Plate Tectonics Basic
What is the rigid outer layer of the Earth called, composed of tectonic plates?
What is the lithosphere?
What is molten rock called when it is beneath the Earth's surface?
What is magma?
What scale is commonly used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake?
What is the Richter scale?
What natural event involves a sudden shaking of the ground caused by tectonic movement?
What is an earthquake?
What type of boundary is found where two tectonic plates collide?
What is a convergent boundary?
Name the supercontinent that existed about 300 million years ago before breaking apart.
What is Pangaea?
What type of volcano is characterized by broad, gently sloping sides formed by lava flows?
What is a shield volcano?
What type of seismic wave arrives first at a seismic station?
What is a P-wave (primary wave)?
What is a tsunami, and what typically causes it?
What is a large ocean wave caused by underwater earthquakes or volcanic eruptions?
At what type of boundary do transform faults, like the San Andreas Fault, occur?
What is a transform boundary?
What type of plate boundary occurs when two plates move away from each other?
What is a divergent boundary?
Name the volcanic eruption type that is explosive and produces ash clouds.
What is a pyroclastic eruption?
What is the point on the Earth's surface directly above the earthquake's origin called?
What is the epicenter?
What is liquefaction in the context of earthquakes?
What is when saturated soil loses strength and behaves like a liquid during shaking?
What geological feature is commonly found at divergent boundaries under the ocean?
What is a mid-ocean ridge?
What is the process called when one tectonic plate moves under another?
What is subduction?
What gas, commonly released during volcanic eruptions, contributes to acid rain?
What is sulfur dioxide (SO2)?
Name the earthquake wave that causes the most damage by moving the ground side to side.
What is an S-wave (secondary wave)?
Name a common secondary hazard caused by earthquakes that can cause extensive damage.
What is a landslide?
What type of boundary can create mountain ranges like the Himalayas?
What is a continental-continental convergent boundary?
Which layer of Earth is responsible for the movement of tectonic plates due to convection currents?
What is the asthenosphere?
What is the name of the volcanic hotspot responsible for the Hawaiian Islands?
What is the Hawaiian hotspot?
What term describes the underground location where an earthquake starts?
What is the focus (hypocenter)?
Which volcanic hazard involves fast-moving hot gas and volcanic material flowing down the slope?
What is a pyroclastic flow?
Name the ocean where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a major divergent plate boundary.
What is the Atlantic Ocean?