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Plate Tectonics
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| mid-ocean ridge | mountain range underwater |
| sea floor spreading | molten rocks flows up through earth's crust and hardens into solid strips of new rock |
| subduction | sinking ocean floor |
| ocean trenches | undersea valleys |
| divergent boundary | 2 plates spreading apart forming rift valleys and mid-oceanic ridges |
| convergent boundary | 2 plates moving toward each other either pushing up when meet to form mountain or slip over each other |
| transform boundary | changes to the land above and the ocean floor |
| stress | a force that acts on rock to change its shape or volume |
| tension | pulls on earth's crust to make it thinner half between has the most tension |
| compression | squeezes rock until it bends or breaks |
| shearing | rock pushed in opposite directions results in a bend or break |
| fault | break in the rock of the Earth's crust or mantle |
| scale | folds that bend up become mountains or folds downward become valleys |
| earthquake | formed from plate movement causing shaking and trembling |
| seismographs | measure the the earth's surface waves let you know how bad an earthquake |
| magnitude | single number to measure the size of an earthquake determines the damage it may cause |
| tsunami | tremendous wave produced by an earthquake or landslide |
| volcano | structure that forms in earth's crust made of magma and molten material at earth's surface |
| magma | molten mixture of rock, gases and water in the volcano |
| lava | out of the volcano on earth's surface |
| hot spot | area where lava frequently erupts |
| extinct | dead volcano |
| dormant | sleeping volcano |
| active | immediate threat can erupt at anytime |