Layers of The Earth
Plate Tectonics
Convergent Boundaries
Divergent & Transform
Misc.
100
This is the most dense compositional layer of the Earth, comprised largely of iron and nickel.
What is the Core?
100
He was the German scientist who proposed the hypothesis of Continental Drift in 1912.
Who is Alfred Wegener?
100
The Himalayas are the classic modern-day example of this specific type of convergent boundary.
What is a Continental Collision Zone?
100
This is the only major geologic hazard/event that occurs at Transform boundaries (volcanoes are notably absent).
What are Earthquakes?
100
According to the definition of a mineral, ice is considered a mineral, but water is not, because a mineral must be in this state of matter.
What is Solid?
200
Of the two types of crust, this one is denser, thinner, and composed primarily of basalt.
What is Oceanic Crust?
200
This specific type of magnetic anomaly (Positive or Negative) occurs when the magnetic field at the time of rock formation matches the Earth's current magnetic field.
What is a Positive Anomaly?
200
In an Oceanic-Oceanic convergence, the plate that subducts is always the one that is [older/colder] and therefore has a higher value of this physical property.
What is Density?
200
The East African Rift is a modern-day example of this type of divergent boundary.
What is a Continental Rift?
200
A mineral's resistance to being scratched is defined by this 1-to-10 scale.
What is the Mohs Hardness Scale?
300
This physical layer of the Earth behaves in a ductile manner (plastic flow) and allows the tectonic plates to ride on top of it.
What is the Asthenosphere?
300
Unlike the active margins of the Pacific, the East Coast of the United States is this type of continental margin, characterized by a wide shelf and a lack of tectonic activity.
What is a Passive Margin?
300
When two continental plates converge, subduction stops and massive mountain ranges form because the continental crust is too buoyant to do this.
What is Subduct (or Sink)?
300
Define by its ability to generate new crust this type of plate boundary is found underwater in place like the mid Atlantic
What is a Mid Ocean Ridge (MOR)?
300
This theory describes how our solar system formed from a giant cloud of gas and dust that collapsed under gravity.
What is the Nebular Theory?
400
While the Lithosphere includes the crust and the uppermost mantle, it is defined by this physical behavior, meaning it breaks rather than flows.
What is Brittle?
400
This primary driving force of plate motion is caused by the weight of a cold, dense slab sinking into the mantle at a subduction zone.
What is Slab Pull?
400
Earthquakes cease below a depth of approximately 660 km in subduction zones because the subducting slab has become too [this adjective] to generate brittle failure.
What is Ductile (or hot/plastic)?
400
At a mid-ocean ridge, this specific melting mechanism occurs because pressure decreases as the mantle rock rises.
What is Decompression Melting?
400
Unlike island arcs, which form at plate boundaries, the Hawaiian islands formed over this stationary feature deep in the mantle.
What is a Hotspot?
500
They rotation between the Earth's core and the surrounding mantle generates what?
What is Earth's Magnetic Field
500
This mechanism explains why seafloor sediment is thin near mid-ocean ridges and thick near the continents.
What is Seafloor Spreading?
500
Convergent boundaries play a critical role in this long-term tectonic concept, which describes the periodic assembly and breakup of giant landmasses like Pangea.
What is the Supercontinent Cycle?
500
What is being displayed in this photo
What is a transform fault?
500
If a volcano is 500 kilometers away from the hotspot and the rock is 5 million years old, you can calculate this simply by dividing distance by time.
What is the Plate's Velocity?