Plate Tectonics

5. An opening in the Earth's crust that allows molten rock, ash, and gases to escape to the surface. Example: Mount Vesuvius or Mount St. Helens.
7. A thick, older, and less dense tectonic plate that carries landmasses. Example: The Eurasian Plate that Europe sits on.
10. A thinner, younger, and denser tectonic plate found under the sea. Example: The Pacific Plate.
11. An underwater vent that erupts magma directly into the ocean, sometimes growing large enough to form new islands like Iceland. (2 words)
12. A place where an oceanic plate crashes into a continental plate and is forced downwards. Example: Where the Nazca Plate meets South America.
13. A deep, dark V-shaped valley on the sea floor created at a subduction zone. Example: The Mariana Trench. (2 words)
14. A sudden, violent shaking of the ground caused by a release of built-up pressure along a fault line. Example: The 2011 Tohoku event in Japan.

1. Massive mountain ranges created when tectonic plates squeeze the Earth's crust upwards. Example: The Alps or the Himalayas. (2 words)
2. A steep-sided lowland formed on land where a continent is ripping itself apart at a constructive boundary. *Example: The East African Rift. (2 words)
3. The exact area at a destructive boundary where a heavy oceanic plate sinks down into the hot mantle to melt. (2 words)
4. A type of plate boundary where two plates pull apart, allowing magma to rise and create brand new crust. Example: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
6. Circular movements of heat in the Earth’s mantle that act like a giant conveyor belt moving the tectonic plates. (2 words)
8. A type of plate boundary where two continental plates smash into each other, crumbling upward because neither wants to sink. Example: Where India crashed into Asia.
9. A type of boundary where two plates slide sideways past each other, getting stuck and creating massive friction. Example: The San Andreas Fault.