Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
AMS 17.3 & 17.4
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| tectonic plate(s) | Huge pieces of crust and rigid upper mantle that fit together at their edges to cover Earth’s surface. |
| divergent boundary | Regions where two tectonic plates are moving apart. |
| oceanic crust | More dense crust that is composed mostly of minerals which are high in iron and magnesium. |
| continental crust | Less dense crust that is composed mostly of minerals such as feldspar and quartz |
| rift valley | A long, narrow depression formed when continental crust stretches as it begins to separate. |
| ocean basin(s) | Large, water-covered, saucer-like depressions of the Earth extending from the edges of the continents |
| convergent boundary | Regions where two tectonic plates are moving toward each other. |
| descend(s) | To move from a higher to a lower place or position. |
| subduction | A process in which a denser plate descends below a less dense plate. |
| density | A physical property of matter defined as the amount of mass per unit of volume. In other words, how compacted a material is. |
| subduction zone | An area formed when a denser plate descends below a less-dense plate, the area where subduction takes place. |
| ocean trench | A narrow, elongated depression in the seafloor. |
| Recycling | The process of converting a material into a new, useable material. |
| melting temperature | The amount of heat required to change a solid into a liquid. |
| volcanic island arc | An arc of volcanic islands parallel to a trench that result from magma rising from a subducted oceanic plate that has melted at low temperatures and shallow depths. |
| volcanic mountain range | A chain of mountains that result from magma rising from a denser oceanic plate subducted beneath a less-dense continental plate. Rising magma is a result of the oceanic plate melting at low temperatures and shallow depths. |
| folded mountains | High mountain chains formed as two continental plates collide. This forces crust upward, folding, faulting, and thickening it, as a result of the low density of continental crust, which prevents it from subducting. |
| transform boundary | Regions where two plates slide horizontally past each other. |
| fault | A fracture or system of fractures in Earth’s crust. |
| earthquake(s) | A sudden release of energy in Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. |
| convection | The transfer of thermal energy by the movement of a heated material from one place to another. |
| convection current | The up and down flow of a material resulting from matter cooling and becoming more dense, causing it to sink, displacing warmer, less dense material, causing the warmer material to rise which will then cool and sink, repeating the process over and over. |
| mantle convection | The transfer of thermal energy between Earth’s hot interior and cooler exterior. This is thought to be the driving mechanism of plate movement. |
| upward plate movement | The forcing of a low-density plate upward, such as in a continental-continental convergent boundary. |
| downward plate movement | The sinking of a plate of greater density, such as an oceanic plate moving below another oceanic plate, or an oceanic plate diving underneath a continental plate. |
| ridge push | A process in which the weight of the uplifted ridge is thought to push the oceanic plate toward the trench formed at the subduction zone. |
| slab pull | A process in which the weight of a subducting plate pulls the trailing slab into the subduction zone |
Created by:
ArmstrongSci8
Popular Earth Science sets