Layers and Heat
Which layer of the Earth is broken into tectonic plates?
The Lithosphere
This underwater mountain range is formed at a divergent boundary.
Mid-ocean ridge
When two continental plates collide, they push upward to form these.
Mountains / The Himalayas
At a transform boundary, plates do not pull apart or collide; instead, they do this.
Slide past each other
What was the name of the supercontinent that existed 250 million years ago?
Pangaea
This is the process where hot rock rises, cools, and sinks, acting like a conveyor belt for plates.
Convection Currents
When two continental plates pull apart, they create this deep valley.
Rift valley
What is it called when a denser oceanic plate sinks beneath a lighter continental plate?
Subduction
This is the most common natural disaster associated with transform boundaries.
Earthquakes
Scientists found fossils of the same land animal on two different continents. How does this support Plate Tectonics?
It proves the continents were once joined
Why is the Earth's core so important to plate tectonics?
It provides the heat source that drives convection in the mantle
Explain "Sea-floor Spreading."
The process where new oceanic crust is created as plates pull apart
These two features are often found near subduction zones.
Deep-sea trenches and volcanic arcs
Name a famous fault line in California that is a transform boundary.
San Andreas Fault
Why was Wegener’s theory of "Continental Drift" originally rejected?
He couldn't explain how the plates moved—he didn't know about convection