Plate Tectonics Vocabulary Crossword

1234567891011121314151617181920
Across
  1. 4. A, roughly 2,900-km-thick, solid but ductile layer of silicate rock between Earth's crust and outer core, comprising ~84% of Earth's volume
  2. 5. A tectonic boundary where two plates move away from each other, creating a gap filled by rising magma, which forms new crust, seafloor ridges, or rift valleys
  3. 7. Elevated landforms created primarily through plate tectonics, specifically via the folding, faulting, and uplifting of the Earth's crust at convergent boundaries where tectonic plates collide
  4. 8. A type of plate boundary where two tectonic plates slide horizontally past one another
  5. 10. The active, three-dimensional zones where Earth's rigid lithospheric plates meet, interact, and move relative to one another
  6. 13. A series of massive, long-wavelength ocean waves caused by the sudden vertical displacement of a large volume of water, typically triggered by underwater earthquakes, landslides, or volcanic eruptions
  7. 14. A German scientist who proposed the theory of continental drift
  8. 16. A long, narrow, and incredibly deep depression in the ocean floor that marks the boundary where two tectonic plates meet
  9. 19. The supercontinent that existed approximately 300 to 200 million years ago, encompassing most of Earth's landmasses in one single, massive unit before breaking apart
  10. 20. A location where two or more tectonic plates move toward each other and collide, creating intense pressure, geological deformation, and, frequently, volcanic activity
Down
  1. 1. Involves the interaction between shifting lithospheric plates and the accumulation of sediment in basins, shaping Earth's surface through erosion, deposition, and crustal movement
  2. 2. Rock that has been liquefied by intense heat, primarily within the Earth's mantle
  3. 3. The thin, rigid, outermost solid layer of the Earth, divided into puzzle-like, moving plates (tectonic plates)
  4. 6. How the movement of Earth's crustal plates creates, melts, and solidifies rock
  5. 9. The process where rock changes its mineral composition and texture in the solid state due to intense heat, pressure, and chemical fluids, driven primarily by plate tectonic processes like convergence, collision, and subduction
  6. 11. A linear zone where the Earth's lithosphere is being pulled apart by tectonic forces, forming a depression or valley
  7. 12. The scientific theory that Earth's outer shell (lithosphere) is divided into several large, rigid slabs called tectonic plates that glide slowly over a semi-fluid mantle layer (asthenosphere)
  8. 15. The rigid, outermost shell of Earth, comprising the crust and upper mantle, broken into tectonic plates that move over the plastic asthenosphere
  9. 17. Ruptures in Earth’s crust allowing molten rock (magma) and gas to escape, typically forming at plate boundaries
  10. 18. A fracture or zone of weakness in the Earth's crust where rock masses have moved relative to each other, often acting as plate boundaries