Plate Techtonics
Terms
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- The thin, outermost layer of the Earth, or the uppermost part of the lithosphere
- crust
- the outermost, rigid layer of the Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle
- lithosphere
- the strong, lower part of the mantle between the asthenosphere and the outer core
- mesosphere
- the soft layer of the mantle on which pieces of the lithosphere move
- asthenosphere
- the liquid layer of the Earth's core that lies beneath the mantle and surrounds the inner core
- outer core
- the solid, dense center of the Earth
- inner core
- the theory that continents can drift apart from one another and have done so in the past
- continental drift
- all the Earth's land masses joined together were once called this
- Pangaea
- as tectonic plates move away from each other, the sea floor spreads apart and magma rises to fill in the gap
- sea-floor spreading
- the theory that the Earth's lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates that move around on top if the asthenosphere
- plate tectonics
- process by which hot material from deep within the Earth rises while cooler material near the surface sinks
- convection
- when two tectonic plates push into one another, this is the boundary where they meet
- convergent boundary
- when two tectonic plates move away from each other this is the boundary they create between them
- divergent boundary
- when two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally, they create this type of boundary
- transform boundary
- this is used to measure the rate of tectonic plate movement
- Global Positioning System or GPS