Plate tectonics flashcard vocab
.Lithosphere
A lithosphere is the rigid, outermost shell of a terrestrial-type planet or natural satellite.
Asthenosphere
The asthenosphere is the highly viscous, mechanically weak, and ductile region of the upper mantle of Earth.
Mesosphere
The mesosphere is the third layer of the atmosphere, directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere.
Inner Core
Earth’s inner core is the innermost geologic layer of planet Earth. It is primarily a solid ball with a radius of about 1,220 km, which is about 20% of Earth’s radius or 70% of the Moon’s radius.
Outer Core
Earth’s outer core is a fluid layer about 2,400 km thick and composed of mostly iron and nickel that lies above Earth’s solid inner core and below its mantle.
Seismic Waves
Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through Earth’s layers, and are a result of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, magma movement,
Oceanic Crust
Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of the tectonic plates. It is composed of the upper oceanic crust, with pillow lavas and a dike complex, and the lower oceanic crust,
Continental Crust
continental crust, the outermost layer of Earth’s lithosphere that makes up the planet’s continents and continental shelves and is formed near subduction zones at plate boundaries between continental and oceanic tectonic plates.
Density
The density, of a substance is its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ, although the Latin letter D can also be used.
Alfred Wegener
Alfred Lothar Wegener was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher
Continental Drift
Continental drift is the hypothesis that the Earth’s continents have moved over geologic time relative to each other, thus appearing to have “drifted” across the ocean bed
Convergent Boundary
A convergent boundary is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction
Divergent Boundary
In plate tectonics, a divergent boundary or divergent plate boundary is a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other
Transform Boundary
A transform fault or transform boundary, sometimes called a strike-slip boundary, is a fault along a plate boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal.
Sea-floor Spreading
Seafloor spreading or Seafloor spread is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.
