area of volcanic activity that develops above rising plumes of magma
SUBDUCTION
one plate sinking beneath another
OCEANIC-CONTINENTAL SUBDUCTION
a plate with oceanic crust sinking under a plate with continental crust
OUTER CORE
layer of liquid metals that surrounds the inner core
CONVECTION
the motion created when heated material continually rises, cools and sinks
CRUST
thin layer of rock that surrounds Earth
CONTINENTAL-CONTINENTAL COLLISION
occurs where plates with continental crust push together
INNER CORE
a ball of hot, solid, metals at Earth’s center
CONVECTION CURRENT
the transfer of heat within a material
OCEANIC-OCEANIC SUBDUCTION
a plate with oceanic crust sinking under another plate with oceanic crust
PANGEA
the name that Alfred Wegener gave to the huge supercontinent that he proposed had once existed
THEORY OF PLATE TECTONICS
theory states that Earth's lithosphere is broken into huge, moving slabs of rock driven by motions in the mantle.
CONTINENTAL DRIFT
hypothesis formed by Wegener that said Earth’s continents were once joined in a single landmass and gradually moved or drifted apart.
MANTLE
the earth's thickest layer,2900 km (1700mi), layer of rock between Earth's outer core and crust
LITHOSPHERE
layer make up of the crust and the top part of the mantle about 40 km thick and broken into tectonic plates
TECTONIC PLATE
lithosphere broken into many large and small slabs of rock
ASTHENOSPHERE
layer of hotter, softer rock in the upper mantle and directly under the lithosphere
MID-OCEAN RIDGE
huge underwater mountain ranges, appear in every ocean, circling Earth.
DIVERGENT BOUNDARY
boundary along which two tectonic plates move apart, found in the ocean.
RIFT VALLEY
a deep valley formed as tectonic plates move apart
MAGNETIC REVERSAL
switch in the direction of earth's magnetic field so that the magnetic north pole becomes the magnetic south pole and the magnetic south pole becomes the magnetic north pole
CONVERGENT BOUNDARY
a boundary along which two tectonic plates push together, characterized either by subduction or a continental collision
TRANSFORM BOUNDARY
boundary along which two tectonic plates scrape past each other and crust is neither formed nor destroyed
Biology Lab Midterm
