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chapter 3
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| 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 million years ago and gave rise to today's continent. |
| fossil | The preserved remains or traces of an organism that lived in the past. |
| mid-ocean ridge | An undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced. |
| sea-flooring spreading | The process by which molten material adds new oceanic crust to the ocean floor. |
| deep-ocean trench | A deep valley along the ocean floor beneath which oceanic crust slowly sink toward the mantle. |
| 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 are in constant motion. |
| divergent boundary | A plate boundary where two plates move away from each other. |
| convergent boundary | A plate boundary where two plates move towards each other. |
| transform boundary | A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite direction. |
| plate tectonics | The theory that pieces of the Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion. |
| fault | A break in Earth's crust along which rocks move. |
| rift valley | A deep valley that forms where two plates move apart. |