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Plate Tectonics
Third Nine Weeks
Term | Definition |
---|---|
CRUST | Earth's outermost layer |
MANTLE | largest layer of Earth's interior; lies above the outer core |
OUTER CORE | layer of Earth that lies above the inner core; thought to be made mostly of molten metal |
INNER CORE | solid, innermost layer of Earth's interior; hottest part of Earth and has the greatest amount of pressure |
PLATE TECTONICS | Earth's crust & part of the upper mantle are broken into sections |
PLATES | these sections move on a plastic-like layer of the mantle |
LITHOSHPERE | plates that are made of the crust & a part of the upper mantle; they are rigid |
ASTHENOSPHERE | the plastic-like layer below the lithosphere |
DIVERGENT BOUNDARY | two plates move apart |
CONVERGENT BOUNDARY | two plates move together |
TRANSFORM BOUNDARY | two plates slide past one another; they can move in the same direction or opposite directions |
CONVECTION CURRENTS | this entire cycle of heating, rising, cooling, & sinking; this happens in the mantle |
SUBDUCTION ZONE | when an oceanic plate converges with a less dense continental plate, the denser oceanic plate sinks under the continental plate |