Plate Tectonics

Front

What causes tectonic plates to move along the Earth's surface?

Back

Convection in the mantle.

Front

What forms at a divergent boundary between two oceanic plates?

Back

Mid-ocean ridge.

Front

What type of boundary occurs when two plates move toward each other?

Back

Convergent boundary.

Front

What happens when two plates move apart?

Back

Soft, solid rock from underneath the plates rises up and hardens, adding solid rock to the edges of both plates.

Front

What is the Earth's outer layer made of underneath the ocean and land?

Back

Hard, solid rock.

Front

What is a tectonic plate?

Back

A large, rigid piece of the Earth's lithosphere that moves and interacts with other plates.

Front

What is a transform boundary?

Back

A boundary where two tectonic plates slide past each other.

Front

What geological feature is formed at a convergent boundary?

Back

Mountains or trenches.

Front

What is subduction?

Back

The process where one tectonic plate moves under another plate and sinks into the mantle.

Front

What is a rift valley?

Back

A lowland region formed by the divergence of tectonic plates.