Plate Tectonics Vocab

Front

Hypothesis of continents as a single supercontinent that drifted apart.

Back

Continental Drift

Front

Proposed supercontinent that began breaking apart 200 million years ago?

Back

Pangaea

Front

Electronic depth-sounding mechanism that calculates ocean depth by timing an energy pulse's return.

Back

Sonar

Front

Surface feature on seafloor from descending plate during subduction?

Back

Deep-ocean trench

Front

Continuously elevated zone on ocean floor?

Back

Mid-ocean ridge

Front

Deep faulted structure at divergent plate boundaries?

Back

Rift Valley

Front

Process producing new oceanic lithosphere at ridges?

Back

Sea-floor spreading

Front

Oceanic crust sinks beneath a trench into the mantle at a colliding plate boundary.

Back

Subduction

Front

Study of Earth's magnetic field changes through rock magnetism.

Back

Paleomagnetism

Front

Rigid section of the lithosphere that moves over the asthenosphere.

Back

Plate