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 volcano | an opening in Earth's surface that erupts gases, ash, and lava |
| Iceland | the "Land of Fire and Ice", is located on the mid-ocean ridge |
| Kilauea | the world's most active volcano; is located on the Island of Hawaii |
| magma | deep inside the Earth, heat and pressure melt rocks into what? |
| lava | magma that reaches the surface of the Earth |
| vent | the opening in the ground from which magma flows; forms a volcano |
| crater | the steep bowl-shaped area around a volcano's vent |
| divergent | The mid-ocean ridge is formed by what type of boundary? |
| Ring of Fire | a major area of volcanoes and earthquakes that surrounds the Pacific Ocean. Most of Earth's surface volcanoes are here. |
| Wegener | he came up with the idea of Continental Drift and Pangaea |
| glossopteris | plant fossils found by Wegener to help prove continental drift |
| mesosaurus | freshwater dinosaur fossils that Wegener used to help prove continental drift |
| Pangaea | super continent that Wegener said existed over 200 million years ago |
| glaciers | evidence of these giant rivers of ice was found in Africa, supporting the idea of Pangaea. |
| sound waves | scientists use these to help map the ocean floor. |
| Harry Hess | he proposed the theory of sea-floor spreading which explained continental drift. |
| young rocks | these were found near the mid-ocean ridge by the Glomar Challenger. |
| plates | huge sections of the lithosphere |
| lithosphere | the crunchy part of the Earth; the crust and the very top of the mantle |
| moho | this is the nickname for the area between the mantle and crust where seismic waves speed up and slow down as they pass through. |
| asthenosphere | the gooey, plasticlike part of the mantle that the plates slide upon. |
| plate boundaries | the edges of the plates, where they meet. |
| convection currents | these are believed to be causing the plates to move. Heat from the mantle rises towards the bottom of the crust. |
| divergent boundary | when two plates move away from each other, they spread apart. |
| convergent boundary | when two plates collide, or move towards each other. |
| transform boundary | when two plates slide past each other. |
| subduction zone | area where an ocean plate slides under another plate and melts. |
| convergent boundary | the type of boundary that causes a subduction zone |
| mountains | caused by convergent boundary between two pieces of continental crust. |
| earthquakes | produce seismic waves that are used by scientists to study the inside of the Earth. |