Plate Tectonics #2 (Flashcard Review)

Front

What is Plate Tectonics?

Back

The theory that explains the movement of the Earth's lithosphere, which is divided into tectonic plates that float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere.

Front

What is the Continental Drift Theory?

Back

A hypothesis proposed by Alfred Wegener that continents were once joined together and have since drifted apart.

Front

What evidence supports the Continental Drift Theory?

Back

Fossil evidence, geological similarities, and the fit of continental margins.

Front

What is a convergent plate boundary?

Back

A boundary where two tectonic plates move toward each other, often causing mountains or subduction.

Front

What is a divergent plate boundary?

Back

A boundary where two tectonic plates move apart, leading to the formation of new crust, such as mid-ocean ridges.

Front

What is a transform plate boundary?

Back

A boundary where two tectonic plates slide past each other horizontally, causing earthquakes.

Front

What are the results of plate tectonics?

Back

Mountains, earthquakes, volcanoes, and oceanic trenches.

Front

How do fossils provide evidence for plate tectonics?

Back

Similar fossils found on different continents suggest that these continents were once connected.

Front

What is subduction?

Back

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

Front

What is the asthenosphere?

Back

The semi-fluid layer of the Earth's mantle beneath the lithosphere that allows tectonic plates to move.