Composition: Silicon, Oxygen, and Aluminum Types: › Continental Crust: solid & rocky outer layer › Oceanic Crust: thin & dense material
Includes the Earth’s Crust & Upper Mantle Divided into small and large tectonic plates that help move the continental and oceanic crust
Composition: Silicon, Oxygen, and Magnesium Thickest layer Convection currents are located here
Composition: Molten (liquid) Iron & Nickle
Composition: Solid Iron & Nickle Solid because of the pressure from the layers above Solid inner core spins in the molten (liquid) outer core › Creates the Earth’s Magnetic Field Hottest layer
Happens in the Middle Mantle › Has hot, dense rock that slowly flows Movement created moves the tectonic plates in the Lithosphere Caused by hot material, deep in the Mantle, being heated by the Core to rise then cool and sink again
Molten rock found beneath the Earth’s surface
Molten rock found on the Earth’s surface
Large pieces of Earth’s crust (lithosphere) that can move, collide, or slide past each other Causes: › Continental drifting › Earthquakes › Volcanoes › Mountains › Ocean trenches
States pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant, slow motion, driven by convection currents in the Mantle Explains: › Plate formation › Plate movement › Subduction of plates
Two tectonic plates moving toward each other and collide Types = Creates: › Continental-continental = Mountains & their ranges › Oceanic-oceanic = Island Arcs › Continental-oceanic = Subduction Zone & Trenches
Two tectonic plates moving away from each other Creates: › Volcanoes › Mid-Ocean Ridge › New Ocean Floor › Rift Valley
Two tectonic plates that move or slide past one another › Opposite or same direction at different rates Creates: › Earthquakes › Fault lines
Continents have shifted their position over geologic time One time, all land masses were connected to form Pangaea Evidence: › Continents look to fit together › Minerals, fossils, and mountains now on different continents would match if they were together
Magma and molten material rises from the convection currents to create a divergent boundary, separating plates Helps move the continents Oceans are spreading ~2 cm per year Creates: › New Ocean Floor Crust › Mid-Ocean Ridges
Process where the ocean floor sinks beneath an ocean trench and melts back into the Mantle