Concepts
This is the hypothesis that a single landmass broke up into continents.
What is continental drift?
This is the process by which new oceanic lithosphere forms when magma rises.
What is seafloor spreading?
This is a long undersea mountain range with a steep, narrow valley at its center.
What is a mid-ocean ridge?
This is the study of the alignment of magnetic minerals in rock.
What is paleomagnetism?
This is the boundary between tectonic plates moving away from each other.
What is a divergent boundary?
This is the solid outer layer of Earth that consists of the crust and mantle.
What is the lithosphere?
This theory explains how and why continents move.
What are plate tectonics?
This is the boundary between tectonic plates that are colliding.
What is a convergent boundary?
This is the solid plastic layer of the mantle below the lithosphere.
What is the asthenosphere?
This is the process by which Earth's crust breaks apart.
What is rifting?
This is the boundary between tectonic plates that are sliding past each other.
What is a transform boundary?
This supercontinent existed between 300-200 million years ago.
What is Pangea?
This is the process by which super-continents break apart and reform.
What is the supercontinent cycle?
This is a piece of lithosphere that has a different geological history from its neighbors.
What is terrane?
This ocean existed at the same time as Pangea.
What is Panthalassa?