Layers of the Earth
List the layers of the earth from the surface to the center.
Crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
On which tectonic plate are we currently located?
North American Plate
What type of boundary forms when 2 plates move away from each other? What is formed as a result?
Divergent boundary
Forms underwater mountains, ridges, and rifts
What is an earthquake?
Earthquakes occur when built-up energy along a fault is suddenly released.
What type of mountains are formed when 2 plates push together, and one is forced upwards?
Fault-block mountains
What is the only layer we can study directly?
Crust
Where are tectonic plates located?
On top of the asthenosphere
What type of boundary forms when 2 plates move towards each other? What is formed as a result?
Convergent boundary
Forms mountains, trenches, and volcanoes
What is the point underground where an earthquake begins?
Focus
What type of mountains are formed when 2 plates push together and they both bend?
Folded mountains
What is the boundary between the crust and mantle?
Mohorovicic (Moho) discontinuity
These circular motions of heated, rising, cooling, and sinking mantle material drive plate movement.
Convection currents
What type of boundary forms when 2 plates move past each other? What is formed as a result?
Transform boundary
Causes faults, leading to earthquakes
Where is the epicenter located?
The point on Earth’s surface directly above an earthquake’s focus.
How are volcanoes formed?
A crack or thin section of the earth’s crust allows magma to squeeze through
Which layer behaves like plastic and causes rock to move in convection currents?
Mantle
Describe the process of subduction.
Dense oceanic plate sinks beneath a less dense plate.
What is the name of the underwater mountain range that was formed from plates spreading apart.
Mid-Ocean Ridge
Which point feels the strongest shaking during an earthquake?
Epicenter
What is the Ring of Fire?
A part of the Pacific Ocean where most of Earth’s volcanoes and earthquakes occur
Explain why the inner core is solid, even though it is hotter than the outer core.
The inner core is under immense pressure, causing atoms to compact into a solid
What are the 3 major components of the lithosphere?
Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks
What are faults?
Cracks in Earth's crust that form along transform boundaries where plates scrape past each other.
List 3 types of damage caused by earthquakes.
Tsunamis, landslides, structural damage
The Ring of Fire is primarily formed by what kind of tectonic plates?
Subducting