The Composition of the Earth
Earth's outermost layer is made of
hard solid rock.
The speed of plate motion is very
slow.
Which claim is correct?
Claim 1: Earthquakes cause plate motion.
Claim 2: Plate motion causes earthquakes.
Claim 2
Earth's plates move on top of a soft, solid layer of rock called the
mantle
The Earth's crust is made of
tectonic plates.
The thinnest layer of the Earth
The crust.
Continents that were once together are now far apart from each other. Which plate boundary is between them?
A divergent plate.
Name two land formations that form at convergent plate boundaries
Volcanoes, trenches, mountains, etc.
Which plate boundary can either be traveling in opposite directions or the same direction at different speeds?
transform plate boundaries
We can find evidence of how Earth's tectonic plates have moved in four main ways:
shapes of continents; fossils; landforms and mountain ranges; ocean ridges and trenches.
The thickest layer of the Earth is
the mantle.
Two continents used to be separated by an ocean and now they are next to each other. Which plate boundary is between the two plates?
A convergent plate boundary.
What plate boundaries do not form volcanoes?
A transform plate boundary.
Subduction zones happen at which type of plate boundary?
Convergent
Which Key Concepts support Lesson 3: Exploring Earth's Layers?
3. The Earth's crust is a thin, hard solid layer of rock. Below it is the mantle, a thick layer of hot, soft rock. The core is in the center of the Earth.
Earth's layers from the inside out
The inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust.
What is the largest mountain on Earth formed by two plates colliding with each other?
Mt Everest
What land feature forms at divergent plate boundaries when both plates are oceanic?
Mid-ocean ridges and underwater volcanoes
At what plate boundary is new rock created at?
Divergent.
Which activity was supported by the Key Concept?
1. At one time, all the continents were joined in one big landmass called Pangaea. Over time, they slowly moved apart because of the movement of tectonic plates, called continental drift.
Lesson 1: The Story of Pangaea
EdPuzzle: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor
The Earth's outer layer is broken up into two different kinds of plates, what are they?
Oceanic plates and continental plates.
What is the average distance a plate can move in one year?
2 cm, and/or the rate that your finger nail grows
This landform is created at convergent plate boundaries and is very deep in the ocean.
Trenches
If you had a continental plate converging with an oceanic plate, which would be the one to subduct and why?
The oceanic plate would subduct because it is heavier and denser.
Which Key Concept supports this?
Explain how plate tectonics drives the movement of tectonic plates.
5. Tectonic plates move on top of the mantle because of convection. At convergent boundaries, plates push together. At divergent boundaries, plates pull apart. At transform boundaries, plates slide past each other.
Which layer of the Earth does convection happen?
The mantle.
Who proposed the theory of continental drift?
Alfred Wegener.
Who discovered the land formation the mid-ocean ridge?
Marie Tharp
How did the location of the fossils of the mesosaurus help to prove the theory of plate motion?
(look in the packet)
Mesosaurus couldn’t have swum across the salty ocean, so South America and Africa must have been joined when it lived.
How are Pangaea and Continental Drift connected?
At one time, all the continents were joined in one big landmass called Pangaea. Over time, they slowly moved apart because of the movement of tectonic plates, called continental drift.