Spheres of the Earth
This sphere includes all of Earth's water, including oceans, rivers, ice caps, and rain.
What is the Hydrosphere?
This is the outermost, thinnest layer of the Earth that we walk on every day.
What is the crust?
This type of boundary occurs where two tectonic plates are sliding past each other horizontally.
What is a transform boundary?
This natural disaster is caused by a sudden release of energy along a fault line, making the ground shake.
What is an earthquake?
This is the name of the ancient supercontinent where all of Earth's landmasses were joined together millions of years ago.
What is Pangaea?
This sphere contains all living things on Earth, from the smallest bacteria to blue whales and humans.
What is the Biosphere?
This layer is a solid ball of super-hot iron and nickel at the very center of the Earth.
What is the Inner Core?
This type of boundary happens when two tectonic plates collide or push together.
What is a convergent boundary?
When two continental plates crash into each other at a convergent boundary, they push upward to form these massive landforms.
What are mountains or volcanoes?
He was the German scientist who first proposed the hypothesis of "Continental Drift," though he couldn't prove how the plates moved.
Who was Alfred Wegener?
This sphere is the blanket of gases surrounding the Earth that allows us to breathe and protects us from the sun.
What is the Atmosphere?
This is the thickest layer of the Earth, made of hot, semi-molten rock that flows like thick asphalt.
What is the mantle?
This type of boundary is found where two plates are pulling apart or moving away from each other.
What is a divergent boundary?
This horseshoe-shaped zone around the Pacific Ocean is famous for having the majority of Earth's volcanoes and earthquakes.
What is the Ring of Fire?
These circular heat loops in the Earth's mantle are the primary engine driving the movement of tectonic plates.
What are convection currents?
When a volcano erupts, it releases ash into the air. This represents an interaction between these two spheres.
What are the Geosphere (or Lithosphere) and Atmosphere?
This specific layer is unique because it is the only entirely liquid layer of the Earth.
What is the outer core?
California's famous San Andreas Fault is an example of this specific type of plate boundary.
What is a transform boundary?
This underwater feature is created at a divergent plate boundary when magma rises up to form a new seafloor.
What is a mid-ocean ridge?
Scientists found fossils of the exact same ancient reptiles in South America and Africa. This is a major piece of evidence for what theory?
What is Continental Drift (or Plate Tectonics)?
Ground water being absorbed by the roots of a tree shows an interaction between these two spheres.
What are the Hydrosphere and Biosphere?
Tectonic plates are made of this rigid, outer shell, which includes the crust and the very top portion of the upper mantle.
What is the lithosphere?
This is the name for the process where a denser oceanic plate sinks beneath a lighter continental plate at a convergent zone.
What is subduction?
This incredibly deep feature is formed at a convergent subduction zone under the ocean, and the Mariana one is the deepest place on Earth.
What is an ocean trench?
Launched in 1968, this famous, 400-foot scientific drilling ship revolutionized earth science by pulling up long cylinders of rock called "core samples" to prove the plates were moving.
What is the Glomar Challenger?