CHAPTER 3 PLATE TECTONICS STUDY GUIDE
What occurs at
transform
boundaries?
earthquakes
Name the plate
boundary that occurs
when two plates slide
past one another.
Transform boundary
Name the “unifying”
Plate tectonics
theory that the
earth’s plates are in
slow, constant motion
driven by convection
currents
Name the large, rigid
sections of the
lithosphere that
slowly moves on top
of the asthenosphere
plates
Where do plates
meet?
At plate boundaries
What happens when
the earth’s magnetic
field switches?
A magnetic reversal
What type of
boundary occurs
when two plate
move apart from one
another?
Divergent boundaries
What type of
boundary occurs
when two plates
move together?
Convergent
Who proposed the
theory of sea floor
spreading?
Harry Hess
What is the idea that
all of the continents
were connected as
one large land mass
and at some point
they separated?
Continental drift
What is it called when
an oceanic plate and
continental plate
collide and the more
dense ocean plate is
forced downward?
Subduction zones
Where are the
youngest rocks
located?
At the mid ocean
ridges
Who came up with
the idea of
continental drift?
Alfred Wegener
Name 4 types of
evidence to support
continental drift.
What causes
continental drift?
Sea floor spreading
Name the plastic-like
layer of the Earth’s
surface below the
lithosphere.
1. Fit together
like a puzzle
2. Fossil clues
3. Climate clues
4. Rock clues
Asthenosphere
What type of plate
boundary are the
Himalayan
mountains?
Convergent boundary
How far may one side
of the sea floor move
each year?
Between 1 cm and 12
cm each year.
Name the cycle of
heating, rising,
cooling, and sinking.
Convection current
Are ocean floor rocks
or continental rocks
younger?
Ocean floor rocks
What was the name
for the
supercontinent,
meaning “all land”?
Pangaea
What is a fossil?
Any trace of an
ancient organism
preserved in rock
What is the outmost
layer of the earth’s
surface?
Crust
Name the rigid layer
of the earth’s surface
made up of the crust
and the upper
mantle.
lithosphere
Make sure you
Study your notes
understand why sea
floor spreading occurs
Study the diagram on
p.90-91