question

lithospheric plates

answer

Large pieces of Earth's lithosphere moves over athenosphere

question

continental plates

answer

Thick lithosphere plates made of andesite & granite form continents. Less dense than oceanic plates

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oceanic plates

answer

Thin lithosphere plates made of basalt from ocean floor Denser than continental plates

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topographic map

answer

a map that shows the surface features of an area

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contour line

answer

A line on a topographic map that connects points of equal elevation

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contour interval

answer

the difference in elevation from one contour line to the next

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plate tectonics

answer

Theory how piece's of Earth's surface moves

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tectonic plate

answer

a piece of the lithosphere that moves around on top of the asthenosphere due to mantle convection currents

question

plate boundary

answer

Where two tectonic (lithospheric) plates meet

question

mantle convection currents

answer

the transfer of thermal energy by the circulation or movement in Earth Mantle. Believed to be the driving force of plate tectonics.

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Continental Drift

answer

Idea that continents move around on Earth's surface

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Pangaea

answer

ancient huge landmass composed of all the continents joined together. Supercontinent

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convergent boundary

answer

Lithospheric plate boundary where 2 plates come together

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subduction

answer

Process that a lithospheric plate sinks into the mantle

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volcano

answer

a in the Earth's crust (lithosphere) where magma has come to the surface. Caused by convergent plate boundaries or Hot Spots.

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magma

answer

molten (melted) rock beneath the earth's surface

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lava

answer

magma that reaches the earth's surface

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Ocean Trench

answer

a long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor caused by one plate sinking below another.

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Pacific Ring of Fire

answer

region around the Pacific Ocean where most of the volcanoes and earthquakes on Earth occur regularly

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divergent boundary

answer

A lithospheric plate boundary where 2 plates move apart

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sea-floor spreading

answer

new sea floor is created at mid-ocean ridges and continents are pushed apart from each other

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Mid-Ocean Ridge

answer

A long chain of undersea mountains

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Rift Valley

answer

a deep valley that forms where two plates move apart. Caused by a divergent boundary

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earthquake

answer

the shaking of earth surface produced by the rapid release of energy in earths crust. Caused plates shifting. Found along all plate boundaries.

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seismic waves

answer

wave generated by an earthquake.Primary (first,push/pull), Secondary (side to side), Surface (slowest, destructive)

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epicenter

answer

The point at which seismic waves first reach the surface.

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fault line

answer

a break or crack in Earth's surface. Caused by shifting and moving plates.

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Alfred Wegener

answer

A German scientist who proposed the theroy of continental drift

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Harry Hess

answer

theory of sea-floor spreading & plate tectonics

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tsunami

answer

seismic sea wave that begins over an earthquake focus and can be highly destructive when it crashes on shore

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convection currents

answer

circular movement of a substance due to changes in temperature and density

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conduction

answer

the direct transfer of heat from one substance to another substance that it is touching

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hotspot

answer

A weak spot in the middle of a tectonic plate where magma surfaces; forms a volcano (ex: Hawaii & Yellowstone)

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Mantle Plume

answer

Heated lower mantle rock that rise toward lithosphere because it is less dense than surrounding mantle rock

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Plate tectonics

answer

The theory that explains how large pieces of the lithosphere, called plates, move and change shape.

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Tectonic plate

answer

(Large movableplates under the Earth's surface.) part of of the lithosphere (15 plates) that moves around on top of the asthenosphere due to mantle convection currents

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Plate boundary

answer

Where two tectonic (lithospheric) plates meet

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Mantle convection currents

answer

The transfer of thermal energy by the circulation or movement in Earth Mantle. Believed to be the driving force of plate tectonics. Hot material (less dense) rises, and cool material (more dense) sinks causing the plates to move above the mantel.

question

Theory of Continental Drift

answer

Wegner thought that millions of years ago Earth's continents were joined together like a completed jigsaw puzzle. Then, as time passed, some force pulled the puzzle pieces apart. The continents slowly moved to the positions they are in today. Wegner's idea became know as the Theory of Continental Drift

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Pangaea

answer

According to geologists, the earth originally had only one "supercontinent" that drifted apart, subsequently into the 7 continents. Name the "supercontinent

question

Subduction zone

answer

A destructive plate margin where oceanic crust is being pushed down into the mantle beneath a second plate

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Magma

answer

molten (melted) rock beneath the earth's surface, A molten mixture of rock-forming substances, gases, and water from the mantle

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Ocean Trench

answer

a long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor caused by one plate sinking below another from subduction.

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Sea-floor spreading

answer

When two oceanic plates pull apart, magma rises and new crust is formed on the ocean floor.

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Mid-Ocean Ridge

answer

an underwater mountain chain where new ocean floor is formed. Caused by Divergent Boundary

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Rift Valley

answer

a deep valley that forms where two plates move apart. Caused by a divergent boundary

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Divergent boundary

answer

A boundary along which two tectonic plates move apart, characterized by either a mid-ocean ridge or a continental rift valley.

question

List 3 pieces of evidence that support the Theory of Continental Drift

answer

1. similarity of fossils found on continental coasts 2. the close fit of the continental coastlines 3. the matching of glacial grooves on different continents 4. the rocks match

question

What forms when an oceanic plate is subducted under a continental plate?

answer

An ocean trench and volcanic mountains

question

What causes the movements of tectonic plates?

answer

Convection currents in Mantle

question

What happens to the tectonic plates at a divergent plate boundary?

answer

When 2 tectonic plates move away from one another

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What happens to tectonic plates at a convergent boundary?

answer

A collision between 2 plates

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Earthquake

answer

violent shaking of the earth's interior, from faults in the earth.

question

Volcano

answer

the opening in the Earth's crust that allows magma to reach the earths surface.

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Trench

answer

very deep, elongated cavity bordering a continent or an island arc; it forms when one tectonic plate slides beneath another.

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Volcanic Island Arc

answer

Island arcs are volcanic islands that form parallel to ocean trenches in subduction zones. The Pacific Ring of Fire is home to many of these groups of islands. Volcanoes that form above hot spots like the Hawaiian islands are not volcanic arcs.

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Ring of Fire

answer

a ring of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean that result from subduction of oceanic plates beneath lighter continental plates.

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What do geologists study?

answer

Materials the earth is made of, the processes that shape the earth and its inside.

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What is Basalt?

answer

Dense thick rock, that mainly makes up the floors of the oceans.

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What is Granite?

answer

Rock that is not as dense as Basalt, and mainly makes up continental crust ?

question

What is Continental Crust?

answer

part of the earth's crust that forms the continents mostly granite.

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What is Oceanic Crust?

answer

part of the earth's crust that is under the oceans.

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Mantle

answer

The area between the Crust and the Core. The top of the mantle is hot rock, underneath that is an area of soft flowing material, followed by sold mantle material. Its about 3000 km thick.

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lithosphere

answer

The crust + the top part of the mantle that is solid hot rock.

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asthenosphere

answer

The soft portion of the mantle that is soft and can flow. It is just below the lithosphere.

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Core

answer

Center portion of the earth made of nickle and Iron. Has an outer liquid portion and a solid inner portion.

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Outer Core

answer

The liquid part of the core.

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Inner Core

answer

The inner part of the core that is solid. Intense pressure keeps the nickle and iron solid.

question

What creates the earth's magnetic field

answer

The spinning of the earth's solid inner core

question

What make's the inner core spin?

answer

Currents in the outer core.

question

What is the Core made of?

answer

Iron and Nickle

question

What is the Mantle made of?

answer

Silicon, Oxygen, Iron and Magnesium

question

heat transfer

answer

movement of energy from a hot substance to a cold substance.

question

name the three types of heat transfer

answer

radiation, conduction, convection.

question

radiation

answer

the transfer of energy through empty space. There is no direct contact between the cold and the hot.

question

Examples of radiation

answer

Sunlight warming the earth, heat from a fire

question

conduction

answer

the direct transfer of heat from one substance touching another.

question

example of conduction

answer

touching a hot spoon

question

convection

answer

heat transfer from the movement of fluid or gases. Heated fluid flows transferring heat form one part of the liquid to another part of it.

question

example of convection

answer

A whole pot of water on a stove getting hot, not just the bottom of it

question

convection current

answer

a flow or current that transfers heat in a liquid

question

describe sea floor spreading?

answer

At mid ocean ridges, molten rock rises through the crack in the crust, pushing it apart and hardening. This happened over and over adding new sea floor like a conveyor belt.

question

Where does sea floor spreading happen?

answer

at mid ocean ridges.

question

What is the evidence for sea floor spreading?

answer

Younger rock is in mid ocean ridges, and rock gets older as you move away from the ridges.

question

Describe subduction

answer

at a deep ocean trench, the ocean floor sinks down underneath the continental plate. its pushed back down into the mantle where it becomes liquid again. its what happens on the other side form sea floor spreading

question

Describe plate tectonics

answer

The lithosphere is not unbroken. Its split into plates. The convection currents of the asthenosphere move the plates around where the collide and spread apart and shape the face of the earth

question

Name the types of plate boundaries

answer

Transform, convergent and divergent

question

transform boundary

answer

a plate boundary where two plates slide past each other in opposite directions. Crust is neither created or destroyed.

question

what creates an earthquake

answer

plates slipping against one anther at a transform boundary

question

divergent boundary

answer

a boundary where two plates move apart. A mid ocean ridge is a divergent boundary, so is a rift valley.

question

convergent boundary

answer

where two plates come together and converge.

question

Denser: Oceanic or Continental Crust ?

answer

Oceanic

question

Why is oceanic crust denser than continental?

answer

Oceanic is Basalt, Continental is Granite. Basalt is denser than granite

question

Denser: Basalt or Granite?

answer

Basalt

question

What happens when two plates of oceanic crust collide at a ocean trench?

answer

The denser plate plate dives under the other

question

What happens two plates of continental crust collide ?

answer

They are too light for subduction to happen. They get squeezed together to make mountain ranges.

question

What happens when a plate carrying ocean crust and a plate carrying continental crust collide?

answer

Since the ocean crust is heavier, it sinks beneath the continental crust plate.

question

What is Pangea

answer

the name given to the huge supercontinent that formed when all the continents were connected

question

What is a constructive force to a geologist?

answer

One that creates land masses.

question

What is a destructive force to a geologist?

answer

One that destroys land masses

question

What is a fault ?

answer

a break in the earth's surface where plates slip past one another.

question

What is a rift valley?

answer

A divergent boundary on land, where plates spread apart and create a valley that slowly sinks lower and lower. It can eventually fill with water to become a sea or ocean.

question

The layer of mantle that can flow is called

answer

asthenosphere

question

where does subduction of the ocean floor take place?

answer

in ocean trenches

question

What powers plate tectonics (the movement of the plates)?

answer

convection currents in the asthenosphere

question

Alfred Wegener

answer

the Continental Drift Theory was proposed by-

question

Theory of Continental Drift

answer

Theory that continents move due to centrifical force

question

Theory of Plate Tectonics

answer

Theory that plates that move due to convection currents

question

Alfred Wegener

answer

credited with the theory of Continental Drift

question

Harry Hess

answer

credited with the theory of Plate Tectonics

question

sea floor spreading

answer

when two oceanic plates pull apart, magma rises and new crust is formed

question

convection currents

answer

circular movement of a substance due to changes in temperature and density

question

plates

answer

large pieces of earths crust that move due to convection currents

question

oceanic crust

answer

earths crust located under the ocean

question

continental crust

answer

earths crust made of land

question

pangea

answer

large supercontinent that existed 250 million years ago

question

divergent boundary

answer

when two plates pull apart

question

convergent boundary

answer

when two plates come together

question

transform boundary

answer

when two plates grind past each other

question

rift valley

answer

formed when two plates pull apart and land falls downard

question

island arc

answer

a chain of volcanic islands formed at an ocean-ocean convergent boundary

question

volcanic arc

answer

a chain of volcanic mountains formed at an ocean-continental convergent boundary

question

mountain range

answer

formed at a continental-continental convergent boundary

question

subduction zone

answer

the more dense plate us pulled into the mantle under the less dense plate

question

Mid Atlantic Ridge

answer

divergent boundary in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean

question

trench

answer

depression formed at a subduction zone

question

lithosphere

answer

another name for the crust

question

aesthenosphere

answer

another name for them mantle

question

crust

answer

outer layer of the Earth, the thinnest layer

question

mantle

answer

thickest layer of the Earth, part liquid part solid where convection currents are found

question

mountain range

answer

form at continental-continental convergent boundaries

question

temperature inside Earth

answer

increases with depth

question

pressure inside Earth

answer

increases with depth

question

fault

answer

a break in the earths crust that moves

question

igneous rock

answer

formed from cooling lava

question

hot spot

answer

area where magma from the mantle continually breaks through the crust

question

hot spot example

answer

Hawaiian islands

question

age of ocean rocks

answer

younger near sea floor spreading zone

question

high risk cities

answer

cities where earthquakes and volcanoes are likely to happen

question

low risk cities

answer

cities where earthquakes and volcanoes are not likely to happen

question

plate tectonics evidence

answer

rocks, fossils, climate, puzzle fit, glaciers, sea floor spreading

question

rate of plate movement

answer

5 cm/year

question

rock crystals

answer

form when rocks cool slowly

question

crust density

answer

ocean crust is more dense

question

Wegener's evidence

answer

fossils, rocks, climate

question

Wegener's flaws

answer

how continents moved

question

Pangaea

answer

The supercontinent formed near the end of the Paleozoic era when plate movements brought all the landmasses of Earth together.

question

mid-ocean ridge

answer

the undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced.

question

sea floor spreading

answer

The process that creates new sea floor as plates move away from each other at the mid-ocean ridges

question

crust

answer

The thin and solid outermost layer of the Earth above the Mantle.

question

mantle

answer

The layer of hot solid rock between the Earth's crust and core.

question

lithosphere

answer

a rigid layer made up of the uppermost part of the mantle and the crust

question

outer core

answer

a layer of molten iron and nickel that surrounds the inner core of Earth

question

inner core

answer

a dense sphere of solid iron and nickel at the center of Earth

question

continental drift

answer

the hypothesis that the continents slowly move across Earth's surface

question

Alfred Wegener

answer

A German scientist who proposed the theory of continental drift

question

tectonic plates

answer

individual sections of the lithosphere of the earth. They fit together in a way similar to a jigsaw puzzle, but are always moving very slowly, on top of the mantel

question

transform boundary

answer

A plate boundary where two plates slip past each other, moving in opposite directions (San Andreas Fault)

question

convergent boundary

answer

A plate boundary where two plates come together, or collide (Himalayas, Andes mountains)

question

subduction

answer

the process by which dense oceanic crust material is overridden by lighter continental crust and sinks down into the mantle

question

divergent boundary

answer

A plate boundary where two plates move away from each other. (Mid-atlantic Ridge)

question

plate boundary

answer

the region where two tectonic plates are in contact

question

crust

answer

the thin and solid outermost layer of the Earth above the mantle

question

mantle

answer

the layer of rock between the earth's crust and core

question

core

answer

the central part of the Earth below the mantle

question

lithosphere

answer

the solid, outer layer of the earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle

question

asthenosphere

answer

the soft layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats

question

mesosphere

answer

The strong, lower part of the mantle between the asthenosphere and the outer core

question

tectonic plate

answer

a block of lithosphere that consists of the crust and the rigid, outermost part of the mantle

question

continental drift

answer

the hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a single landmass, broke up, and drifted to their present locations

question

sea-floor spreading

answer

the process by which new oceanic lithosphere forms as magma rises toward the surface and solidifies

question

plate tectonics

answer

the theory that explains how large pieces of the Earth's outermost layer, called tectonic plates, move and change shape

question

convergent boundary

answer

the boundary formed by the collision of two lithospheric plates

question

divergent boundary

answer

the boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other

question

transform boundary

answer

the boundary between tectonic plates that are sliding past each other horizontally

question

compression

answer

stress that occurs when forces act to squeeze an object

question

tension

answer

Stress that occurs when forces act to stretch an object

question

folding

answer

the bending of rock layers due to stress

question

fault

answer

a break in a body of rock along which one block slides relative to another

question

normal fault

answer

a fault in which the hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall

question

reverse fault

answer

A fault in which the hanging wall moves up relative to the foot wall

question

strike-slip fault

answer

opposing forces cause rock to break and move horizontally

question

folded mountains

answer

When rock layers are squeezed together and pushed upward.

question

fault-block mountains

answer

Form when tension causes large blocks of rock to drop down in relation to other rocks. Tilting of rock layers can occur as tension pulls the rock layers apart.

question

volcanic mountains

answer

Mountains that form when magma erupts onto Earth's surface.

question

What are two types of evidence that geologists have used to learn about Earth's interior?

answer

direct evidence from rock samples and indirect evidence from seismic waves

question

Rocks from inside Earth give clues about ( )?

answer

Earth's structure

question

What can geologists do from rock samples brought up by drills?

answer

inferences about conditions inside Earth where these rocks formed

question

What do geologists do when earthquakes produce seismic waves?

answer

record the seismic waves and study how they travel through Earth

question

What reveals the structure of the planet?

answer

the speed of seismic waves and their paths

question

Using data from ( ), geologists have learned that Earth's interior is made up of several layers?

answer

seismic waves

question

What are the three main layers of Earth?

answer

crust, mantle, and core

question

What do Earth's layers vary in?

answer

size, composition, temp, and pressure

question

( ) increase as you travel further down into Earth's layers?

answer

temp and pressure

question

What inside Earth releases energy and further heats the interior?

answer

radioactive substances

question

What are the high temps inside Earth a result of?

answer

heat left over from the formation of the planet

question

Why does pressure increase as you travel further into the interior?

answer

the weight of the rock above

question

What is the crust? What does it include?

answer

a layer of solid rock that includes both dry land and the ocean floor

question

Where is the crust thickest? Thinnest?

answer

under mountains, beneath the ocean

question

How thick is the crust?

answer

5-70 km

question

What does oceanic crust consist of?

answer

rocks such as basalt

question

What does continental crust consist of?

answer

rocks such a granite

question

Earth's mantle is made of rock that is very ( ), yet ( )?

answer

hot, solid

question

How thick is the mantle?

answer

3,000 km

question

How thick is the lithosphere?

answer

100 km

question

The layer of the mantle beneath the lithosphere is less ( ) than the rock above? Why?

answer

rigid, under increasing pressure and hotter

question

The asthenosphere is ( ) than the rest of the mantle, yet ( )?

answer

softer, solid

question

What is the layer of the mantle beneath the asthenopshere that is solid and extends all the way to the core?

answer

the lower mantle

question

What is the core made mostly of?

answer

iron and nickel

question

What two parts does the core consist of?

answer

a liquid outer core and a solid inner core

question

How thick is the core?

answer

about 3,500 km

question

Despite enormous pressure, the outer core is ( )?

answer

liquid

question

What does extreme pressure do in the inner core?

answer

squeezes the atoms of iron and nickel so that they can

question

What creates Earth's magnetic field?

answer

convection currents in the outer core

question

When you use a compass, the compass needle aligns with what?

answer

the lines of force in Earth's magnetic field

question

What are the three types of heat transfer?

answer

radiation, conduction, and convection

question

What is the absence of heat?

answer

cold

question

Heat tranfer by radiation takes place with no what?

answer

direct contact between a heat source and an object

question

How does a spoon in a pot of soup heat up by conduction?

answer

heat moves from the soup and pot to the particles of the spoon, the particles near the bottom of the spoon vibrate faster as they are heated, they bump other particles and heat them too, and the entire spoon heats up

question

What is responsible for some of the heat transfer inside Earth?

answer

conduction

question

What happens during convection?

answer

heated particles of fluid begin to flow, this flow transfers heat from one part of the fluid to another

question

What causes the heat transfer by convection?

answer

differences of temp and density in a fluid

question

What happens to particles when a liquid or gas is heated?

answer

they move faster and spread apart, take up more space, and the fluid's density decreases

question

What happens when a fluid cools?

answer

its particles move more slowly and settle together more closely

question

What causes convection currents in the mantle?

answer

heat from core and mantle

question

What are the convection currents like in the mantle?

answer

mantle rock rises slowly from the bottom to the top, the rock cools and sinks back down

question

What are convection currents like in a pot of soup?

answer

soup at bottom becames less dense, warmer and floats over the cooler, denser soup at top, the warmer soup cools and is pulled down by gravity and is heated again

question

What sets convection currents in motion?

answer

heating and cooling of the fluid, changes in the fluid's density, and gravity

question

Convection currents continue as long as ( ) is added?

answer

heat

question

What was Wegener's hypothesis?

answer

all the continents were once joined together in a single landmass and have since drifted apart

question

What did Wegener gather evidence from to support his theory about continental drift?

answer

land features, fossils, and climate change

question

What was Wegener's evidence from land features?

answer

mountain ranges on Africa and South America line up, coal fields on Europe line up w/ones on North America

question

What was Wegener's evidence from fossils?

answer

fossils of plants and animals have been found on many seperated continents, the animals couldn't have crossed large bodies of water, the continents carried the fossils with them when they seperated

question

What was Wegener's evidence from climate?

answer

fossils of tropical plants have been found on an island in the Arctic Ocean, when the plants lived, the island must of had a warmer climate closer to the equator

question

What is Wegener's evidence from climate in South Africa?

answer

rocks show scratches from glaciers, indicating that it was once located closer to the South Pole

question

Why did other geologists reject Wegener's idea?

answer

he couldn't provide the force that pushes or pulls the continents

question

What did many geologists think was the cause of mountains?

answer

cooling and shrinking of Earth

question

What did Wegener say caused mountains?

answer

continents collide and their edges crumple and fold

question

continental shelf

answer

granite base; shallow part of continental margin; varies greatly in width; biologically rich

question

oceanic crust made out of

answer

basalt

question

continental crust made out of

answer

granite

question

continental crust is ____ than oceanic crust, but _____ dense

answer

thicker, less

question

oceanic crust is ____ than continental crust, but____ dense

answer

thinner, more

question

oceanic crust is geologically ____ than continental crust

answer

younger

question

continental crust is geologically ____ than oceanic crust

answer

older

question

___ of earth is covered by ocean

answer

71%

question

Bacon

answer

noted that continents fit together like puzzle pieces

question

Wegener

answer

named Pangaea, created theory of continental drift

question

continental drift

answer

continents moving apart, once were all together with Pangaea

question

plate tectonics

answer

current theory where continents are stuck on plates, and entire plates are moving

question

continental slope

answer

edge of continent; steep slope leading to sea floor; drop off

question

submarine canyons

answer

cut into shelf at right angles; caused by landslides, earthquakes, turbidity currents

question

continental rise

answer

build up of sediments at base of continental slope

question

abyssal plain

answer

flat seafloor; "without bottom"

question

seamount

answer

undersea volcano; doesnt come out of water

question

guyot

answer

flat-topped seamount; eroded and sunken down over time

question

mid ocean ridge

answer

system of submarine volcanoes that circle the globe like seams of a baseball; includes some of the tallest mountains in the world; where new crust is being produced; hydrothermal vents

question

trench

answer

deep depression in sea floor; happen when one plate is subducting another; island arc; no hydrothermal vents

question

island arc

answer

volcanic chains of islands usually found by trenches

question

a lot of seafloor features are found at

answer

plate boundaries

question

lithosphere

answer

crust and upper mantle; floating on top of asthenosphere

question

crust

answer

brittle cracked outer portion of earth

question

core

answer

very dense high-pressure area of flowing magma

question

oceanic crust is ___ km thick on average

answer

5

question

continental crust is ___ km thick on average

answer

20-50

question

divergent boundaries

answer

where plates are moving apart as magma emerges and cools to form new oceanic crust

question

convergent boundaries

answer

where plates come together and subduction occurs

question

mid ocean ridges drive

answer

plate movement

question

asthenosphere

answer

all mantle below lithosphere

question

divergent boundary features

answer

MOR, hydrothermal vents, abyssal plain, ocean basin

question

O-C features

answer

volcanic mountain chains, trenches; Andes Mountains

question

O-O features

answer

volcanic islands, trenches; Aleutian Islands

question

C-C features

answer

mountain belts; Himalayans

question

evidence of plate tectonics

answer

hot spots, paleomagnetism, sediment, age

question

why plates move theories

answer

slab pull, thermal convection

question

transform boundary

answer

plates slide past each other, friction, earthquakes

question

all ocean basins are a result of ____

answer

seafloor spreading

question

features found parallel to trenches

answer

volcanoes, island arcs, MOR, continental margin

question

features at plate boundaries

answer

trenches, MOR, volcanic islands, volcanic mountains

question

Which key discovery of the 1950 helped end the debate over continental drift?

answer

Paleomagnetism

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Why does Igneous rocks interact with magma?

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Magma polarizes as it cools.

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A horizontal magnet would be found measuring the Earth's magnetic field at the

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Equator.

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How long after Wegener's death was continental drift still heavily contested?

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20 years.

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The angle a free-swinging magnet forms is the

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magnetic inclination.

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Which of the following latitudes would have the greatest angel for a a free-swinging magnet?

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90°

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What important information can be gleaned from a rock's paleomagnetic inclination?

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The former latitudes of the rock

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the study of paleomagnetism initially led to the conclusion of

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apparent pole wondering.

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what piece of evidence caused scientists reluctantly to accept the movement of of continents?

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paths for pole movement varied from continent to continent.

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If Europe and North America were joined together at one point,

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Their polar wandering paths would coincide with each other.

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What discovery made in the 1960s advanced the continental drift theory?

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Symmetric bands of rock w/ reversing polarities.

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At mid-ocean ridges

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the seafloor is spreading.

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Which model explained how continental drift occurs?

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plate tectonics

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The lithosphere consists of

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crust and upper mantle.

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Directly below the lithosphere is the

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asthenosphere

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What phenomenon causes the Earth's crust to split into plates?

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heat from the mantle

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How many large plates currently exist?

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6

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The authors of "Plate Tectonics" compare isostasy to

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blocks of wood floating on water.

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The origin of the word tectonics is

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Greek.

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How do lithospheric plates move as? Where do they mainly interact?

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they move as individual units; mainly on their edges.

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What are the three type of plate margins?

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Divergent, Convergent and Transform.

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Divergent margins in continental crust results in a

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rift valley

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What sea formed at a rifting center

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Red Sea

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The Andes are an example of a(n)

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ocean-continent subduction zone

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an ocean-ocean subduction zone can be found in near

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Indonesia

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When two continental plates collide , the result is

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crumbling into a mountain range

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In what direction is the Pacific Plate moving at the San Andreas fault?

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north-northwest

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The annual rise of tectonic movement is typically between

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1 and 10 cm (0.4 to 4 in)

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by studying earthquakes, geologists have

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determined the shapes of tectonic plates

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during a earthquake, tectonic motion provides

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directional pressure

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Why do rocks sliding along one another move slowly?

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the friction between the rocks requires energy to overcome it.

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the boundary between rocks where earthquakes can occur is called a

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fault

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the focus is the

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location beneath the Earth's surface where the earthquake begins

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the mapped-location of an earthquake corresponds to its

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epicenter

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why are earthquakes at diverging margins weak?

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the magma presents at these regions cannot break and cause friction

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deep focus earthquakes occur MOST often at

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collision zones

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which margin typically has the widest range of earthquakes depths?

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subduction zones

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Benioff zones are associated with

answer

subduction zones

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one of the dominant questions still remaining about plate tectonics is

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what causes subduction

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what source of energy in the mantle contributes to the movement of the tectonic plates?

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thermal

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the temperature of the Earth's core is approximately

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5000° C (9000° F)

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the earths core maintains its temperature through

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radioactive decay

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conduction involves

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passing heat between adjoining atoms

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the authors of "Plate Tectonics" provide boiling points as a metaphor for

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a convection cell

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a major advantage of convection over conduction is

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the speed of heat transfer

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when rock in the mantle heats, it

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moves up towards the surface

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heated rock in the asthenosphere

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moves laterally

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current theories suggest that the Earth cools itself through

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convection cells

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cool rock

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denser than hot rock

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mantle plumes differ from ordinary convection cells in their

answer

shape of rising rock

question

which islands formed over a mantle plume?

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Hawaii

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seafloor spreading directly involves

answer

igneous rocks

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What does convection and the lateral movement of plates create?

answer

Distinctive geologic and topographic features.

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when the old lithosphere joins with magma, the process involved is

answer

subduction

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How long did the poles wandered around the Earth?

answer

Several hundred million years

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When did the first mechanism finally appear to aid the geophysicists?

answer

Early 1960s

question

How can geologists determine where the youngest rocks are found at the bottom of the seafloor?

answer

Youngest ones along the centerline ridge.

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