Plate Tectonics

Front

What is Pangaea?

Back

The name of the super-continent that existed millions of years ago.

Front

What is a fossil?

Back

Any trace of an ancient organism that has been preserved in rock.

Front

What is a transform boundary?

Back

A boundary where two tectonic plates move past each other in opposite directions.

Front

What evidence was NOT used by Wegener as proof of continental drift?

Back

Erosion.

Front

What explains that Earth's outer layer is broken into large slowly moving pieces?

Back

Plate Tectonic Theory.

Front

What is continental drift?

Back

The theory that continents have moved over geological time and were once joined together.

Front

What are tectonic plates?

Back

Large pieces of Earth's lithosphere that move and interact at their boundaries.

Front

What is a convergent boundary?

Back

A boundary where two tectonic plates move towards each other, often causing one plate to be forced below the other.

Front

What is a divergent boundary?

Back

A boundary where two tectonic plates move away from each other, creating new crust as magma rises to the surface.

Front

What is subduction?

Back

The process by which one tectonic plate is forced under another plate.