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Plate Tectonics
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Pangaea | the supercontinent that formed 300 million years ago and that began to break up 200 million years ago |
| Sea-flooring spreading | the process by which new oceanic lithosphere sea floor forms when magma rises to Earth's surface at mid-ocean ridges and solidifies, as older, existing sea floor moves away from the ridges |
| Plate tectonics | the theory that explains how large pieces of the lithosphere, called plates, move and change shape |
| Tectonic plates | a block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid , outermost part of the mantle |
| Convergent boundary | the boundary between tectonic plates that are colliding |
| Divergent boundary | the boundary between tectonic plates that are moving away from each other |
| Transform boundary | the boundary between tectonic plates that are sliding past each other horizontally |