Plate Tectonics Vocabulary

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Across
  1. 5. thin lithospheric plates that are made of basalt and form the ocean floor; denser than continental plates
  2. 8. A fault in which the hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall.
  3. 10. a long chain of undersea mountains
  4. 13. The amount of force per unit area that is put on a given material.
  5. 14. The boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other.
  6. 15. Literally, the "middle sphere" -the strong, lower part of the mantle between the asthenosphere and the outer core.
  7. 18. large pieces of Earth's lithosphere that move over the asthenosphere
  8. 22. a process that involves a lithospheric plate sinking into the mantle
  9. 23. thick lithospheric plates that are made of andesite and granite and form the continents; less dense than oceanic plates
  10. 25. The boundary between two tectonic plates that are sliding past each other horizontally.
  11. 28. The liquid layer of the Earth's core that lies beneath the mantle and surrounds the inner core.
  12. 30. The region where an oceanic plate sinks down into the asthenosphere at a convergent boundary, usually between continental and oceanic plates.
  13. 31. The theory that the Earth's lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates that move around on top of the asthenosphere.
Down
  1. 1. The type of stress that occurs when an object is squeezed.
  2. 2. heated lower mantle rock that rises toward the lithosphere because it is less dense than surrounding mantle rock
  3. 3. A break in the Earth's crust along which blocks of the crust slide relative to one another due to tectonic forces.
  4. 4. a valley in the ocean created when one lithospheric plate subducts another one
  5. 6. The soft layer of the mantle on which pieces of the lithosphere move.
  6. 7. an ancient huge landmass composed of earlier forms of today's continents; an ancient supercontinent
  7. 9. The outermost, rigid layer of the Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle.
  8. 11. The layer of the Earth between the crust and the core.
  9. 12. The boundary between two colliding tectonic plates.
  10. 16. The process by which new oceanic lithosphere is created at mid-ocean ridges as older materials are pulled away from the ridge.
  11. 17. A fault in which the two fault blocks move past each other horizontally.
  12. 19. The theory that continents can drift apart from one another and have done so in the past.
  13. 20. The type of stress that occurs when forces act to stretch an object.
  14. 21. The solid, dense center of the Earth.
  15. 24. A fault in which the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall.
  16. 26. A piece of the lithosphere that moves around on top of the asthenosphere.
  17. 27. The thin, outermost layer of the Earth, or the uppermost part of lithosphere
  18. 29. The bending of rock layers due to stress in the Earth's crust.
  19. 32. The central, spherical part of the Earth below the mantle.