Plate tectonics Flashcards
Crust
The outermost shell of a rocky planet
Mantle
Layer of molten rock between the crust and core Where you get magma
Core
Made up of mostly Iron. Seperated into outer core (molten) and inner core (solid).
Tectonic
The layer of rock that makes up the outer part of the earth including the cruse and the upper mantle (lithospheric plates) top part of the earth.
Continental drift theory
The theory that continents gradually drifted over time to their present positions.
Asthenosphere
A thin layer of earth, about 150 miles thick, at the border between the mantle and the crust.
Convention current
The process in which the hotter parts of gas or liquid rise to the top and cooler, denser parts sink.
Convergent boundary
When two tectonic plates come together.
Mountains
Uplift crystal plates that form elevated land masses.
Volcanoes
A vent or fissure in earths surface through which magma and gasses are expelled.
Divergent Boundary
When tectonic plates split apart.
Transform Boundary
When tectonic plates that slide past each other.
Fault
Breaks in the crust. The movement causes siemistic waves which produces earthquakes.
Mid-ocean Ridge
A long ridge of underwater volcanoes between two diverging oceanic plates.
Subduction zone
A place where one tectonic plate sinks under another and melts. also forms a trench.
