Struruture of the earth Vocabulary

Continental Crust

the thicker Les dense solid outermost layer of the earth that continents sit on

Oceanic Crust

The thinner and denser solid outermost layer of the Earth that the oceans sit upon.

Inner Core

The center part of the Earth where pressure is so great atoms are forced to stay as a solid.

Outer Core

The liquid hot interior layer of the Earth.

Asthenosphere

The hot plastic portion of the mantle.

Lithosphere

The rocks building continental crust

Convection Current

The mechanism that moves lithospheric plates.

Pangea

A supercontinent that occurred 200 million years ago.

Continental drift

The Hypothesis that Earth's surface is made up of large moving plates, most associated with Alfred Wagner.

Plate tectonics

The modern idea that explains how the outer parts of the Earth change over time.

Magnetic Reversal

Striping bands of the crust caused by Earth's alternating magnetic field that supports plate tectonics.