Landforms
A crack in the Earth's surface.
A fault
S waves are known as...
Secondary waves
The point beneath the Earth's surface where rock is under stress breaks and triggers an earthquake.
Focus
The geological theory that states plates on Earth's lithosphere are in constant, slow motion.
Continental Drift
Transform
A collision between two pieces of continental crust at a converging boundary produces what landform?
Mountains
What type of seismic wave can travel through both liquids and solids?
P waves
An instrument used to determine which step of the Richter scale an earthquake would rank.
A seismograph
After studying fossils and the shapes of continents, who came up with the hypothesis of Continental Drift?
Alfred Wegener
Two oceanic plates pulling away from each other is an example of this type of boundary.
Divergent
Where two continental plates diverge, what landform forms?
A rift valley
Compared to P waves and S waves, surface waves move _____________.
Slower
What scale is most likely used to determine the destruction caused by an earthquake?
Mercalli scale
What is the name of the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago?
Pangaea
If an oceanic plate converges on a continental plate, which plate gets subducted?
Oceanic plate
What land feature forms at a subduction zone of oceanic crust to continental crust?
A trench
Seismic waves that vibrate from side to side and up and down only through solids are known as...
S waves
Why is the risk of earthquakes high along the Pacific coast of the United States?
That's where the Pacific and North American plates meet
Most geologists believe that the movement of Earth's plates is caused by...
Convection currents
What type of convergent boundary does not involve subduction?
When oceanic plates pull apart at a divergent boundary, what landform forms?
The seismic waves that travel along Earth's surface and produce severe ground movements are called...
Love waves
What rating system estimates the total energy released by an earthquake?
Moment magnitude scale
What is the process of one type of crust gets pushed below another crust?
Subduction
The region of land that surrounds the Pacific Plate is often called the...
Ring of Fire