click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
#PlateTectonicsVocab
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Continental Drift | the movement of Earth's contents relative to each other |
| Plate Tectonics Theory | the theory that Earth's crust is made up individual plates that gradually move in relation to each other |
| Tectonic Plate | one of several huge pieces of Earth's crust |
| Lithosphere | the part of Earth that is composed mostly of rocks; the crust and the outer mantle |
| Fault | a crack in a body of rock that the rock can move along |
| Seismic Waves | waves of energy that travel through Earth's interior due to an earthquake, other tectonic forces, or an explosion |
| Seismograph | an instrument used to detect and measure earthquake waves and other ground vibrations |
| Pangaea | the large supercontinent at the of the Paleozoic Era consisting of all the land on Earth, including all seven continents and other landmasses |
| Seafloor Spreading | the process by which new oceanic lithosphere forms at mid-oceanic ridges as tectonic plates pull away from each other |
| Subduction | the sinking of an oceanic plate beneath a plate pf lesser density at a convergent boudary |
| Convection | the transfer of heat from one place to another caused by movement of molecules |