Earth's Interior Vocabulary Flash cards

The thin and solid outermost layer of the Earth above the mantle

• Crust

• Mantle

• Core

• Lithosphere

Solid innermost part of the Earth's interior made up of solid iron and nickel

• Outer Core

• Mantle

• Inner Core

• Crust

The movement of heat through a fluid; it moves the plates, occurs in the asthenosphere, hot less dense liquid rises and cooler more dense liquid sinks

• Convection Cell

• Conduction Wave

• Radiation Flow

• Thermal Drift

Vibrations that travel through Earth after movement of plates along a plate boundary

• Seismic Wave

• Tsunami Wave

• Sound Wave

• Electromagnetic Wave

The bending of earthquake waves as they pass from between layers of the Earth due to differences in density

• Reflection

• Refraction

• Diffraction

• Absorption

Earthquake wave travels the fastest and travels through solids and liquids

• P-Wave

• S-Wave

• Surface Wave

• Rayleigh Wave

The crust beneath the ocean; it is thinner, more dense, and made up of basalt

• Continental Crust

• Oceanic Crust

• Lithospheric Crust

• Mantle Crust

Earthquake wave travels slower than the P-wave and travels only through solids

• P-Wave

• S-Wave

• Surface Wave

• Rayleigh Wave

The sinking of one tectonic plate under another due to differences in density

• Subduction

• Convergence

• Divergence

• Transform

The solid, outer layer of the Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle; it is broken into plates

• Lithosphere

• Asthenosphere

• Mesosphere

• Hydrosphere