Vocabulary Matching for Geological Features and Layers of the Earth
Mountains
These features commonly form at convergent
plate boundaries; some are formed from
volcanoes.
Ridges
These long elevated features (often on the sea
floor) form from volcanic activity at a divergent
boundary.
Oceanic trenches
These deep ocean features are caused by one
plate subducting beneath another.
Fault
A break in the Earth’s crust, where blocks have
moved in different directions
Island arc
These volcanic islands form in a curve as
oceanic crust subducts beneath another plate
of oceanic crust.
Drafted Sept 2015
by the Lunar and Planetary Institute
Vocabulary Matching for Geological Features and Layers of the Earth
Volcano
These explosive features form at plate
boundaries, especially at subduction zones.
Continents
The main landmasses of the Earth
Crust
The top or outer layer of the Earth
(part of the lithosphere)
Lithosphere
This solid layer of the Earth makes up the
tectonic plates. (It includes the crust and top
part of the mantle.)
Asthenosphere
The layer of the Earth that flows slowly beneath
the lithosphere
Drafted Sept 2015
by the Lunar and Planetary Institute
Vocabulary Matching for Geological Features and Layers of the Earth
Rift valley
A low area between mountain ranges at a
divergent plate boundary
Mantle
This part of the Earth’s interior flows slowly but
is made of solid rock.
Core
This part of the Earth’s interior has a liquid
metal outer part and a solid metal inner part.
Ring of Fire
The zone of earthquakes and volcanoes
surrounding the Pacific Ocean
Drafted Sept 2015
by the Lunar and Planetary Institute