Earth Structure Vocabulary

1. Earth Structure Vocabulary

2. asthenosphere the soft layer of the mantle on which the lithosphere floats

3. continental crust section of earth's crust that is found underneath the continent

4. continental drift the hypothesis that the continents slowly move across Earth's surface

5. convection the transfer of heat by movement of a fluid

6. convection currents the movement of a fluid, caused by differences in temperature, that transfers heat from one part of the fluid to another

7. convergent boundary a plate boundary where two plates move toward each other

8. deep-ocean trench a deep valley along the ocean floor through which oceanic crust slowly sinks towards the mantle

9. density the amount of mass in a given space

10. divergent boundary a plate boundary where two plates move away from each other

11. inner core a dense sphere of solid iron and nickel in the center of Earth

12. mantle the layer of hot, solid material between Earth's crust and core

13. mid-ocean ridge (mid-Atlantic ridge) the undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced

14. lithosphere a rigid layer made up of the uppermost part of the mantle and the crust

15. molten rock liquefied by heat Liquefied by heat

16. oceanic crust section of earth's crust that is found underneath the ocean

17. outer core a layer of molten iron and nickel that surrounds the inner core of Earth

18. Pangaea the name of the single land mass that broke apart 225 million years ago and gave rise to today's continents

19. plate boundaries place where two tectonics plate meet

20. plate tectonics the theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle

21. subduction the process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle at a convergent plant boundary

22. transform boundary a plate boundary where two plated move past each other in opposite directions