Vocab
Evidence of life from millions of years ago
Fossils
Liquid rock that escapes from the layers of earth that form the seafloor
Magma
What was the earliest evidence that scientists had to theorize the continents have moved?
They fit together like puzzle pieces
Natural disasters that commonly occur at tectonic plates
Earthquakes and volcanos
With a lead weight and a long rope
Describes the movements of tectonic plates over long periods of time
Continental Drift
The layer of earth that molten materials travel from and into the ocean
The Mantle
The name of Earth's old supercontinent
Pangea
What analogy is similar to how magma cycles on the seafloor?
A escalator or a treadmill
The outermost layer of Earth
The Crust
The theory that the outer layer of Earth is divided and moves across Earth’s surface
Plate Tectonics
The mountain ranges on the seafloor that molten material escape from
Mid-Ocean Ridge
Which two continents across the Atlantic Ocean fit together, providing evidence for Continental Drift?
South America and Africa
Where is the oldest crust on the seafloor and where is the youngest?
Oldest: Near trenches/subduction zones
Youngest: Near Mid-Ocean Ridges
Name a fossil specimen that we observed in class that was used as evidence to track continental drift?
Trilobites/Lystrosaurus/Mesosaurus
A boundary formed when two plates move away from each other
Divergent Boundary
Pits that travel downward where older seafloor is destroyed
Trenches or Subduction Zones
Which continent is theorized to become North America's neighbor in several million years?
Australia
When crust reaches a subduction zone, what happens to it?
Flows back into the mantle, where it is destroyed and recycled into new crust
The circular motion of hot and cold liquid materials, responsible for the movement of the continents
Convection Currents
The process in which a denser plate is pushed beneath a less dense plate
Subduction
The deepest part of the Mariana's Trench
Challenger Deep
Which scientist was the first to propose the idea of Continental Drift?
Alfred Wegener
Two tectonic plates are gradually moving towards each other. Over many years, they will eventually collide and grind against each other. What do we call this type of plate boundary?
Convergent Boundary
A process that occurs every 200,000 to 300,000 years that results in "stripping" the new seafloor with opposing magnetic properties
The Earth's magnetic poles flip