Plate Tectonics Quiz 11/17/15 Flashcards
pangea
super continent (all of the continents when they were together)
Panthalassa
super ocean (when all of the continents were put together it formed a huge ocean called Panthalassa )
mid-ocean ridge
seams long mountain ranges that run along the ocean floor
constructive forces
forces that construct or build up
destructive forces
forces such as ice, rain, wind, and changing temperatures that were down or destroy lanmasses
what are the six layers of the earth
inner core, outer core, mesosphere, asthenosphere, lithosphere, crust
inner core
a dense ball of solid metal with extreme pressures
outer core
a layer of molten metal surrounding the outer core makes the magnetic field that protects us from solar radiation
lithosphere
brittle rock the most upper part of the mantle sometimes it comes up to the core
asthenosphere
below the lithosphere the material is hotter and increasing pressure, it’s like a metal spoon, as a result, the part of the mantle is less rigid than the rock above. Over thousands of years this part of the mantle will bend like a metal spoon.
mesosphere
beneath the asthenosphere, this is hot but more rigid. the stiffness of the mesosphere is the result of increasingly high pressure. This layer includes a region called the transition zone, which lies just beneath the asthenosphere. It also includes the lower mantle which extends down to the Earth’s core.
what is heat transfer (what types are they)
Radiation, conduction, convection
Radiation
Transfer of energy in rays (Ex: The Sun)
convection
heat transfer by movement of a fluid
conduction
Heat transfer through touching of materials
Who is Alfred Wegener
A scientist who came up with the hypothesis of continental drift.
What was Wegeners Hypothesis
That all of the continents used to be one giant landmass called Pangea.
What was Wegener’s evidence
- Puzzle pieces (Wegener found that all of the pieces looked like they could fit together). 2. Fossils (The Lystrosaurus). 3. Climate (A. Ancient Glacier evidence B. Coal it used to be good for coal; stretched from U.S to Europe). 4. Ancient Mountain Chains (Go from U.S Oceans; start in Europe).
Who was Harry Hess
Harry Hess was on a ship with a crew of men and found out what Sea-floor Spreading, and that Wegener’s hypothesis really was correct.
What did Hess find
Hess found what Sea-floor spreading does is it begins at a Mid-Ocean Ridge, which forms a long crack in the Oceanic Crust. Along the ridge, new molten material from inside the Earth rises, erupts, cools, and hardens to form a solid strip of rock.
what are mid ocean ridges
mid ocean ridges are seamed formed mountain ranges that run along the middle of the Ocean Floor.
what are deep ocean trenches
When the Ocean Floor plunges into deep under water canyons.
What happens at a deep ocean trench
the oceanic crust bends downward.
in the process of deep ocean trenches what happens
In a process of taking tens of millions of years, part of the ocean floor sinks back into the mantle at deep ocean trenches.
what is subduction
the process by which the ocean floor sinks beneath a deep ocean trench and back into the mantle.
what happens during the process of subduction
as subduction occurs, crust closer to a mid-ocean ridge moves away from the ridge and toward a deep-ocean trench. Sea-floor spreading and subduction often work together. They move the Ocean floor as if it were a giant conveyer belt.
what are the three plate tectonic boundaries
divergent, convergent, and transfrom.
what is a divergent zone and what does it do
it is a zone that pushes away from each other
what is an example of a divergent zone
the mid-atlantic ridge
what is a transform zone and what does it do
A boundary that goes up/down and slides against each other.
What is an example of a transform zone
The San Andreas fault in California
what is a convergent zone and what does it do
a convergent boundary is a boundary that has one plate going under another.
what are the three types of convergent zones
continental crust vs continental crust, Oceanic crust vs Oceanic crust, or Continental vs Oceanic.
what is denser oceanic crust or continental crust
oceanic crust
what happens when to plates collide in a convergent zone
because the denser crust come out on top, that makes it because the oceanic crust is cooler and DENSER it comes out on top as it spreads away from the mid-ocean ridge.
how do faults, volcanoes and mountain ranges
these get created because the plates collide, pull apart, and grind against each other.
how does a rift valley get created
when pieces of Earth’s crust divert rift valleys form.
what is an island arc
a bunch of islands near a trench
