Plate Tectonics Test Flashcards

1
Q

Continental Drift Theory

A

the continents used to be joined, forming a supercontinent

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2
Q

Continental Drift Evidence

A

continental puzzle, matching fossils, rock types and ancient climates

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3
Q

Why evidence might not be supported

A

Matching fossils: most people believed in land bridges more than moving continents

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4
Q

Why was Wegener’s hypothesis wasn’t liked?

A

he was the first to suggest such a thing

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5
Q

Pangaea

A

our last supercontinent; it means “all land”

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6
Q

mid ocean ridges

A

long chain of mountains as long as the ocean

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7
Q

deep ocean trenches

A

curved valleys on the edge of ocean basins

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8
Q

Harry Hess

A

published a theory of sea floor spreading

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9
Q

sea floor spreading

A

when new ocean floor opens on mid ocean ridges and slowly moves outward then sinks again

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10
Q

Evidence for sea floor spreading

A

magnetic strips, earthquake patterns, and ocean floor age

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11
Q

ocean floor is less than 200 million year old because. . .

A

anything older would have entered the mantle and melted

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12
Q

Earthquakes at depth of 700 km. . .

A

don’t happen because at that point, they enter the mantle and melt

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13
Q

theory of plate tectonics

A

Earth’s lithosphere plates move slowly, driven by currents in the mantle

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14
Q

3 plate boundries

A

Divergent
Convergent
Transform

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15
Q

Divergent

A

the plates move away from each other

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16
Q

Convergent

A

the plates collide with each other

17
Q

Transform

A

the plates slide sideways past each other

18
Q

divergent is a constructive plate margin because. . .

A

its where new oceanic lithosphere is produced

19
Q

oceanic lithosphere collides with oceanic lithosphere

A

volcanic island arc because under water volcanos form more volcanos and eventually they become islands

20
Q

oceanic lithosphere collides with continental lithosphere

A

continental volcanic arc made by the subduction of oceanic lithosphere

21
Q

continental lithosphere collides with other continental lithosphere

A

complex mountains because the land crashes and pushes against each other

22
Q

Cause of plate motions in the lithosphere

A

the weakness of the asthenosphere allows the stiff lithosphere to shift across it

23
Q

slab pull

A

gravity pulls COOL, dense OCEANIC lithosphere down into the mantle

24
Q

ridge push

A

gravity causes stiff, OCEANIC lithosphere to slide down the ASTHENOSPHERE which is elevated near mid ocean ridges

25
Q

Lithosphere

A

the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle

26
Q

Asthenosphere

A

the upper layer of the earth’s mantle, below the lithosphere