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Voc.PlateTectonics
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Plate Tectonics | theory that Earth's surface is broken into large, rigid pieces that move with respect to each other. |
convection current | the movement of a fluid, caused by differences in temperature, that transfers heat from one part of the fluid to another. |
convergent plate boundary | the boundary between two plates that move toward each other. |
divergent plate boundary | the boundary between two plates that move away from each other. |
ridge push | the process that results when magma rises at a mid-ocean ridge and pushes oceanic plates in two different directions away from the ridge. |
slab pull | the process that results when a dense oceanic plate sinks beneath a more buoyant plate along a subduction zone, pulling the rest of the plate that trails behind it. |
subduction | the process that occurs when one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate. |
transform plate boundary | the boundary between two plates that slide past each other. |