4.2. Plate Tectonics – Vocabulary
Section 4.0 Introduction
- spreading center
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge
- plate
- volcano
- crust
- rift zone
- tectonic plate
- margin
- ridge
Section 4.1 Alfred Wegener’s arguments for plate tectonics
- Alfred Wegener
- continental drift
- terrestrial
- supercontinent
- Permian
- Pangea / Pangaea
- Gondwana
- Eurasia
- sedimentary strata
- coalfields
- Carboniferous
- glaciation
- Southern Hemisphere
- paleogeographic reconstruction
- iceberg
- Earth’s rotation
- ocean crust
- lunar / solar tidal forces
Section 4.2 Global geological models of the early 20th century
- terrestrial species
- fold-belt mountains
- folded mountains
- plate tectonics
- contractionism
- submerge
- permanentism
- geosyncline theory
- fossil distribution patterns
- sediments
- sedimentary layers
- sedimentary rocks
- continental weathering
- compression
- fold
- lateral forces
- intercontinental
- matchup
- land bridge
- climate change
- isostacy
- polar ice cap
- Mesozoic
- continental shelf
Section 4.3 Geological renaissance of the mid-20th century
- plate tectonic theory
- paleomagnetism
- ocean floor
- remnant magnetism
- align
- compass needle
- crystallize
- magma
- basalt
- magnetite
- magnetized
- deposit
- rock layer
- latitude
- magnetic north
- paleomagnetic data
- polar wandering paths
- geographic north pole
- rotational pole
- apparent polar wandering paths
- bathymetry
- weighted line
- acoustic depth sounder
- trans-Atlantic cable
- basin
- bathymetric data
- topography
- Nazca trench
- fracture zone
- ocean trench
- seamount
- seamount chain
- seismic reflection sounding
- geophone
- bedrock topography
- sediment thickness
- rift valley
- vertical exaggeration
- heat flow
- mantle convection
- upward / downward convection
- seismographic station
- earthquake
- mid-ocean ridge
- magnetometer
- magnetic stripes
- magnetic survey
- sea-floor spreading
- mantle material
- landmass
- magnetic field reversal
- anomaly
- mantle plume
- hot spot
- Emperor seamounts
- Hawai’ian mantle plume
- Pacific Plate
- Yellowstone hot spot
- Anahim Volcanic Belt
- oceanic spreading ridges
- fault
- transform fault
- rigid
Section 4.4 Plates, plate motions, and plate-boundary processes
- Eurasian Plate
- Pacific Plate
- Indian Plate
- Australian Plate
- North American Plate
- South American Plate
- African Plate
- Antarctic Plate
- Juan de Fuca Plate
- Nazca Plate
- Scotia Plate
- Philippine Plate
- Caribbean Plate
- Global Positioning System (GPS)
- plate motion
- rate of motion
- plate boundary
- divergent
- convergent
- transform
- crust
- mantle
- lithosphere
- aesthenosphere
- mafic
- San Andreas Fault
- spreading boundary
- partial melting
- pillow lava
- gabbro
- sheeted dykes
- buoyant
- dome
- radial fractures
- three-part rift formation
- Great Rift Valley
- ocean-ocean convergent boundary
- ocean-continent convergent boundary
- continent-continent convergent boundary
- subduct
- subduction
- flux melting
- fluid-induced melting
- pyroxene
- olivine
- serpentine
- island arc
- accretionary wedge
- compression
- thrust fault
- Wilson Cycle
- passive margin
- oceanic lithosphere
- continental lithosphere
- erosion
Section 4.5 Mechanisms for plate motion
- ridge-push
- slab-pull
- convection traction
Other vocabulary
- continental fit
- rock record
- paleoclimate
- glacial striation
- isochron
- magnetic polarity
- matrix
- solid / solidify
- active margin
- seafloor spreading
- heterogeneous
- mid-ocean ridge axis
- random distribution vs non-random distribution
- Ring of Fire
- submarine
- crustal thickening
