Continental Drift
What is the name of the proposed "supercontinent" where all the earth's continents were once joined together?
Pangea
A piece of continental drift evidence that describes scratches in rock
Glacial Striations
What causes the tectonic plates to move?
Mantle convection currents
What type of plate boundary involves two plates moving apart from one another?
divergent boundary
What features are usually produced on Earth's surface when two continents collide?
mountains and volcanoes
What causes the lithosphere (upper mantle and crust) to move?
Convection currents in the asthenosphere (middle mantle)
What are the three types of boundaries.
transform
convergent
divergent
Which layer of earth is solid?
inner core or crust
What is the term for the fracture created when one plate suddenly slides past another plate?
fault
What two features form in the ocean when one oceanic plate is forced below another oceanic plate?
trenches and volcanic islands
Who was the meteorologist who first proposed the Theory of Continental Drift
Alfred Wegener
What features form as new crust rises to the surface during seafloor spreading?
mid-ocean ridges
What is earth's core made of?
iron and nickel
What type of plate boundary involves two plates moving toward each other?
convergent boundary
What surface feature is produced on the coast of continents where oceanic crust subducts (moves under) the continental crust?
volcanoes and trenches
What is one reason Wegener's theory was rejected?
He couldn't explain what force caused the continents to move
How are mountains formed
two continental plates push against (converge) against each other.
An area around the edge of the Pacific Ocean where most of the world's volcanoes are found.
What is the ring of fire?
What type of plate boundary involves one plate sliding past another plate?
transform boundary
What natural disaster occurs when a sudden movement occurs along transform boundaries?
earthquakes
What are TWO types of evidence that were initially used to support the Theory of Continental Drift.
the continents fit like puzzle
Same fossils found on different continents
What causes volcanic arcs
hotspots in the ocean crust.
mantle
What is the term for one plate being forced underneath another plate?
Subduction
What is the name of the fault found in California where several major earthquakes have occurred?
San Andreas Fault