Plate Tectonics
The hypothesis that Earth's continents were joined as a single landmass, called Pangaea, that broke apart about 200 mya and slowly moved to their present positions is called ______________
Continental drift
What are the two major belts of volcanic activity?
Mediterranean and Circum-Pacific belt
Which type of fault? - Compression causes vertical movement upward along a fault plane
Reverse fault
What is the term for the cycle of processes that form all mountain ranges?
Orogeny
Tectonic plates move apart from each other at which type of boundary?
Divergent boundary
If magma has a low silica content, what is the viscosity like?
Low viscosity
What type of wave does not travel through the Earth’s center?
S-waves
The term for the condition of equilibrium that describes the displacement of Earth's mantle by Earth's continental and oceanic crust
Isostasy
What evidence helped scientists accept the idea of continental drift?
Rock formations
Fossils
Climate
What does a volcano's explosivity depend on?
The composition of magma
The point on Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake is called an ___________
Epicenter
What type of mountains form when large regions of Earth are forced slowly upward without much deformation?
Uplifted mountains
The place where two tectonic plates are moving toward each other; is associated with trenches, islands arcs, and folded mountains.
Convergent boundary
Which gas is most commonly released from volcanoes?
Water vapor
Two earthquakes occur - one is a shallow-focus earthquake with magnitude of 5 and the other is a deep-focus earthquake that has a magnitude of 6. Which do you think would cause more damage to the land above?
Shallow focus
As mountain ranges grow, what forms below the surface?
Root
The tectonic process associated with convection currents in Earth's mantle that occurs when the weight of an elevated ridge pushes an oceanic plate toward a subduction zone.
Ridge push
Which type of volcano is caused by lava with a low viscosity?
Shield volcano
The probability of an earthquake's occurrence is based on what two factors?
History of earthquakes and rate of stress that accumulates in the rock
Which type of mountains are commonly found on the ocean floor?
Divergent boundary mountains