Plate Tectonics Review

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to plate tectonics, Earth's structure, and seismic waves.

Plate Tectonics

A theory that suggests Earth's crust is made up of plates that interact in various ways, producing earthquakes, mountains, volcanoes, and other geologic features.

Lithosphere

The outermost layer of the Earth, made up of the crust and the upper part of the mantle.

Continental Crust

The thick part of Earth's crust that is not located under the oceans and is generally less dense.

Oceanic Crust

The thin part of Earth's crust located under the oceans, which is denser than continental crust.

Earthquake

A vibration of Earth caused by rapid release of energy.

Seismic Waves

Energy that radiates in all directions from the focus of an earthquake, recorded by seismographs.

Epicenter

The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.

Divergent Plate Boundary

Formed when plates move apart from each other, causing tension, earthquakes, and creation of new oceanic crust.

Convergent Plate Boundary

Occurs when plates move towards each other, leading to collisions that can form mountains or subduction zones.

Transform Fault Boundary

A boundary where plates slide past each other without diverging or converging, causing earthquakes.

P-wave (Primary wave)

The first type of seismic wave to arrive at a seismic station, travels quickly through the Earth and through liquids.

S-wave (Secondary wave)

The second type of seismic wave, arrives later than P-waves, travels through solids but not through liquids.

Love Waves

A type of surface wave that moves ground in a side-to-side motion, causing significant damage during an earthquake.

Rayleigh Waves

A type of surface wave that rolls along the ground, causing up and down and side-to-side motion.

Hotspot

A concentration of heat in the mantle capable of creating magma, leading to volcanic activity.