Plate Tectonics
Across
- 2. Long, deep, steep troughs in the seafloor where an oceanic plate sinks beneath an overlying plate.
- 4. One of Earth’s structural layers—a layer of weak, warm rock that flows slowly over geologic time.
- 6. The shaking of the ground that results when rock under Earth’s surface moves or breaks.
- 10. The process by which new lithosphere is created at midocean ridges as older lithosphere moves away.
- 12. The thick layer of dense, hot rock between Earth’s crust and core.
- 14. The study of the history, structure, and natural processes of planet Earth.
- 15. The Earth science that is concerned with the composition and structure of Earth.
- 16. Separate pieces of lithosphere that move on top of the asthenosphere.
- 19. Places where tectonic plates pull apart.
- 21. One of Earth’s structural layers—a shell of hot, liquid metal beneath the mantle and above the inner core.
- 22. Earth’s innermost layer, which is mostly iron and includes the inner core and outer core.
- 24. The region where an oceanic plate sinks into the asthenosphere at a convergent plate boundary.
- 25. Earth’s outermost structural layer, consisting of cool, rigid rock.
Down
- 1. The hypothesis that the world’s continents move slowly over Earth’s surface.
- 3. Earth’s surface layer, consisting of oceanic and continental crust.
- 5. The sinking of oceanic lithosphere into the mantle.
- 7. The process by which Earth formed layers according to density.
- 8. Places where tectonic plates come together.
- 9. Molten rock in Earth’s interior.
- 11. One of Earth’s structural layers—a solid sphere of hot metal, mostly iron, at the center of Earth.
- 13. The theory that Earth’s lithosphere is divided into large plates that move slowly around the globe.
- 17. Places where tectonic plates slide along beside one another as they move.
- 18. A global system of underwater mountains created by seafloor spreading.
- 20. The study of seismic waves, waves that travel through Earth as a result of an earthquake or other disturbance.
- 23. One of Earth’s structural layers—the lowest portion of the mantle, a zone of strong, rigid rock.