Download Plate Tectonics Vocabulary

Plate Tectonics
S6E5.e: Recognize that lithospheric plates constantly move and cause major
geological events on the earth's surface.
S6E5.f: Explain the effects of physical processes (plate tectonics, erosion,
deposition, volcanic eruption, gravity) on geological features including oceans
(composition, currents, and tides).
Must Know
Vocab
My Picture Clue
Definition
Convection currents
the vertical movement of air
currents due to temperature
variations
Convergent boundary
the boundary between tectonic
plates that are colliding
Divergent boundary
the boundary between two
tectonic plates that are moving
away from each other
Transform boundary
the boundary between tectonic
plates that are sliding past each
other horizontally
Continental drift
the hypothesis that states that
the continents once formed a
single landmass, broke up, and
drifted to their present locations
Plate tectonics
the theory that explains how
large pieces of the lithosphere,
called plates, move and change
shape
Pangaea
the supercontinent that formed
300 million years ago and that
began to break up 250 million
years ago
Must Know
Vocab
My Picture Clue
Definition
Fossil evidence
the trace or remains of an
organism that lived long ago,
most commonly preserved in
sedimentary rock
Sea-floor spreading
the process by which new
oceanic lithosphere (sea floor)
forms as magma rises to Earth's
surface and solidifies at a midocean ridge
mountain
is a large landform that stretches
above the surrounding land in a
limited area, usually in the form
of a peak.
Fault
a break in a body of rock along
which one block slides relative to
another; a form of brittle strain
continents
is one of several very large
landmasses on Earth. Ordered
from largest in size to smallest,
they are: Asia, Africa, North
America, South America,
Antarctica, Europe, and
Australia.
Mid-ocean ridge
Rift valley
Subduction zone
a long, undersea mountain
chain that has a steep, narrow
valley at its center, that forms as
magma rises from the
asthenosphere, and that creates
new oceanic lithosphere (sea
floor) as tectonic plates move
apart
rift zone
an area of deep cracks that
forms between two tectonic
plates that are pulling away from
each other
the region where one
lithospheric plate moves under
another one into the
asthenosphere
Must Know
Vocab
My Picture Clue
trench
Ring of Fire
Definition
a long, narrow, and steep
depression that forms on the
ocean floor as a result of
subduction of a tectonic plate,
that runs parallel to the trend of
a chain of volcanic islands or the
coastline of a continent, and
that may be as deep as 11 km
below sea level.
The Ring of Fire is a major area in
the basin of the Pacific Ocean
where a large number of
earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions occur.
Learning Targets:
1. I can relate the lithosphere and asthenosphere to
plate movement.
2. I can describe geologic features (and events) that
are created due to the constant movement of lithospheric plates.
3. I can cite evidence that supports the breakup of Pangaea and
continental drift/plate tectonics
–sea floor spreading, fossils, etc.
4. I can identify the movement of the plate boundaries ---divergent,
convergent, transform—and describe which geologic feature each
results in.
5. I can infer that earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are most
common at plate boundaries.
6. I can utilize fossil evidence to make inferences about movements of
the plates in the past?
7. I can conclude that some changes on the earth’s surface are abrupt
(earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), while others changes happen
very slowly (uplift and wearing down of mountains).