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Plate Tectonics
Basic vocabulary for introducing plate tectonics
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Geophysicist | One who studies the forces that make and shape planet Earth |
Plate Tectonics Theory | The theory that the pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion due to the convection currents in the mantle |
Pangaea | The name of a single landmass that broke and gave rise to today's continents |
Convection Current | The movement of the mantle caused by differences in temperature and gravity. |
Tectonic Plates | Sections of the lithosphere(crust)that are made up of pieces of continental and oceanic crust. |
Subduction | The process by which a more dense crust sinks beneath a lesser dense crust at convergent plate boundaries |
Convergent boundary | A plate boundary where two plates move toward each other. |
Mantle | The layer of hot, solid material between Earth's crust and core. |
Lithosphere | A rigid layer made up of the uppermost part of the mantle and the lower part of the crust. |
Divergent boundary | A plate boundary where two plates move away from each other. |
Trench | A deep valley along the ocean floor through which oceanic crust slowly sinks towards the mantle |
Asthenosphere | The soft layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats. |
Continental Drift Theory | The hypothesis that the continents were once a large landmass that has broken up and drifted apart. |
Sea Floor Spreading Theory | The process by which molten material from the mantle is adding new oceanic crust to the ocean floor |