Continental Drift
What is the name of the ancient super-continent that was once on Earth.
Pangea.
In what way do transform plate boundaries move?
They slide past each other.
What is the outside layer of the Earth?
The crust.
When two continental plates converge, what geological features typically form?
Mountain ranges.
Earthquake waves are also known as what
Seismic waves.
Explain the Theory of Continental Drift
The theory that all the continents used to be a single landmass and slowly drifted apart over time.
What are the three types of plate boundaries?
Transform plate boundaries, convergent plate boundaries, divergent plate boundaries.
List the layers of the Earth from inside to outside.
Core, mantle, crust.
Earthquakes usually occur due to which type of plate boundary?
Transform plate boundaries.
Where are earthquakes most likely to occur?
At fault lines or where two continental plates meet.
The continents move about as fast as what grows on the human body?
The fingernails.
Which plate is more dense, an oceanic plate or a continental plate?
Oceanic plate.
What is the mantle of the Earth made of?
Liquid rock called magma.
How do rift valleys form?
Rift valleys form when two plates diverge or move away from one another.
Scientists use seismic waves to study what?
The Earth's interior/The layers of the Earth.
What is one piece of evidence that the Earth's continents used to be a single landmass?
Continents fit together; fossils found on different continents; geological features; climate clues.
At what plate boundary do mid-ocean ridges form?
Divergent plate boundaries.
Earth's plates float on top of which layer of the Earth?
The mantle.
What is one geological feature that occurs at a subduction zone?
Trenches and/or volcanoes.
What is one thing that all types of volcanoes have in common?
The way they were formed, they can all erupt with lava.
Who discovered Continental drift?
Alfred Wegener.
When an oceanic plate and a continental plate collide, what happens? What is this area called?
The oceanic plate gets pushed underneath the continental plate creating a subduction zone.
The Earth's mantle moves due to what?
Convection currents.
An underwater mountain chain where new ocean floor is formed
Mid-Ocean Ridge.
The underground point of origin of an earthquake (where the earthquake begins) is called the
The focus.