| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Theory of Continental Drift | Theory that continents move due to centrifical force |
| Theory of Plate Tectonics | Theory that plates that move due to convection currents |
| Alfred Wegener | credited with the theory of Continental Drift |
| Harry Hess | credited with the theory of Plate Tectonics |
| sea floor spreading | when two oceanic plates pull apart, magma rises and new crust is formed |
| convection currents | circular movement of a substance due to changes in temperature and density |
| plates | large pieces of earths crust that move due to convection currents |
| oceanic crust | earths crust located under the ocean |
| continental crust | earths crust made of land |
| pangea | large supercontinent that existed 250 million years ago |
| divergent boundary | when two plates pull apart |
| convergent boundary | when two plates come together |
| transform boundary | when two plates grind past each other |
| rift valley | formed when two plates pull apart and land falls downard |
| island arc | a chain of volcanic islands formed at an ocean-ocean convergent boundary |
| volcanic arc | a chain of volcanic mountains formed at an ocean-continental convergent boundary |
| mountain range | formed at a continental-continental convergent boundary |
| subduction zone | the more dense plate us pulled into the mantle under the less dense plate |
| Mid Atlantic Ridge | divergent boundary in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean |
| trench | depression formed at a subduction zone |
| lithosphere | another name for the crust |
| aesthenosphere | another name for them mantle |
| crust | outer layer of the Earth, the thinnest layer |
| mantle | thickest layer of the Earth, part liquid part solid where convection currents are found |
| mountain range | form at continental-continental convergent boundaries |
| temperature inside Earth | increases with depth |
| pressure inside Earth | increases with depth |
| fault | a break in the earths crust that moves |
| igneous rock | formed from cooling lava |
| hot spot | area where magma from the mantle continually breaks through the crust |
| hot spot example | Hawaiian islands |
| age of ocean rocks | younger near sea floor spreading zone |
| high risk cities | cities where earthquakes and volcanoes are likely to happen |
| low risk cities | cities where earthquakes and volcanoes are not likely to happen |
| plate tectonics evidence | rocks, fossils, climate, puzzle fit, glaciers, sea floor spreading |
| rate of plate movement | 5 cm/year |
| rock crystals | form when rocks cool slowly |
| crust density | ocean crust is more dense |
| Wegener's evidence | fossils, rocks, climate |
| Wegener's flaws | how continents moved |
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