Chapter 4- Plate Tectonics

Question 1

The thin and solid outermost layer of earth above the mantle

Answer 1

Crust

Question 2

Are mainly made of the elements oxygen, silicon, and aluminum. This crust however has twice as much iron, calcium, and magnesium, which forms minerals that are denser. Usually found I never the ocean

Answer 2

Oceanic crust

Question 3

Are mainly made of the elements oxygen, silicon, and aluminum. Usually found on land

Answer 3

Continental crust

Question 4

The layer of rock between the earth’s crust and core

Answer 4

Mantle

Question 5

The central part of earth below the mantle

Answer 5

Core

Question 6

The solid, outer layer of earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle

Answer 6

Lithosphere

Question 7

The solid, outer layer of the mantle beneath the lithosphere; made of mantle rock that flows very slowly, which allows tectonic plates to move on top of it.

Answer 7

Asthenosphere

Question 8

Literally, the “middle sphere”; the strong, lower part of the mantle between the asthenosphere and the outer core

Answer 8

Mesosphere

Question 9

A block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid, outermost part of the mantle

Answer 9

Tectonic plate

Question 10

The hypothesis that a single large landmass broke up into smaller land masses to form continents, which then drifted to their present locations; the movement of continents

Answer 10

Continental drift

Question 11

The process by which new oceanic lithosphere (sea floor) forms as magma rises to earth’s surface and solidifies at a mid-ocean range.

Answer 11

Sea-floor spreading

Question 12

The theory that explains how large pieces of earth’s outermost layer, called tectonic plates, move and change shape

Answer 12

Plate tectonics

Question 13

The boundary between tectonic plates that are colliding

Answer 13

Convergent boundary

Question 14

The boundary between tectonic plates that are sliding past each other horizontally

Answer 14

Transform boundary

Question 15

Stress that occurs when forces act to squeeze an object

Answer 15

Compression

Question 16

Stress that occurs when forces act to stretch an object

Answer 16

Tension

Question 17

The rising of regions of the earth’s crust to higher elevations

Answer 17

Subsidence

Question 18

A break in a body of rock along which one block slides relative to another

Answer 18

Fault

Question 19

It causes the hanging wall to move down relative to the football. Usually occurs when tectonic forces cause tension that pulls rocks apart

Answer 19

Normal faults

Question 20

It causes the hanging wall the move up relative to the footwall this movement is the reverse to a normal fault. Usually happens when tectonic forces cause compression that pushes rocks together

Answer 20

Reverse fault

Question 21

A third major type of fault. Forms when opposing forces cause rock to break and move horizontally. If you were standing on one side looking across the fault when it moved, the ground on the other side would appear to move to your left or right.

Answer 21

Strike-slip fault

Question 22

The bending of rock layers due to stress

Answer 22

Folding

Question 23

Upward-arching folds

Answer 23

Anticlines

Question 24

Downward, through-like folds

Answer 24

Synclines

Question 25

Rock layers are folded so that both ends of the fold are horizontal

Answer 25

Monoclines

Question 26

An instrument that records vibrations in the ground

Answer 26

Seismographs

Question 27

A network of satellites that orbit the earth to measure positions on the earth’s surface

Answer 27

Global Positioning System or GPS

Question 28

An area of deep cracks that forms between two tectonic plates that are pulling away from each other

Answer 28

Rift zones

Question 29

When earth’s magnetic poles change places

Answer 29

Magnetic reversals