Plate Tectonics

Question 1

Lithosphere

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Athenosphere

Answer 2

the soft layer of the mantle on which the tectonic plates move

Question 3

Mesosphere

Answer 3

The strong,lower part of the the mantle between the asthenosphere and the outer core

Question 4

Inner core

Answer 4

Solid,dense center of our planet that extends from the bottom of the outer core to the center of the Earth

Question 5

Outer Core

Answer 5

The liquid layer of the Earth’s core that lies beneath the mantle and surrounds the inner core

Question 6

Seismic Waves

Answer 6

an elastic wave in the earth produced by an earthquake or other means.

Question 7

Oceanic crust

Answer 7

the relatively thin part of the earth’s crust which underlies the ocean basins. It is geologically young compared with the continental crust and consists of basaltic rock overlain by sediments.

Question 8

Continental Crust

Answer 8

oscillatory phenomena migrating along the continental margins, controlled by the interplay of rotation and bathymetric gradients

Question 9

DEnsity

Answer 9

Density is the substance’s mass per unit of volume

Question 10

Alfred Wegener

Answer 10

a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher

Question 11

Continental Drift

Answer 11

The hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a single landmass, broke up, and drifted to their present locations

Question 12

Convergent Boundary

Answer 12

the boundary formed by the collision of two lithospheric plates

Question 13

Divergent Boundary

Answer 13

the boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other

Question 14

Transform Boundary

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Sea-floor Spreading

Answer 15

The process by which new oceanic lithosphere forms as a magma rises toward the surface and solidifies.

Question 16

Pangaea

Answer 16

a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras

Question 17

Laurasia

Answer 17

one of the two ancient supercontinents produced by the first split of the even larger supercontinent Pangaea about 200 million years ago,

Question 18

Gondwana

Answer 18

was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic

Question 19

Mesosaurus

Answer 19

a group of small aquatic reptiles that lived during the early Permian period, roughly 299 to 270 million years ago

Question 20

Glossopteris

Answer 20

the largest and best-known genus of the extinct Permian order of seed ferns known as Glossopteridales