Name _________________________________ Class ________ Date __________
Plate Tectonics Unit Study Guide
1. A solid sphere of metal, mainly nickel and iron ________________________________
2. A boundary along which two tectonic plates scrape past each other, and crust is neither
formed nor destroyed ________________________________
3. A layer of molten metal, mainly nickel and iron ________________________________
4. An area where a column of hot material rises from deep within a planet’s mantle and heats the
lithosphere above it, often causing volcanic activity at the
surface______________________________
5. A deep valley formed as tectonic plates move apart, such as along a mid-ocean ridge
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6. The layer of rock in which most rock is hot enough to flow in convection currents –
Earth’s thickest layer ________________________________
7. The process by which an oceanic tectonic plate sinks under another plate into Earth’s
mantle ________________________________
8. The layer of Earth made up of the crust and the rigid rock of the upper mantle, averaging
about 40 kilometers thick and broken into tectonic plates __________________________
9. An instrument that constantly records ground movements _____________________________
10. A theory stating that Earth’s lithosphere is broken into huge plates that move and change in
size over time. ________________________________
11. The vibrations caused by an earthquake ________________________________
12. Earth’s thinnest layer ________________________________
13. A boundary along which two tectonic plates push together, characterized either by
subduction or a continental collision. ________________________________
14. A smaller earthquake that follows a more powerful earthquake in the same area
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15. The layer in Earth’s upper mantle and directly under the lithosphere - rock is soft and
weak ________________________________
16. A fracture in Earth’s lithosphere along which blocks of rock move past each other
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17. A circulation pattern in which material is heated and rises in one area, then cools and
sinks in another area, flowing in a continuous loop
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18. In an earthquake, the point underground where the rocks first begin to move
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19. One of the large, moving pieces into which Earth’s lithosphere is broken and which
commonly carries both oceanic and continental crust
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20. The force applied by an object pressing on, pulling on, or pushing against another
object ________________________________
21. The point on Earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake
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22. The hypothesis that Earth’s continents move on Earth’s surface
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23. A boundary along which two tectonic plates move apart, characterized by either a mid-ocean
ridge or a continental rift valley ________________________________
24. A hypothetical supercontinent that included all of the landmasses on Earth
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25. A process in which the shaking of ground causes loose, wet soil to act like a liquid
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26. A long line of sea-floor mountains where new ocean crust is formed by volcanic activity
along a divergent boundary________________________________
27. A process by which energy is transferred in gases and liquids, occurring when a warmer, less
dense area of gas or liquid is pushed up by a cooler, more dense area of the gas or liquid.
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28. A water wave caused by an earthquake, volcanic eruption, or landslide
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29. A dense cloud of extremely hot gases and rock fragments
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30. An opening in Earth’s crust through which molten rock, rock fragments, and hot gases erupt
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31. Mountains that form as rocks move up or down along normal faults
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32. A type of hot spring that shoots water into the air ________________________________
33. A mountain that forms as convergent continental crust crumbles and bends
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34. Molten rock that reaches Earth’s surface ________________________________
35-37. List the 3 types of volcanoes:
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38-40. List three types of plate boundaries and describe what happens at each.
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