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Plate Tectonics

TermDefinition
Continent A large landmass
Boundary The point or line where one region end and another begins
Crust The outer layer of Earth
Continental Drift The hypothesis that the continents slowly move across Earth's surface.
Pangaea The name of the single landmass that began to break apart 200 millions years ago and gave rise to today's continents.
Fossil The preserved remains or traces of the organism that lived in the past.
Wegener Alfred Wegener formed the theory of continental drifted and Pangaea.
Mid-Ocean Ridges An undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced. A divergent plate boundary under the sea.
Deep-Ocean Trench A deep valley along the ocean floor beneath which oceanic crust slowly sinks towards the mantle
Sea-Floor Spreading The process by which molten material adds new oceanic crust to the ocean floor.
Subduction The process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle at a convergent plate boundary.
Plate A section of the lithosphere that slowly moves over the asthenosphere, carrying pieces of continental and oceanic crust.
Divergent Boundary A plate boundary where two plates move away from each other.
Convergent Boundary A plate boundary where two plates move toward each other
Fault A break in Earth's crust along which rocks move.
Plate Tectonics The theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle.
Rift Valley A deep valley that forms where two plates move apart.
Transform Boundary A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions.
Mantle a layer inside a planetary body between the crust and the core. It makes up most of the Earth's mass.
Inner Core Most dense layer of the Earth. This layer is a solid and the innermost layer. Its temperature is about the same as the Sun.
Outer Core It is made mostly of iron and nickel. This layer is a liquid.
Lithosphere This layer of Earth includes the crust an the uppermost mantle.
Asthenosphere This layer is below the lithosphere. It is between 80-200 km below the surface. It is the upper part of the mantle.
Convection Currents The movement of a gas or liquid in a circular path
Continental Crust Type of rock made of mostly granites
Fold Collision of crust that bends rock layers "stress"
Seismograph An instrument used to measure the shaking caused by an earthquake
Earthquakes The shaking that occurs when rock in Earth's crust moves or breaks and quickly releases pressure
Richter Scale A scale for measuring earthquake magnitude
Hot Spot An area of volcanic activity that is not near a plate boundary
Tsunami A giant ocean wave generated by a submarine, earthquake, volcano, or landslide
Volcano An opening in the Earth's crust through which molten magma and gases erupt
Epicenter The point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus
Oceanic Crust Type of crust made of mostly basalt
Lava Melted rock that reaches Earth's surface
Magma Melted rock located below Earth's surface
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