Plate Tectonic Vocab

Question 1

Crust

Answer 1

layer of rock that forms earths outer skin

Question 2

mantle

Answer 2

the layer of hot, solid material between earths crust and core

Question 3

lithosphere

Answer 3

a rigid layer made up of the uppermost part of the mantle and crust

Question 4

earths core

Answer 4

the central part of the earth made up of iron and nickel

Question 5

pangea

Answer 5

the name of the single landmass that broke apart 200 million years ago and gave rise to todays continents

Question 6

continental drift

Answer 6

the hypothesis that the continents slowly move across earths surface

Question 7

mid-ocean ridges

Answer 7

an undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced

Question 8

convergent boundary

Answer 8

a plate boundary where two plates move towards each other

Question 8

subduction

Answer 8

the process in which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep ocean trench and back into the mantle at a convergent plate boundary

Question 9

transform boundary

Answer 9

a plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions

Question 9

divergent boundary

Answer 9

a plate boundary where two plates move away from each other

Question 10

fault

Answer 10

a break or crack in earths lithosphere along which rocks move

Question 11

convection

Answer 11

the transfer of thermal energy by the movement of fluid

Question 12

asthenosphere

Answer 12

the layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats