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Plate Tectonics
Vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Pangaea | all the continents were once part of a super continent called. |
| Continental drift | continents are in constant motion on the surface of earth.. |
| Mid-Ocean ridges | the mountain ranges in the middle of the oceans. |
| Seafloor spreading | is the process by which new oceanic forms along a mid-ocean ridge and older oceanic crust moves away from the ridge. |
| Normal polarity | at state in which magnetized objects such as compass needles will orient themselves to point north. |
| Magnetic reversal | occurs and the magnetic field reverses direction. |
| Reversed polarity | a state in which magnetized objects would reverse direction and orient themselves to point south. |
| Plate tectonics | earth's surface is made of rigid salads of rock ,or plates,that move with respect to each other. |
| Lithosphere | the cold and rigid outermost rock layer is called |
| Divergent plate boundaries | forms where two plates separate |
| Transform plate boundary | forms where two plates slide past each other. |
| Convergent plate boundary | form where two plates collide. |
| Subduction | the denser plate sinks below the more buoyant plate in a process is called . |
| Convection | the circulation of material caused by differences in temperature. |
| Ridge push | rising mantle material at mid-ocean ridges creates the potential for plates to move away from the ridge with a force called. |
| Slab pull | as a slab sinks,it pulls on the rest of the plate with a force called. |