Plate Movement
What causes tectonic plates to move?
Convection currents in the mantle
The crust is divided into many pieces called _______ ______.
Tectonic Plates
What natural disaster is most commonly associated with transform boundaries?
Earthquakes
What is a transform boundary? What do they often cause?
Two plates sliding pasting each other. Often produces earthquakes
What layer is the most dense? Which layer in the least dense?
Most dense- Inner Core
Least dense- Crust
Which layer of the Earth contains convection currents that move tectonic plates?
The mantle
What is the driving force that moves the tectonic plates?
Convection currents in the Earth’s mantle. The convection current push heat upwards from the core to the crust. Once the mantles cools, the magma goes back down towards the core to be heated up again.
What natural feature is commonly formed at convergent boundaries?
Volcanoes or Mountains
What is a divergent boundary?
Two tectonics plates diverge, or move away, from one another
Which layer is the innermost, hottest layer?
The inner core
Is plate movement a quick or a slow process?
Slow process
Describe the theory of tectonic plates
Earth’s crust is broken into many pieces called tectonic plates. These plates were once fused together, but over time they have drifted apart.
Why do most earthquakes occur near tectonic plate boundaries?
Because tectonic plates are moving and interacting with each other
What plate boundary would cause one tectonic plate to slide under another tectonic plate?
Convergent Boundary
Describe the crust.
The outermost layer of the Earth. Made of rock, metals, and minerals.
When molten rock rises, cools, and sinks again, what process is occurring?
Convection Currents
What was the land mass called when all of the continents were fused together?
Pangea
Which type of plate boundary is most likely to form volcanic mountain chains?
Convergent Boundary
What is a convergent boundary?
Two plates coming together. This often produces subduction
Which layer is liquid?
The Outer Core
What type of plate movement occurs when plates move away from each other due to convection currents?
Divergent Boundary
What evidence did Alfred Wegener find on the continents to prove that the continents were once all connected?
The same animal and plant fossils on different continents.
At which type of boundary are earthquakes common but volcanoes rare?
Transform Boundary
What are the three main types of tectonic plate boundaries?
Convergent
Divergent
Transform
What are the four layers of the earth?
Inner core
Outer core
Mantle
Crust