Unit 6: Plate Tectonics Vocabulary

2. the hypothesis that new ocean crust is formed at mid-ocean ridges and destroyed at deep sea trenches; occurs in a continuous cycle of magma intrusion and spreading
4. cycle of processes that form all mountain ranges, resulting in broad, linear regions of deformation that you know as mountain ranges but in geology are known as orogenic belts
9. place where two tectonic plates slide horizontally past each other; characterized by long faults and shallow earthquakes
10. the change in elevation of Earth's crust
12. describes all the processes associated with the discharge of magma, hot water, and steam
13. fracture or system of fractures in Earth's crust that occur when stress is applied too quickly or stress is too great

1. process by which one tectonic plate slips beneath another tectonic plate
3. places where two tectonic plates are moving apart; is associated with volcanism, earthquakes, and high heat flow, and is found primarily on the seafloor
5. Wegner's hypothesis that Earth's Continents were joined as a single landmass, called Pangaea, that split apart about 200 mya and slowly moved to their present position
6. huge pieces of Earth's crust that cover its surface and fit together at their edges
7. Ancient landmass made up of all the continents that began to break apart 200mya
8. place where two tectonic plates are moving toward each other; associated with trenches, island arcs, and folded mountains
11. unusually hot area in Earth's mantle where high temperature plumes of mantle material rise toward the surface