The movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in the transfer of heat.

A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together, or crash into each other. Also known as a Reverse Fault.

The formation of new areas of oceanic crust, which occurs through the up-welling of magma at mid-ocean ridges and its subsequent outward movement on either side.

Places where plates slide sideways past each other. Also known as a Strike-Slip Fault.

A theory explaining the structure of the earth's crust and many associated phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithosphere plates that move slowly over the underlying mantle.

The gradual movement of the continents across the earth's surface through geological time.

The super-continent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from earlier continental units approximately 335 million years ago, and it began to break apart about 175 million years ago.

A large elongated depression with steep walls formed by the downward displacement of a block of the earth's surface between nearly parallel faults or fault systems.

A long, seismically active submarine ridge system situated in the middle of an ocean basin and marking the site of the up-welling of magma associated with seafloor spreading. An example is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Was this good?