STEMscopedia: Plate Tectonics & Vocab

Front

Outermost layer of Earth; continental or oceanic.

Back

crust

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

Front

Theory of connected continents drifting apart

Back

continental drift

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Front

Mineralized remains of organisms showing their structure and life.

Back

fossils

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Front

Fossils that are widespread, from organisms that lived briefly, used to correlate rock strata.

Back

index fossils

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Front

Solid layer of Earth between crust and core; dense silicates. (Convection currents occur here.)

Back

mantle

Front

Theory of crust divided into tectonic plates moving on mantle

Back

plate tectonics

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

Front

Huge crust piece that moves on the ductile mantle.

Back

tectonic plate

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Front

Upper layer of Earth: crust + upper mantle.

Back

lithosphere

Front

Molten rock below Earth's surface

Back

magma

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-1

Front

Shaking of the Earth’s surface due to energy release in the crust generating seismic waves.

Back

earthquake

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2