Continental Drift

1. Tectonics, The theory that the Earth’s surface is divided into lithospheric plates that move on the planet’s surface.
5. When plates move around.
6. When one plate goes beneath another plate causing a volcanic island arc, an ocean trench, and earthquakes.
8. Ridge, A large continuous mountain range found within an ocean basin; the location on the seafloor where magma rises and forms a new sea floor.
10. Layer below the lithosphere.
11. Equipment that measures seismic waves and other ground motions.
13. A supercontinent that finished forming 300 million years ago.
16. When all continents were once a gigantic continent.
17. The movement of material due to differences in temperature.
18. The layer of solid brittle rock that makes up the Earth’s surface; the crust and the uppermost mantle.
19. A German Meteorologist that came up with the continental drift hypothesis.
20. The innermost densest layer of a celestial body.

1. A slab of Earth’s lithosphere that can move around on the planet’s surface.
2. A land mass above sea level.
3. Large sheets of slow moving, flowing ice.
4. A person who studies the natural world by asking questions and using evidence to answer them.
7. Sea Trench, A deep gash in the seafloor; the deepest places on Earth.
9. Basin, Areas covered by ocean water.
12. Molten material beneath or within the Earth’s crust, from which igneous rock forms.
14. Ground shaking caused by the release of energy stored in the crust.
15. The point on the Earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.