Geological Processes and Plate Tectonics

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Asthenosphere

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The hot, flowing layer of rock beneath the lithosphere that is more fluid and flexible, allowing tectonic plates to move and slide around.

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Continental Drift

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The theory that continents slowly move across Earth's surface over time, proposed by Alfred Wegener in the early 1900s and now explained by plate tectonics.

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Convergent Boundaries

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Plate boundaries where two plates move toward each other and collide, creating mountains, deep ocean trenches, and volcanoes.

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Convection Currents

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The circular movement of hot material rising and cool material sinking in Earth's mantle, driven by heat from Earth's core and the main force that moves tectonic plates.

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Deep-Sea Trench

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The deepest parts of the ocean floor formed at convergent boundaries where old ocean floor is pushed down and destroyed, reaching over 6 miles deep below sea level.

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Divergent Boundaries

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Plate boundaries where two plates move away from each other, creating rift valleys on land or mid-ocean ridges in the ocean where new crust forms.

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Fault Lines

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Cracks or breaks in Earth's crust where rocks have moved past each other, forming along plate boundaries and causing earthquakes when movement occurs.

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Lithosphere

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Earth's rigid outer layer that includes the crust and uppermost part of the mantle, forming a solid shell that 'floats' on the more fluid layer below.

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Magma

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Hot, molten rock found beneath Earth's surface that forms new crust when it cools and solidifies, rising to the surface at divergent boundaries and volcanoes.

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Mid-Ocean Ridge

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An underwater mountain chain formed at divergent plate boundaries where new ocean floor is created through seafloor spreading.