Final Exam Study Guide Unit 4: Continental Drift, Seafloor Spreading, and Plate Tectonics (Science)

7th Grade MA Semester 2

Convergent Boundary

A plate boundary where 2 plates move toward each other, often forming mountains or subduction zones.

Divergent Boundary

A boundary where 2 plates move apart, creating new crust horizontally, causing earthquakes.

Transform Boundary

A boundary where 2 plates slide past each other.

Pangaea

A giant supercontinent that existed a long time ago when almost all of Earth's land was joined together in one big piece.

Gondwana

An ancient supercontinent that included present-day South America, Africa, Antarctica, India, and Australia.

Laurasia

The northern supercontinent that included North America, Europe, and Asia.

Inner Core

The solid, dense center of Earth made mostly of iron and nickel.

Outer Core

The liquid layer around the inner core, responsible for Earths magnetic field.

Mantle

The thick layer of hot magma.

Lithosphere

The ridge outer later of Earth, including the crust and upper mantle; broken into tectonic plates.

Asthenosphere

The semi-fluid layer of the mantle beneath the lithosphere that allows plate movement.

Alfred Wegner

A German scientist who proposed the continental drift hypothesis.

Continental Drift Hypothesis

The idea that continents were once joined and have since drifted apart.

What plate boundary is this [Himalayas ( Indian and Eurasian plates.)] What do they do?

Convergent, they push together to make a mountains.

What plate boundary is this (Mid-Atlantic Range) What do they do?

Divergent, they push down and go apart creating a ridge.

What plate boundary is this (San Andreas Fault.)

Transform, these rub together and create an earthquake.

In a convergent boundary crust is (———)

Destroyed

In a divergent boundary crust is (———)

Created

What are the two types of plates that cam ,eat each other in the lithosphere?

Continental plates and Oceanic Plates.

Continental fit

The matching shapes of continents, like puzzle pieces, suggest they were once connected.

Fossil Evidence

Same fossils of different continents.

Rock/Mountain

Similarities across continents.

Sea floor

Spreading at mid-ocean ridges

Earthquake and Volcano

Patterns along plate boundaries.