Plate Tectonics

Crust The Earth’s outer layer or shell Made mostly of oxygen and silicon

the layer of rock that surrounds the core Mantle the layer of rock that surrounds the core Convection in the mantle cause the tectonic plates to move.

Convection Currents Cycles created by hot materials rising, cooling off, and then sinking back down

Core the innermost layer of Earth, made mostly of the elements iron and nickel The outer core is molten. The inner core is solid.

Lithosphere the outer zone of Earth, made of the crust and upper mantle /makes up the tectonic plates The mantle is made up of 3 sub layers: Lithosphere Asthenosphere Mesosphere

The slowly flowing, semi-solid layer of rock under the lithosphere Asthenosphere The slowly flowing, semi-solid layer of rock under the lithosphere Tectonic plates “float” on the semi-solid asthenosphere.

the strong, lower part of the mantle Mesophere the strong, lower part of the mantle

Theory of Continental Drift The idea that Earth’s continents were once connected and have broken apart and drifted to their present location German geologist, Alfred Wegener, was the first to describe continental drift.

Plate Tectonics the theory that the outer part of Earth is divided into several distinct segments, called plates which move

A border where tectonic plates move towards one another Convergent Boundary Result: volcano or deep ocean trench A border where tectonic plates move towards one another Result: volcano or deep ocean trench Converge means to come together. Result: folded mountain range

Divergent Boundary A border where tectonic plates move apart from each other Result: new oceanic crust is formed Diverge means to divide.

A border where tectonic plates slide past each other Transform Boundary A border where tectonic plates slide past each other Result: earthquake

The remains of traces of past life Fossil The remains of traces of past life