Plate Tectonics - Continental Drift

Front

What is the Theory of Continental Drift?

Back

All the continents were once one continent that broke up and drifted apart over hundreds of millions of years.

Front

What type of plate boundary occurs when two tectonic plates push together?

Back

Convergent boundary.

Front

What geological feature is commonly formed at a convergent boundary between two pieces of continental crust?

Back

Mountains.

Front

Who proposed the theory of continental drift?

Back

Alfred Wegener.

Front

What happens at a divergent boundary?

Back

Two tectonic plates separate and move apart from one another.

Front

What is a tectonic plate?

Back

A massive slab of solid rock that makes up the Earth's lithosphere.

Front

What is the lithosphere?

Back

The rigid outer layer of the Earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

Front

What is a rift valley?

Back

A lowland region that forms where tectonic plates move apart.

Front

What is subduction?

Back

The process where one tectonic plate moves under another and sinks into the mantle.

Front

What is a transform boundary?

Back

A type of plate boundary where two plates slide past each other horizontally.