Download Plate Tectonics Review Sheet

Plate Tectonics Review Sheet
continental drift - the hypothesis that the continents slowly move across
Earth’s surface
The scientist who proposed the hypothesis of continental drift was:
Alfred Wegener
What was the name of the supercontinent? Pangaea.
List and explain evidence that supports the hypothesis of continental drift.
fit of continents - the continents fit together like puzzle pieces
landforms (mountains) - half of a mountain range was on South American
and the other half was on Africa
fossils, and climate - matched across continents
sea-floor spreading - the process by which new sea floor forms when magma
rises to the surface, solidifies and pushes the old sea floor away
subduction - the process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean
trench and back into the mantle
ocean basin -bottom of the deep ocean floor
trench - a deep canyon in the ocean floor
rift valley - a deep valley that forms where two plate move apart
mid-ocean ridge - the undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is
produced; the longest chain of mountains in the world
earthquake - the shaking that results from the movement of rock beneath the
Earth’s surface
volcano - a vent in the Earth’s crust where magma and gases comes to the
surface
Where do most earthquakes and volcanoes occur? along plate boundaries
tectonic plate - a section of the lithosphere that slowly moves over the
asthenosphere, carrying pieces of continental and oceanic crust
What causes the plates to move?
convection currents in the asthenosphere (upper mantle)
State the Theory of Plate Tectonics.
pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant. slow motion, driven by
convection currents in the mantle
There are _3_ kinds of plate boundaries.
convergent boundary - a place where two plates come together, or
converge
divergent boundary - a place where two plates move apart, or diverge:
sea floor spreading occurs or a rift valley occurs on land
transform boundary - a place where tow plates slip past each other,
moving in opposite directions; fault line forms with lots of earthquakes
occurring
What happens when .............
a continental plate collides with an oceanic plate? continental plate
(less dense)goes over the oceanic plate (more dense); subduction;
trench forms
a continental plate collides with a continental plate? head on collision;
folded mountains form
an oceanic plate collides with an oceanic plate? the less dense plate
dives under the more dense plate; subduction; trench forms
Be able to label the 7 major plates.
plates are named by the major geographic feature (continent or ocean) on them