Plate Tectonics Flashcards
Crust
The outermost shell of a rock planet
Mantle
Layer of molten rock between the crust and core
Core
Made up of mostly iron seperated into the outer core and inner core
Continental drift theory
The theory that cntinents gradually drift over time
tetonic plate
THe layer of rock that makes up the outer part of the earth
asthenosphere
a thin layer of earth about 150 miles thick at the border between the mantleand the crust
convection current
the prosses in witch the hotter parts of a gas or liquid rise to the top and the cooler dense part sink
convergent boundry
When two tectonic plates come together
mountaians
uplift of crustal plates that form elevated land masses
volcanoes
a vent or fissure in earths surface through witch magma and gases are expelled
divergent plates
divergent boundary when tectonic plates move away from each other
fault
breaks in the crust the movement causes sesmic waves which produces earthquake
midoceanic ridge
a long ridge of underwater volcanoesbetween two diverging oceanic plate
subduction
A place where one tectonic plate sinks and another melts causing a trench
Rift valley
A long narow valley between two diverging continental plates