Quizlet Study Guide for Plate Tectonics

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  1. 7 Major Plates: Indian-Australian, Philippine, Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Pacific, Nazca, Antarctic, South American, Caribbean, North American, Eurasian, Arabian, African
  2. Appalachians: Stretch from eastern USA to the Gulf of Mexico; created when N. America collided with Africa.
  3. Asthenosphere: upper solid portion that moves like liquid
  4. Asthenosphere: Upper, solid portion that moves like liquid
  5. Continental Drift Theory: Theory that states that the continents were once together; broke appart and moved to their present day locations.
  6. Continents: granite; 20-70km thick; less dense than the crust
  7. Convergent Boundaries: Place where plates (continental, oceanic) are moving together forming trenches, island arcs, and folded mountains
  8. Core: innermost layer of Earth
  9. Crust: Outermost layer of the earth, low density
  10. Divergent Boundaries: Sites where two plates are moving apart
  11. Himalayas: Along the borders of Tibet and India; formed when India collided with Asia.
  12. How long ago did Pangaea exist?: 300 Million years ago.
  13. Inner Core: 1500km radius; solid mixture of iron, nickel and cobalt
  14. Lithosphere: made up of the crust and rigid upper mantle
  15. Mantle: layer surrounding the core
  16. Moho: Boundary between mantle and crust
  17. Ocean floor: basalt; 6km thick; more dense than crust
  18. Outer Core: 2000km thick; liquid iron
  19. Pangaea: "All Land"; a large, single, land mass made up of all the continents.
  20. Relationship between Rift Valleys and the MOR.: Rift valleys and Mid-Ocean Ridges are both places where new materials/ocean floor is being created.
  21. Subduction: A place where 2 plates collide and 1 plate is pushed below the other one. Happens in a subduction zone.
  22. Theory of Plate Tectonics: States that Earth's lithosphere (crust) broke up into moving plates.
  23. Theory of Seafloor Spreading: Mid-ocean ridge is a crack in the Earth's crust through which molton rock rises to the surface, adding new material to the ocean floor.
  24. Transform Fault: Two divergent plate boundaries are sliding past eachother
  25. What is the evidence for the Continental Drift?: Jigsaw fit between South America and Africa, Rock and mountain types on both coasts match, Climate clues, Similar fossils on both coasts.