Marine Science Module 2.01 Study Guide Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards based on the Marine Science Module 2.01 Study Guide, covering the development of plate tectonics, seafloor spreading, and evidence for Pangea.

Mount Everest Limestone

A rock type found at the peak of the mountain composed of shells and skeletons of ancient sea animals, proving the area was once underwater.

Theory Construction

The process of building scientific theories by collecting evidence, testing ideas, and repeating experiments over time.

Contraction Theory

The theory that Earth's surface features formed as the planet cooled and shrank.

Continental Drift

The theory that continents moved apart from a single supercontinent; proposed by Alfred Wegener.

Pangea

A giant supercontinent where all of Earth's continents were joined together.

Pangea Evidence

Significant indicators including matching coastlines, fossils, rock formations, and ancient climate evidence.

Thin Atlantic Sediment

Evidence that proved the seafloor is young and that new crust is constantly forming.

Mid-ocean ridge

A long underwater mountain range where new ocean crust is created.

Seafloor Spreading

The process where magma rises, cools into new crust, and pushes older crust away.

Harry (Henry) Hess

The scientist who proposed the theory of seafloor spreading.

Conveyor Belt Movement

An explanation for how continents move over time due to the formation of new crust and movement of the seafloor.

Fred Vine and Drummond Matthews

Scientists who discovered magnetic stripes on the seafloor, providing proof for seafloor spreading.

Mantle

The hot layer between the Earth's crust and core where convection currents drive the movement of tectonic plates.

Plate Tectonics

The theory that Earth's crust is divided into moving plates that cause earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains.

Himalayas Formation

The result of two continental plates—the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate—colliding.

Alfred Wegener

The scientist who proposed the theory of Continental Drift.