Ch.1 Plate Tectonics Flashcards
Name the 4 layers of the Earth
Inner core
Outer core
Mantle
Crust
Inner core
Made up of solid iron and nickel
Outer core
Made up of liquid iron and nickel
Gives our earth its magnetic field
Mantle
Made of hot molten rock called magma
Makes up 85% of the earth
Crust
The layer we live on
Between 6-70 km of solid rock
2 types (oceanic & continental)
Magma
Molten hot liquid found in the mantle
Pangea
A big supercontinent
Convection currents
Circular movement in the mantle
Due to the heating and cooling of magma
Tectonic plates
Big slabs of earth that the earths crust is made up of
Continental plates
Have land on them
Thick
Are lighter (than oceanic plates)
Oceanic plates
Have ocean on them
Thin
Are Heavier (than continental)
Plate boundary
The zone where one tectonic plate meets another tectonic plate
Destructive plate boundary
Occurs where two plates slowly slide towards each other, usually forming a subduction zone (crust is destroyed)
Pacific ring of fire
The largest plate collision zone on earth
Subduction
When two plates are colliding and one plate goes underneath the other plate and into the mantle
Constructive plate boundary
Occurs where two plates are moving apart, as magma pushes up from the mantle, creating new crust
Transform plate boundary
Occurs when two plates continually slide past each other
Name 7 tectonic plates
North American
South American
Eurasian
African
Indo-Australian
Pacific
Nazca
Who figured out Pangea
Alfred wegener
Continental drift
The movement of the continents to where they are today
Mid - ocean ridge
A line of undersea volcanic mountains formed by constructive plate boundaries
