Unit 5 Vocabulary Words Flashcards
What is a Mid-ocean Ridge?
The feature on the bottom of the ocean creates a new crust.
What is a Trench?
Physical features on the bottom of the ocean floor where the older crust is being destroyed.
What occurs at a Divergent Boundary?
Two plates move away from each other.
What forms at a Convergent Boundary?
Two plates collide.
What is a Transform Boundary?
Formed when two parallel plates slide/scrape against each other in opposite directions, causing earthquakes.
Define Crust.
The outermost layer of the Earth.
What is Continental Crust?
Less dense type of crust that contains mainly granite rock.
What is Oceanic Crust?
A more dense type of crust that sinks and contains mainly basalt rock.
Where is the Mantle located?
Between the core and the crust.
What is the Outer Core?
The liquid layer of Earth’s core located beneath the mantle, composed of liquid iron and nickel.
What is the Inner Core?
The hottest, most dense physical layer located at Earth’s center, composed of solid iron and nickel.
What is a Fossil?
The traces or remains of organisms that lived long ago, commonly preserved in sedimentary rock.
What is the Continental Drift Theory?
Alfred Wegener’s theory that the continents were once together but have slowly drifted apart.
How is Density calculated?
Total mass divided by total volume (g/cm3).
What is Pangea?
The name of the single landmass when all the continents were joined over 200 million years ago.
What is Seafloor Spreading?
The process where molten rock rises through the cracks of the mid-ocean ridge, cools, and creates new crust that breaks apart.
What does Plate Tectonics explain?
The large-scale movement within Earth’s layers and how features in Earth’s crust form and continents move.
Define Lithosphere.
Earth’s outermost rigid physical layer, comprising the crust and the upper mantle.
What are Convection currents?
The movement of rock in Earth’s mantle when cooler rock sinks and warmer rock rises.
