Plate Tectonics Vocabulary
1.
asthenosphere-the upper part of the mantle on which the tectonic plates move, the
material is solid but it can flow
2.
compression-stress that occurs when forces act to squeeze an object fault a
break in a body of rock along which one block slides relative to another
3.
continental drift-the hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a
single landmass, broke up, and drifted to their present locations
4.
continental plate-a tectonic plate containing land
5.
convection currents-heat currents within the mantle causing the plates in the
lithosphere to move
6.
convergent boundary-the boundary between tectonic plates that are colliding
7.
core-the central part of the Earth below the mantle
8.
crust-the thin and solid outermost layer of the Earth above the mantle. Contains
the continental (thicker, less dense) and oceanic (thinner, more dense) crusts
9.
divergent boundary- the boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving
away from each other (mid-ocean ridges form)
10.
epicenter- a place on the Earth’s surface directly above the focus of an
earthquake
11.
focus- the place beneath Earth’s surface where an earthquake originates
12.
fault- a line where rocks break and then slide against one another
13.
folding-the bending of rock layers due to stress
14.
mantle-the layer of rock between the Earth’s crust and core
15.
lithosphere- the solid, outer layer of Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid
upper part of the mantle (crust and mantle make up the plates)
16.
mid ocean ridge- undersea mountain ranges of volcanic activity that form at
divergent boundaries
17.
oceanic plate- a tectonic plate containing ocean water
18.
Pangaea- a supercontinent believed to have broken up to form the continents today
19.
plate tectonics- the theory that explains how large pieces of the Earth’s outermost
layer, called tectonic plates, move and change shape
20.
rift valley when two plates pull away from each other on the continental crust
21.
sea-floor spreading- the process by which new oceanic lithosphere (sea-floor)
forms as magma rises to Earth’s surface and solidifies at a mid-ocean ridge
22.
seismic waves- vibrations inside the Earth caused by earthquakes
23.
subduction zone place where one plate slides under another due to density; occurs
at convergent boundaries
24.
tectonic plates- a block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid,
outermost part of the mante
25.
transform boundary- the boundary between tectonic plates that are sliding past
each other horizontally
26.
trench- deep depressions formed when oceanic plates collide
27.
uplift- the rising of regions of the Earth’s crust to higher elevations