Science Plate tectonics

Tectonic

Refers to the deformation of the crust

Plate tectonic theory

crust is broken due to convection currents

Divergent

When two plates move away from each other

Convergent

One plate sinks beneath another and collides

Continent collisions

It's like when two very big pieces of land bump into each other and push up, making mountains!

Oceanic-Continental Convergence

When the ocean floor crashes into land, the ocean floor gets pushed under, which can make volcanoes and very deep parts of the ocean.

Ocean collisions

when parts of the ocean come together and push the water down.

Transform fault

Two plates move past each other horizontally - a constructive boundary because it forms new crust

Compositional layering

Core, Mantle, Crust

Mechanical layering

Inner core, Outer core, Mesosphere, Aesthenosphere, Lithosphere

Oceanic crust

Thinner, younger, made from iron

Continental Crust

Thicker, older, made of silicate rocks, sodium, potassium, and aluminum

Mantle

Thickest layer and consists of silicate rocks rich in iron and magnesium

Upper Mantle

Ductile due to high temperature

Lower mantle

flows less because of intense pressure

Core

consists of denser materials, iron, and nickel

Outer core

Liquid and has high temperature

Inner core

a primarily solid ball and has high temperature and pressure

Alfred Wegener

Created the theory that the continents are moving - Pangea

The apparent fit of the continents

The coastlines of the continents appear to fit together like the pieces of a puzzle

Fossil correlation

Identical fossils have been found in the rocks on either side of the ocean

Rock and Mountain correlation

Identical rocks and mountain structures have been found on either side of the ocean

Paleoclimate data

Coal has been found in cold regions and glacial evidence has been found in warm regions

Sea floor spreading

when the ocean floor slowly pulls apart and new rocks come up to make more seafloor.

Mid ocean ridge

It curves along the seafloor into all of the earths oceans

Harry hess

He reasoned that the sediment has been accumulating for about 300 million years at most and he looked fir an explanation