7th Grade Science Earth Science Plate Boundaries Flashcards
Tectonic plate
Sections of the Earth's crust that move due to convection currents.
Oceanic plate
Thin plates that form the ocean floor; more dense than continental plates.
Continental Crust
A solid, thin outermost layer of Earth
Subduction Zone
in tectonic plates, the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a continental plate.
Earthquake
Shaking and vibration at the surface of the earth resulting from underground movement along a fault plane of from volcanic activity
Plate boundary
the region where two tectonic plates are in contact
Transform boundary
A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions
Convergent boundary
A tectonic plate boundary where two plates collide, come together, or crash into each other.
Divergent boundary
The boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other
Subduction boundary
an oceanic plate colliding and going beneath a continental plate; example - Ring of Fire
Converging
coming together
Diverging
spreading apart
Volcano
A weak spot in the crust where magma has come to the surface
Sea floor spreading
The process by which molten material adds new oceanic crust to the ocean floor
Convection current
a current caused by the rising of heated fluid and sinking of cooled fluid
trench
extremely deep areas in the ocean that are created by a subducting plate