Chapter 2 E1 - Plate Tectonics Flashcards
large-scale movements of continents
continental drift
supercontinent proposed by Alfred Wegner
Pangaea
the process through which convection in the earth’s mantle pushes and pulls continents apart, creating new oceanic crust
seafloor spreading
where plates move apart and new lithosphere is created
divergent boundaries
where plates come together and one plate is recycled into the mantle
convergent boundaries
where plates slide horizontally past each other
transform faults
the theory that describes and explains the creation and destruction of earth’s lithospheric plates and their movement over earth’s surface
plate tectonics
and undersea mountain chain that exhibits earthquakes, volcanism, and rifting, all caused by tensional (stretching) forces of mantle convection that are pulling the two plates apart
mid-ocean ridge
the process when one plate descends beneath the other
subduction
