Tectonic Plates Vocabulary

A dark, fine-grained igneous rock; makes up the ocean floor

• Basalt

• Granite

• Ridge

• Plate

The relatively thick part of the earth's crust that forms the continents

• Convergent Boundary

• Divergent Boundary

• Continental Crust

• Oceanic Crust

Occurs when two tectonic plates move toward each other and collide

• Convergent Boundary

• Divergent Boundary

• Transform Boundary

• Plates

The thin, solid outermost layer of Earth; made of less dense silicates and it wither continental ( land masses) or oceanic (ocean floors)

• Basalt

• Granite

• Ridge

• Crust

Occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other

• Convergent Boundary

• Divergent Boundary

• Transform Boundary

• Subduction

A change to the structure of the Earth by tectonic plates

• Theory of Plate Tectonics

• Sea Floor Spreading

• Plate Boundary

• Geologic Event

Light-colored igneous rock with large crystals. It forms from the slow crystallization of magma below Earth's surface and is what mountains are made of.

• Basalt

• Granite

• Ridge

• Crust

Undersea mountain range formed where two parts of the Earth's crust are moving apart.

• Convergent Boundary

• Divergent Boundary

• Mid-Ocean Ridge

• Ocean Basin

Large bowl shaped depression that hold ocean water; regions of crust below sea level

• Mid-Ocean Ridge

• Ocean Basin

• Oceanic Crust

• Rift

The relatively thin part of the Earth's crust which underlies the ocean basins.

• Mid-Ocean Ridge

• Ocean Basin

• Oceanic Crust

• Rift