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PLATE TECTONICS VOCABULARY

Terms in this set (17)

Lava
Liquid magma that reaches the surface; also the rock formed when liquid lava hardens.
Subduction
The process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle at a convergent plate boundary.
oceanic crust
earths crust located under the ocean
Asthenosphere
The soft layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats.
Crust
Earth's outermost layer.
Mantle
the layer of the earth between the crust and the core
divergent boundary
variant, moving apart
convergent boundary
A plate boundary where two plates move toward each other.
transform boundary
A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions
seafloor spreading
The formation of new ocean crust as a result of magma pushing upward and outward from Earth's mantle to the surface.
Magma
A molten mixture of rock-forming substances, gases, and water from the mantle
techtonic plates
large and small shifting slabs of rock that cover the earth
trench
a long, narrow ditch.
mid-ocean ridge
An underwater moutain chain where new ocean floor is formed
earthquake
The shaking that results from the movement of rock beneath Earth's surface.
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