Plate Tectonics Overview

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What is Glosopteris?

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A fossil plant that grew in temperate climates, found in areas including Africa, Australia, India, South America, and Antarctica.

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What is the Asthenosphere?

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The solid layer of Earth’s mantle below the lithosphere that is so hot it behaves like a plastic material.

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What is a Fault?

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A fracture that occurs when rocks change their shape.

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What causes an Earthquake?

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A vibration in the ground that results from the movement along breaks in Earth’s lithosphere.

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What is the Lithosphere?

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The rigid outer layer of the Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

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What is Plate Tectonics?

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The theory that explains the movement of the Earth's plates and how they interact with each other.

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What are tectonic plates?

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

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What is a Divergent Boundary?

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A tectonic plate boundary where two plates move away from each other.

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What is a Convergent Boundary?

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

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What is a Transform Boundary?

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A tectonic plate boundary where two plates slide past each other horizontally.