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#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 |