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Plate Tectonics
Chapter one, The Changing Earth
38
Science
7th Grade
01/13/2010

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Term
mantle
Definition
Earth's thickest layer.
Term
lithosphere
Definition
The hardest (most rigid) of the Earth’s layers, made of tectonic plates.
Term
asthenosphere
Definition
Layer of hot, soft rock that the tectonic plates move on.
Term
convection current
Definition
This causes heating, rising, and sinking action that moves the Earth’s surface.
Term
boundary
Definition
Where the edges of two plates meet.
Term
transform boundary
Definition
Occurs where two tectonic plates are sliding in opposite directions past each other.
Term
divergent boundary
Definition
Occurs where two tectonic plates are spreading apart.
Term
subduction
Definition
The process of the seafloor being dragged underneath the crust of the Earth.
Term
trenches
Definition
These are deep canyons that form on the ocean floor as crust sinks.
Term
Pangaea
Definition
The giant landmass that included all of the continents before they drifted apart.
Term
mid-ocean ridge
Definition
Huge underwater mountain range.
Term
spreading center
Definition
Areas in the ocean where new crust is being made.
Term
slab pull
Definition
Gravity drags the edge of a cool, dense plate into the Earth.
Term
Theory of Plate Tectonics
Definition
The lithosphere is made of huge plates that move over the Earth's surface.
Term
continental-continental collision
Definition
Two plates carrying continental crust push together.
Term
oceanic crust
Definition
All ocean floors are made of this.
Term
hot spots
Definition
Places where heated rock rises in plumes and makes volcanoes
Term
magnetic reversal
Definition
The north and south poles flip every 300,000 years.
Term
oceanic-continental subduction
Definition
A dense oceanic plate slides under continental crust.
Term
inner core
Definition
The densest of the Earth’s layers.
Term
It didn’t explain how continents moved.
Definition
Why did many scientists reject Wegener’s continental drift hypothesis?
Term
The sea floor is youngest near a mid-ocean ridge.
Definition
What evidence from the sea floor proves that tectonic plates move?
Term
push together.
Definition
Coastal mountains form where plates
Term
rift valley
Definition
These form at divergent boundaries, on land.
Term
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Definition
This is the world’s longest continuous mountain range.
Term
Scottish Highlands.
Definition
Wegener had geological evidence of continental drift because rocks in the Appalachians matched those in the
Term
fossils of tropical plants were found in Greenland.
Definition
Wegener had climate evidence for continental drift since
Term
transform boundary
Definition
The San Andreas Fault is an example of what type of boundary?
Term
the Indian and Eurasian plates are still colliding.
Definition
The Himalayas and the Alps are still growing because
Term
In sea floor rock
Definition
We know that the magnetic field of the Earth flips because it is recorded where?
Term
crust
Definition
All life on Earth lives within the boundaries of this layer.
Term
sonar
Definition
In the 1950's the US Navy invented this technology that allowed us to map the sea floor in detail.
Term
False
Definition
New crust is being created faster than old crust is being destroyed.

T or F
Term
divergent boundary
Definition
The Great Rift Valley, Africa, is an example of what type of boundary?
Term
hot spot
Definition
The Hawaiian Islands formed (and continue to form) over this.
Term
continental-continental collision
Definition
The European Alps formed from this type of collision.
Term
deep-ocean trenches.
Definition
Island arcs and coastal mountains form parallel to these.
Term
slab pull, ridge push, and convection
Definition
These three forces are responsible for moving tectonic plates
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