A
layer of rock between outer core & crust
Earth's thickest layer
Mantle
where tectonic plates meet
plate boundaries
This type of plate boundary can cause mountains
convergent plate boundaries
name for the supercontinent when all of Earth's continents were joined together
Pangaea
Earth's outer layer
made of rock, soil, & sand
crust
where 2 plates divide (the plates move away from each other)
This type of plate boundary causes earthquakes
transform plate boundaries
the theory that all of the continents were once joined together and then drifted apart from each other
Continental Drift
Earth's center made of metal, mostly iron & nickel
intense pressure forces atoms together
inner core
where 2 plates collide (the plates push towards each other
convergent plate boundaries
Process by which new oceanic crust forms when magma rises up and solidifies at the mid-ocean ridge
Seafloor Spreading
the man who came up with the theory of Continental Drift
Alfred Wegener
layer of molten metal that surrounds Earth's inner core
outer core
where 2 plates slide past each other and eventually 1 of them slips
transform plate boundaries
when 1 tectonic plate sinks below another (this can happen in concergent plate boundaries)
subduction
Why is the inner core NOT a liquid?
intense pressure forces atoms together causing it to be made of solid metal
the layer made up of the crust & uppermost part of the mantle
most rigid layer
Lithosphere
large pieces of the lithosphere that move on top of the asthenosphere
tectonic plates
the upper layer of Earth's mantle below the lithosphere
Which layer of the earth has the greatest density?
inner core