Plate Teconics Unit
6th Grade Unit on Plate Tectonics
Terms
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- Mid-Ocean Ridge
- The longest mountain chain in the world. It goes through almost every ocean and is caused by divergent plate boundaries.
- transform plate boundary
- Two tectonic plates travel past each other. The slow grinding movement of the plates often cause earthquakes.
- earthquake
- Sudden movement or shaking of the Earth usually caused by tectonic plate movement.
- Theory of Plate Tectonics
- The idea that the lithosphere is broken into huge slabs called tectonic plates that slowly move across the Earth's surface.
- subduction zone
- A convergent plate boundary where two plates collide. One of the plates is forced into the mantle where it melts.
- Pangaea
- A giant land mass made up of all the continents that existed around 200 million years ago
- seismograph
- A machine used to record the seismic waves that are caused by earthquakes.
- volcanologist
- A scientist who studies volcanoes.
- tsunami
- A large destructive wave that is usually caused by an underwater earthquake.
- focus
- The starting point of an earthquake. (The first place the rocks begin to move.)
- asthenosphere
- An area of the mantle where hot molten rock form convection currents.
- lava
- Hot molten rock above the Earth's surface.
- geothermal energy
- Natural heat from the Earth used as energy.
- Richter Scale
- A scale of numbers from 1 to 10 used measure the strength of an earthquake.
- epicenter
- The point on the surface directly above the focus of an earthquake. This area is usually hardest hit by the earthquake.
- seismologist
- A scientist who studies earthquakes.
- convergent plate boundary
- A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together, or crash into each other.
- seismic waves
- Vibrations caused by earthquakes. Engery or vibrations travel away from an earthquake in all directions.
- fault
- A crack in the ground caused by tectonic plate movement.
- tectonic plate
- Hugh sections of the broken lithosphere which move slowly across the Earth.
- Continental Drift Theory
- The idea that all of the continents were once a giant landmass called Pangaea. Over time the continents drifted apart, they are still drifting today.
- lithosphere
- The solid part of the Earth that is made up of the crust and upper mantle.
- divergent plate boundary
- A tectonic plate boundary where two plates divide or pull away from each other.
- convection currents
- Hot and cooler magma form currents that are located in the asthenosphere.
- Sea-Floor Spreading
- An area underwater where divergent plate boundaries cause the sea floor to spread apart increasing in size.
- rift
- A deep valley caused by tectonic plates pulling apart at divergent plate boundaries.
- magma
- Hot molten rock found below the Earth's surface.