Plate Tectonics

Front

Crust

Back

Layer of the Earth indicated by the arrow in the diagram.

Front

Lithosphere

Back

The term used to describe the crust and uppermost part of the mantle.

Front

Continental crust is primarily made up of what type of rock?

Back

Granite

Front

Type of plate boundary depicted in the diagram.

Back

Divergent boundary

Front

Type of plate boundary shown in the diagram

Back

Convergent boundary

Front

What process in Earth’s mantle do scientists believe is driving the movement of the plates?

Back

Convection currents

Front

Type of boundary resulting in the formation of new oceanic crust

Back

Divergent Boundaries

Front

Process when one plate sinks beneath another due to density

Back

Subduction

Front

Many scientists rejected Wegener’s Theory of Continental Drift because it lacked a plausible mechanism for how continents could move across the Earth's surface.

Back

The theory was initially dismissed due to insufficient evidence and understanding of plate tectonics.

Front

At convergent boundaries, the denser oceanic plate typically sinks below the lighter continental plate, causing intense geological activity like earthquakes and the rise of volcanoes.

Back

This interaction is a key process in the movement and recycling of Earth's crust.