Radience

Plate Tectonics

Science

asthenosphere

the soft upper mantle layer under lithospheric plates
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continental drift

the hypothesis that all the continents are moving very slowly across Earth’s surface
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convection

the transfer of heat energy from a warmer area to a cooler area in a liquid or gas
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convection current

the movement pattern in a fluid caused by temperature differences within the fluid
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convergent boundary

the boundary where two tectonic plates move towards each other
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core

the central part of the Earth, below the mantle
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crust

the thin rocky outer layer of Earth, above the mantle
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divergent boundary

the boundary where two tectonic plates move away from each other
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fault

a break in Earth's crust along which rocks move
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inner core

the dense sphere of solid iron and nickel at the Earth’s center
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lithosphere

the rigid outer layer of Earth made up of the crust and upper mantle
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mantle

the layer of rock between Earth's crust and core
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mid ocean ridge

a long mountain range on the seafloor formed by lava eruptions through Earth’s crust
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ocean trench

a deep part of the seafloor where a subducting slab bends down
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outer core

a layer of molten nickel and iron that surrounds Earth's inner core
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pangaea

the supercontinent that broke up 200 million years ago into the continents we see today
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plate tectonics

the theory that Earth's crust is made of moving plates
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rift valley

a deep valley that forms as plates move apart
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seafloor spreading

the formation of new seafloor by magma at a mid-ocean ridge
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seismic wave

an energy wave caused by an earthquake
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subduction

a crust plate forced beneath another at a plate boundary
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transform boundary

the boundary where two plates scrape past each other
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uplift

any process that moves Earth's surface to a higher elevation
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