2017 Unit 6 Vocabulary

difference in elevation between any two contour lines on a topographic map

• Continental drift theory
• Contour intervals
• Topography
• Lithosphere

The shape of the Earth’s surface and the way its physical features are arranged, especially in terms of their positions and elevations

• Continental drift theory
• Contour intervals
• Topography
• Lithosphere

Cool, rigid, outermost layer of Earth that is divided into enormous pieces called tectonic plates; consists of the crust and the rigid uppermost part of the mantle.

• Continental drift theory
• Contour intervals
• Topography
• Lithosphere

Map symbol showing shape and/or change in elevation on a topographic map

• Contour lines
• Plate tectonic theory
• Topographic maps
• Asthenosphere

Alfred Wegner’s explanation of continents slowly moving and changing their positions relative to one another

• Continental drift theory
• Contour intervals
• Topography
• Lithosphere

The outermost layer of the Earth (lithosphere) is divided into contiguous sections (plates) that move relative to each other causing continental drift, seafloor spreading, and the formation of major physical features of the Earth’s surface

• Contour lines
• Plate tectonic theory
• Topographic maps
• Asthenosphere

Map showing the shape and elevation of the land surface using contour lines

• Contour lines
• Plate tectonic theory
• Topographic maps
• Asthenosphere

The solid layer with plasticity in the upper mantle that is located just below the lithosphere; lithospheric plates “float” and move on this layer.

• Contour lines
• Plate tectonic theory
• Topographic maps
• Asthenosphere

A cyclical motion occurs because of density differences in the mantle. Heated, less dense lower regions of the fluid mantle rise, and denser, cooler regions sink due to gravity. The combined motions serve as the engine for crustal plate movement.

• Convection currents
• Fossils
• Sea Floor Spreading evidence
• Divergent boundary

The mineralized remains of organisms, showing how long-dead organisms lived and how their bodies were structured.

• Convection currents
• Fossils
• Sea Floor Spreading evidence
• Divergent boundary