General Plate Tectonics Flashcards
What is a Divergent Boundary?
A Divergent Boundary is where two tectonic plates move away from each other, hence divergent.
What is a Collisional Boundary?
A Collisional Boundary is where two tectonic plates collide into each other, and crumple, forming mountains.
What is a Convergent Boundary?
A Convergent Boundary is where two tectonic plates collide, however unlike COLLISIONAL BOUNDARIES, one goes above another, SUBDUCTION.
What is a Transform Boundary?
A Transform Boundary is where two tectonic plates slide past each other, both going different ways, and they don’t DIVERGE.
What is a Plate Boundary?
Plate boundaries are where two or more tectonic plates meet. There are four types. CONVERGENT, DIVERGENT, COLLISIONAL and TRANSFORM.
What is/was Pangaea? (not Pangea!)
Pangaea means all lands, and it existed from 335 million years ago to 175 million years ago. It was during the Mesozoic Era, when dinosaurs were still alive. It was formed from the combining of all of Earth’s landmasses.
What is a Subduction Zone?
A Subduction Zone is where two plates meet and one gets forced beneath the other, and can create intense geological activity, for example, VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS, EARTHQUAKES and TSUNAMIS.
What are Plate Tectonics?
A scientific term that describes large scale movement of the Earth’s LITHOSPHERE. They are divided into several, large and rigid plates. As two or more plates interact with each other, it can cause many geological activities to happen, like EARTHQUAKES or the formation of mountains.
What is a Continental Collision Zone?
A Continental Collision Zone is where two massive (continental) tectonic plates collide and crumple, rather than subducting, which can form or cause many things like mountains.
What is a Mid Ocean Ridge?
A Mid Ocean Ridge is an underwater area with mountain ranges, formed by DIVERGENT PLATES. As TECTONIC PLATES pull apart, MAGMA rises, cools and solidifies, therefore creating (a) mountain (ranges). They can stretch for thousands of miles.
What is Seafloor Spreading?
Seafloor Spreading is where new OCEANIC CRUST is formed, and DIVERGE away from the MID OCEAN RIDGE, which then creates an asymmetrical pattern on each side. This is a key component of TECTONIC PLATES.
What is a Trench?
A Trench is formed by SUBDUCTION, where one TECTONIC PLATE goes under another. They are usually found at the edge of CONTINENTS. The deepest Trench is the Mariana Trench, which reaches 36,000 feet underwater.
What is a Continental Crust?
A Continental Crust is made out of light, granitic rock. Due to the composition, it is lighter than an OCEANIC CRUST, usually composed of BASALT and GABBRO.
What is an Oceanic Crust?
The Oceanic Crust the part of the Earth’s crust which lies beneath the SEA FLOOR.
