force per unit area acting within or on material. | tectonic stress | The paragraph distinguishes stress from the resulting strain. |
Fracture and fault are different claims. Relative movement and geometry help identify the structure; a crack’s appearance alone is insufficient.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21. fault | A fracture or fracture zone along which relative rock movement has occurred. | mapped fault | The map labels a fault rather than every visible crack. |
| 22. fracture | A break or crack in rock, whether or not displacement occurred. | rock fracture | A fracture does not by itself establish fault movement. |
| 23. joint | A rock fracture without appreciable displacement across it under the selected geological sense. | rock joint | The caption distinguishes a joint from the displaced layer. |
| 24. strike-slip | Relating to fault movement mainly sideways along its strike. | strike-slip fault | The plan view shows strike-slip movement with opposing arrows. |
| 25. normal fault | A fault where the hanging-wall block moves down relative to the footwall. | normal-fault movement | The section labels a normal fault using the relative block movement. |
| 26. reverse fault | A fault where the hanging-wall block moves up relative to the footwall. | reverse-fault movement | The diagram compares a reverse fault with a normal fault. |
| 27. thrust | A reverse fault with a relatively low-angle fault surface. | thrust fault | The section identifies the thrust from its geometry. |
| 28. fold | A bend in rock layers or other geological structures. | folded strata | The photograph shows a fold without dating it from shape alone. |
| 29. strike | The horizontal direction of a planar geological feature. | fault strike | The record states strike separately from slope angle. |
| 30. dip | The angle at which a planar geological feature slopes from horizontal. | layer dip | The diagram marks dip in the cross-section. |
Magma and lava concern location; ash and tephra concern erupted fragments. A product description is different from a current eruption forecast.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31. magma | Molten or partly molten rock below the Earth’s surface. | magma body | The account distinguishes magma from surface lava. |
| 32. lava | Molten rock reaching the Earth’s surface. | lava flow | The image caption records lava rather than every hot fluid. |
| 33. eruption | Release of volcanic material or gases through a volcanic system. | volcanic eruption | The source identifies the eruption before discussing its products. |
| 34. vent | An opening through which volcanic material or gases emerge. | volcanic vent | The map labels the vent separately from the wider volcano. |
| 35. crater | A depression associated with a volcanic vent or impact, with the origin specified. | volcanic crater | The caption specifies a volcanic crater in this example. |
| 36. caldera | A large volcanic depression commonly formed through collapse associated with magma withdrawal. | volcanic caldera | The class distinguishes a caldera from every small crater. |
| 37. ash | Fine fragmented volcanic material in this geology context. | volcanic ash | Volcanic ash is not simply smoke. |
| 38. tephra | Fragmented material ejected from a volcano, across a range of sizes. | tephra layer | The record identifies a tephra layer in the section. |
| 39. pumice | A highly vesicular volcanic rock formed from gas-rich erupted material. | pumice fragment | The specimen shows cavities in a pumice fragment. |
| 40. obsidian | Volcanic glass formed through cooling of suitable molten material. | obsidian specimen | A dark appearance alone does not establish obsidian. |
Formation processes and material properties support identification. These are general geological terms, not names for every similar-looking stone.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 41. igneous | Relating to rock formed through cooling and solidification of molten material. | igneous rock | The lesson connects igneous rock with a formation process. |
| 42. sedimentary | Relating to rock formed from deposited material through relevant geological processes. | sedimentary layer | The section follows a sedimentary layer across the drawing. |
| 43. metamorphic | Relating to rock altered by heat, pressure or fluids without wholesale melting. | metamorphic rock | The explanation distinguishes metamorphism from forming new magma. |
| 44. basalt | A generally fine-grained, dark, mafic igneous rock commonly associated with erupted lava. | basalt lava | The label establishes basalt through the recorded identification. |
| 45. andesite | An intermediate-composition volcanic rock, commonly fine-grained. | andesite specimen | The geological record identifies andesite rather than the visitor guessing its name. |
| 46. granite | A coarse-grained felsic igneous rock commonly containing quartz and feldspar. | granite outcrop | The museum example compares granite’s visible grains with a finer-grained rock. |
| 47. sandstone | A sedimentary rock composed largely of sand-sized grains. | sandstone layer | The section distinguishes sandstone from loose sand. |
| 48. limestone | A sedimentary rock composed mainly of calcium carbonate. | limestone formation | The cave account identifies limestone from its geological record. |
| 49. schist | A metamorphic rock with a pronounced planar fabric, often from aligned minerals. | schist fabric | The specimen’s schist fabric helps organise the description. |
| 50. texture | The size, shape and arrangement of constituents in a rock. | rock texture | The observer describes texture separately from colour. |
Weathering, erosion, transport and deposition have different roles. Glacial landforms add another pathway through time.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51. weathering | Breakdown or alteration of material at or near the surface. | rock weathering | The explanation distinguishes weathering from transport. |
| 52. erosion | Removal and movement of material by agents such as water, ice or wind. | river erosion | The river diagram shows erosion and downstream deposition. |
| 53. transport | Movement of geological material between places. | sediment transport | The arrows trace sediment transport through the valley. |
| 54. deposition | Accumulation of material after transport or through other formation processes. | sediment deposition | The drawing marks deposition where the material settles. |
| 55. river terrace | A relatively level bench recording an earlier river or floodplain surface above a later one. | river terrace | The caption identifies a terrace rather than every flat hillside. |
| 56. alluvial | Relating to material deposited by running water. | alluvial deposit | The record explains the alluvial deposit’s river context. |
| 57. glacier | A body of ice formed from accumulated snow and moving under its own weight. | valley glacier | The model separates a glacier from seasonal snow. |
| 58. moraine | Material accumulated through glacial transport and deposition, or the landform it creates. | glacial moraine | The diagram locates a moraine beside the former ice margin. |
| 59. fjord | A deep, steep-sided inlet formed through glacial erosion and later occupied by the sea. | glacial fjord | The landform account explains a fjord’s origin. |
| 60. karst | Landscape and subsurface features developed through dissolution of soluble rocks. | karst landscape | The cave reading links karst with a specific rock and water process. |
Caves, aquifers and geothermal features ask different questions. Study diagrams and verified records rather than infer access or water suitability.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61. dissolution | A substance entering solution through interaction with a solvent. | limestone dissolution | The explanation separates dissolution from simple fragmentation. |
| 62. cave | A natural underground opening large enough to be entered, under a common geological usage. | limestone cave | The record identifies a cave without establishing access permission. |
| 63. stalactite | A mineral deposit hanging from a cave ceiling. | ceiling stalactite | The diagram places the stalactite above the floor. |
| 64. stalagmite | A mineral deposit growing upwards from a cave floor. | floor stalagmite | The stalagmite grows from the floor in the illustration. |
| 65. aquifer | A geological formation able to store and transmit useful quantities of groundwater. | groundwater aquifer | The section distinguishes an aquifer from an open underground lake. |
| 66. permeability | The ability of material to allow fluid passage. | rock permeability | The worksheet compares permeability with porosity. |
| 67. porosity | The proportion of material volume occupied by pores or voids. | rock porosity | The sample description states porosity rather than assuming connected flow. |
| 68. groundwater | Water beneath the ground within pores and fractures. | groundwater movement | The diagram follows groundwater towards the spring. |
| 69. spring | A place where groundwater emerges naturally at the surface. | natural spring | The source identifies a spring without making a drinking-safety claim. |
| 70. geothermal | Relating to heat within the Earth. | geothermal feature | The Rotorua reading distinguishes a geothermal feature from a power station. |
Relative sequence, missing intervals and numerical dating are separate tasks. A layer’s position needs its structural context.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 71. stratum | One layer of rock or other geological material; plural strata. | sedimentary stratum | The record follows one stratum across the exposed section. |
| 72. stratigraphy | Study of geological layers and their relationships through space and time. | regional stratigraphy | The account uses stratigraphy to compare the layers. |
| 73. fossil | Preserved remains, traces or evidence of past organisms. | fossil trace | The museum record distinguishes a fossil trace from a recent mark. |
| 74. relative age | Age expressed in relation to something older or younger rather than an exact date. | relative-age sequence | The exercise uses relative age before assigning any number. |
| 75. radiometric dating | Estimating age using measured radioactive decay relationships under a suitable method. | radiometric date | The report identifies the dating method and uncertainty. |
| 76. unconformity | A surface representing a gap in a geological record between units. | erosional unconformity | The section labels an unconformity rather than assuming continuous deposition. |
| 77. cross-cutting relationship | The relation in which a feature cutting another usually formed later than the cut feature. | cross-cutting fault | The exercise uses the cross-cutting relationship to order events. |
| 78. basin | A depressed region where material may accumulate, with its geological context specified. | sedimentary basin | The map locates a basin receiving sediment. |
| 79. intrusion | Molten material entering existing rock and the solidified body resulting from it. | igneous intrusion | The intrusion cuts older layers in the invented section. |
| 80. dike | A sheet-like igneous intrusion cutting across the surrounding rock structures; also spelled dyke. | igneous dike | The section shows a dike cutting the older sedimentary layers. |
The legend, scale and section define what the map can show. Field evidence and interpretation should remain distinguishable.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 81. geological map | A map representing rock units, structures and other geological information. | read a geological map | The learner reads the legend before interpreting colours. |
| 82. legend | The explanation of symbols and colours used in a map or diagram. | map legend | The legend identifies what the shaded area means. |
| 83. cross-section | A representation of a vertical or other defined cut through geological structures. | geological cross-section | The cross-section adds depth relationships to the map. |
| 84. scale | The ratio between mapped or drawn distance and real distance. | map scale | The calculation uses scale before converting the distance. |
| 85. contour | A line connecting points of equal elevation or another stated value. | elevation contour | The caption specifies an elevation contour. |
| 86. field note | A recorded observation made during a defined field investigation. | geological field note | The exercise identifies the observation separately from interpretation. |
| 87. sample | Material selected for examination under a defined scope. | rock sample | The label records the sample’s context. |
| 88. observation | Information noted through examination or measurement. | geological observation | The paragraph separates observation from a proposed cause. |
| 89. inference | A conclusion drawn from evidence and reasoning. | geological inference | The inference explains the relationship behind the conclusion. |
| 90. uncertainty | Limits in knowledge, measurement or interpretation. | dating uncertainty | The date includes uncertainty rather than a false exactness. |
CHAPTER 11 OF 18 · WORD GROUP 10 OF 10
Keep an event and its local effects distinct
Magnitude, intensity, hazard and risk have different meanings. This learning list does not issue a real-time forecast or access instruction.
| Vocabulary word | Meaning in this context | Natural collocation | Original example sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 91. earthquake | Ground movement caused by a sudden release of energy, commonly through fault rupture. | earthquake event | The source identifies an event separately from its effects at one site. |
| 92. hypocentre | The point within the Earth where an earthquake rupture begins; also called focus. | earthquake hypocentre | The section places the hypocentre below the surface. |
| 93. epicentre | The point on the surface above the earthquake’s hypocentre. | earthquake epicentre | The map marks the epicentre rather than the entire fault rupture. |
| 94. magnitude | A measure of earthquake size based on relevant observations and a defined scale. | earthquake magnitude | Magnitude differs from the shaking intensity at one place. |
| 95. intensity | A measure of earthquake shaking effects at a particular location. | local shaking intensity | Two places can experience different intensity from one earthquake. |
| 96. liquefaction | Loss of strength in saturated granular material during conditions such as strong shaking. | soil liquefaction | The explanation does not describe liquefaction as rock melting. |
| 97. landslide | Downslope movement of rock, soil or other ground material. | landslide deposit | The record describes a landslide without inferring its trigger from one photograph. |
| 98. tsunami | A series of water waves generated by substantial displacement, often from undersea geological events. | tsunami assessment | An offshore earthquake does not automatically establish a damaging tsunami. |
| 99. hazard | A potentially harmful event or physical process. | geological hazard | The map describes the hazard before considering exposed people. |
| 100. risk | Potential harm involving a hazard and its consequences for exposed people or assets. | geological risk | A geological map alone is not a complete risk assessment. |
CHAPTER 12 OF 18
New Zealand’s geological context: several processes, several scales
The Earth Sciences New Zealand geology account, hosted on the GNS website, explains New Zealand’s relationship to the Pacific and Australian plates. The institutional banner records the merger of GNS Science and NIWA into Earth Sciences New Zealand; names on older resources should not be mistaken for an unchanged present organisation.
The plate relationship varies around the country. The account describes Pacific Plate subduction beneath the Australian Plate east of the North Island, sideways movement associated with the Alpine Fault in the South Island, and a different subduction orientation farther south. “One plate always moves beneath the other throughout New Zealand” would erase that important spatial difference.
Landscapes also record processes beyond plate movement. Weathering breaks down or alters material in place; erosion removes and transports it. Rivers, glaciers and dissolving water can produce different landforms. A single scenic photograph may contain evidence of several processes operating over different timescales.
Rock categories describe formation, while texture describes features such as grain size and arrangement. Basalt and granite are both igneous, yet they are not interchangeable names. A metamorphic rock has changed under conditions such as heat and pressure without wholesale melting into magma. Geological vocabulary becomes clearer when each category answers a particular question.
The eduKate New Zealand world-knowledge guide connects volcanic, glacial and cave landscapes with cultural learning. Geological explanation does not replace community knowledge or permission concerning a place. Specific Māori histories and relationships should be learned from appropriate communities and sources, not invented from a rock name.
Source review: 15 October 2026. No live earthquake alert, present eruption status or prediction is given. For actual events and observations, use current official information rather than a vocabulary example.
An invented diagram shows a dark dike crossing pale sedimentary layers. Observation: “The dark body cuts across the layers.” Interpretation using a cross-cutting relationship: “The intrusion is younger than the layers it cuts, assuming the relationship is correctly identified.” The diagram supports a relative order, not an exact numerical age.
Now add a caption saying that the pale layers contain fossils. That fact may help an investigation, but the presence of a fossil does not supply an automatic age without identification and context. Relative age and radiometric dating answer different questions through different evidence.
In a second invented scene, one earthquake has a reported magnitude, while two towns report different shaking intensities. This is not a contradiction. Magnitude describes the size of the earthquake; intensity describes effects at a location. The GeoNet earthquake glossary helps keep those meanings separate.
Try a short dialogue. Reader: “The map shows a fault, so will it move tomorrow?” Geologist: “The map describes a geological feature. A forecast would require other evidence and an appropriate forecasting method.” Reader: “Then my summary should describe the mapped feature without adding a date.” Good vocabulary can make a sentence shorter as well as more accurate.
Finish by writing a three-sentence account of the invented diagram: one observation, one relative-age inference and one unanswered question. Resist the temptation to add an exact date because a number makes the paragraph look scientific.
CHAPTER 14 OF 18
Meaning boundaries: material, process, evidence and consequence
Magma is molten rock beneath the surface; lava is molten rock that has reached the surface. Ash is fine volcanic material, while tephra covers fragmental material ejected by an eruption across a wider range of sizes. Everyday comparisons with fire ash can obscure the volcanic meaning.
A fracture is a break. A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures along which movement has occurred. A joint is a fracture without appreciable displacement across it. The US Geological Survey’s fault explanation provides a useful starting point for distinguishing fault types and movement.
Porosity concerns pore space; permeability concerns how readily a material transmits fluid through connected pathways. Groundwater is not limited to a vast underground lake. An aquifer is a body of material that can store and transmit usable quantities of groundwater under the relevant conditions.
Hazard concerns a potentially damaging phenomenon. Risk brings in possible consequences, including exposure and vulnerability. Naming a hazard is not the same as calculating risk for a particular building, community or journey.
Liquefaction can involve loss of strength in saturated granular material during shaking; it does not mean that solid rock melts. Likewise, a tsunami is a series of waves associated with substantial water displacement, not a promised result of every earthquake.
Scale and legend govern how a map communicates information. A cross-section represents a vertical slice or profile through a geological arrangement. Neither is a photograph of every subsurface detail. Models and diagrams make relationships readable while preserving a need to examine assumptions and uncertainty.
1. Choose the term for rock alteration in place: weathering or erosion. 2. Molten rock reaches the surface. Should the description say magma or lava? 3. A fracture shows displacement. Which term is appropriate: fault or joint?
4. An intrusion cuts through older layers. Does that relationship establish relative age or automatically provide an exact numerical date? 5. Two places experience different effects from one earthquake. Which term describes those local effects: magnitude or intensity?
6. Correct “Liquefaction means rock melts during an earthquake.” 7. A material has many pores. What additional property matters when explaining groundwater flow? 8. Rewrite “The mapped fault will move next Tuesday” so that it reports only the stated map evidence.
Answers and checking notes. 1. Weathering. 2. Lava. 3. Fault. 4. Relative age; an exact date requires appropriate additional evidence. 5. Intensity. 6. For example: “Liquefaction can reduce the strength of saturated granular material during shaking.” 7. Permeability, including connected pathways. 8. For example: “The map identifies a fault at this location; it does not by itself predict the date of future movement.” Keep the distinction even if your wording differs.
Retrieve six terms before reopening the tables: rock, mineral, erosion, fault, observation and inference. Explain them to a listener using an invented scene. If your definition depends on another unfamiliar word, unpack that word too. A short chain of explained ideas is more useful than a long chain of unexplained terminology.
Write 120–160 words about an invented diagram containing a river terrace, exposed layers and an intrusion. Include three observations, two tentative explanations and one question requiring further evidence. Label the scene as invented. Do not add a named locality, a real event or a date that your source does not establish.
Now change the evidence: the supposed intrusion is identified as a dark sedimentary layer. Revise the explanation. This exercise checks whether a technical word was connected to evidence or merely decorating a sentence.
The English Tuition | New Zealand guide distinguishes reading facts from interpreting how a text presents them. Apply that idea to two geological summaries: both may mention the same feature while differing in certainty or emphasis. Accurate comparison identifies those differences without inventing a disagreement.
For school work, follow the learner’s actual curriculum, year and task instructions. Vocabulary practice does not automatically satisfy an assessment or qualification requirement. Parents can ask for a clear explanation; teachers can assess evidence and language separately; students can revise one unsupported claim at a time.
The published Tuition | Taupō guide connects interest in natural phenomena with careful scientific explanation. Its useful lesson here is to test whether a learner can handle a changed example independently. A striking landscape can start a conversation; the learner still needs to distinguish an observed feature from an unsupported conclusion.
Is geology just naming rocks? Rock names matter, but geology also investigates processes, relationships, time and evidence. This list includes the language needed to connect them.
Does every earthquake have one intensity? No. Intensity describes effects at a location and can vary between places. Magnitude and intensity answer different questions.
Can a photograph prove the age of a landform? It may show useful features, but an age claim needs suitable evidence and interpretation. Appearance alone is insufficient.
Does a geological map predict an earthquake date? No. A mapped feature and a time-specific forecast are different kinds of information.
Should I collect samples to practise? That is unnecessary. Museum resources, permitted classroom materials and diagrams can support the language task. This guide gives no collecting permission.
Why include hazard and risk? They help readers avoid confusing a physical process with its consequences for particular people and assets. A definition is not a local risk assessment.
For materials, begin with groups 1, 4 and 5. For landscape processes, use groups 6–8. For maps and public communication, start with groups 9–10 and return to the evidence checks before adding stronger claims.
Revisit the tilted-layer photograph from the diagnostic. Write one observation, two possible questions and a sentence explaining what the image cannot establish. Then use a fresh diagram so that you practise transfer rather than repeat a memorised answer.
Continue through the eduKate vocabulary hub. The next step is a clear explanation whose terms, evidence and certainty agree—not simply a longer list of impressive words.
Sources and checking
Sources reviewed on 15 October 2026. The definitions and examples are original learning explanations. Dictionary and specialist sources support meanings; cultural and technical sources support the specific context. This selection is not a complete professional glossary or a statistical ranking.
- Earth Sciences New Zealand: geology of New Zealand
- GeoNet: earthquake glossary
- GeoNet: Modified Mercalli intensity
- US Geological Survey: faults and fault types
- US Geological Survey: earthquake glossary
- Cambridge Dictionary: geology
Further learning
Choose a relevant published learning route, read its task carefully, and connect the words to a new explanation.