| A | B |
|---|
| crust | the thin, outermost layer of the Earth, or the uppermost part of the lithosphere |
| mantle | the layer of the Earth between the crust and the core |
| core | the central, spherical part of the Earth below the mantle |
| lithosphere | dthe outermost, rigid layer of the Earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle |
| asthenosphere | the soft layer of the mantle on which pieces of the lithosphere move |
| mesosphere | literally, the "middle sphere"- the strong, lower part of the mantle between the asthenosphere and the outer core |
| outer core | the liquid layer of the Earth's core that lies beneath the mantle and surrounds the inner core |
| inner core | the solid, dense center of the earth |
| tectonic plates | a piece of the lithosphere that moves around on top of the asthenosphere |
| continental drift | the theory that continents can drift apart from one another and have done so in the past |
| Pangaea | Greek for "all earth", the thought that all the separate continents of today were once joined in a single landmass |
| sea-floor spreading | the process by which new oceanic lithosphere is created at mid-ocean ridges as older materials are pulled away from the ridge |
| mid-ocean ridges | places where sea-floor spreading takes place |
| Mid-Atlantic Ridge | a chain of submerged mountains running through the center of the Atlantic Ocean |
| Alfred Wegener | A scientist who developed a theory on continental drift |
| plate tectonics | the theory that the Earth's lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates that move around on top of dthe asthenosphere |
| ridge push | the process by which an oceanic plate slides down the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary |
| convection | the process where hot material from deep within the Earth rises while cooler material near the surface sinks.The motion of convecting mantle material drags tectonic plates sideways |
| slab pull | because oceanic lithosphere is denser than the asthenosphere, the edge of the oceanic plate sinks and pulls the rest of the tectonic plate with it. |
| convergent boundary | the boundary between two colliding tectonic plates. |
| divergent boundary | the boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other. |
| transform boundary | the bondary between two tectonic plates that are sliding past each other horizontally. |
| Global Positioning System | a network of satellites scientists use to measure the rate of tectonic plate movement. |
| stress | the amount of force per unit area that is put on a given material |
| deformation | when a rock changes its shape due to stress. |
| compression | the type of stress that occurs when an object is squeezed. |
| tension | the type of stress that occurs when forces act to stretch an object |
| folding | the bending of rock layers due to stress in the Earth's crust |
| fault | a break in the Earth's crust along which two blocks of the crust slide relative to one another |
| normal fault | a fault in which the hanging wall moves down relative to the footwall |
| reverse fault | a fault in which the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall |
| strike-slip fault | a fault in which the two fault blocks move past each other horizontally |
