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Stack #3183296
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Plate Tectonics | a theory explaining the structure of the earth's crust and many associated phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates which move slowly over the underlying mantle. |
| Alfred Wegener | Alfred Lothar Wegener was a German polar researcher, geophysicist and meteorologist. During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and as a pioneer of polar research |
| Pangea | Pangaea or Pangea was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from earlier continental units approximately 335 million years ago, and it began to break apart about 175 million years ago. |
| Crust | crust is the outermost layer of a planet. The crust of the Earth is composed of a great variety of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. The crust is underlain by the mantle. The upper part of the mantle is composed mostly of peridotite, a rock de |
| Lithosphere | the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle. |
| Asthenosphere | the upper layer of the earth's mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur. |
| Transform Boundary | A transform fault or transform boundary is a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal. It ends abruptly and is connected to another transform, a spreading ridge, or a subduction zone. |
| Sea-floor spreading | the formation of new areas of oceanic crust, which occurs through the upwelling of magma at midocean ridges and its subsequent outward movement on either side. |
| Convergent Boundary | convergent plate boundary. [ kən-vûr′jənt ] A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving toward each other. If the two plates are of equal density, they usually push up against each other, forming a mountain chain. If they are of unequal density, one p |
| Divergent Boundary | In plate tectonics, a divergent boundary or divergent plate boundary is a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other. Divergent boundaries within continents initially produce rifts, which eventually become |
| rift valley | a large elongated depression with steep walls formed by the downward displacement of a block of the earth's surface between nearly parallel faults or fault systems. |
| subduction | the sideways and downward movement of the edge of a plate of the earth's crust into the mantle beneath another plate. |
| convection current | a current in a fluid that results from convection. |
| Continental Drift Theory | Continental drift is the theory that the Earth's continents have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus appearing to have "drifted" across the ocean bed. The speculation that continents might have 'drifted' was first put forward by Abraham |
| trench | a long, narrow excavation in the ground, the earth from which is thrown up in front to serve as a shelter from enemy fire or attack. trenches, a system of such excavations, with their embankments, etc. a deep furrow, ditch, or cut. Oceanography. a long, s |
| ocean basin | In hydrology, an oceanic basin may be anywhere on Earth that is covered by seawater but geologically ocean basins are large geologic basins that are below sea level. |
| hot spot | In geology, the places known as hotspots or hot spots are volcanic regions thought to be fed by underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the surrounding mantle. |
| mid-ocean ridge | a long, seismically active submarine ridge system situated in the middle of an ocean basin and marking the site of the upwelling of magma associated with seafloor spreading. An example is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. |
| Ring of Fire | The Ring of Fire is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. In a large 40,000 km horseshoe shape, it is associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic trenches, volcanic arcs, and volcanic |
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Pedro_G
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