Plate Tectonics Goal B/C Vocabulary

Definition: A deep, steep-sided canyon in the ocean floor.

• mid-ocean ridge

• trench

• paleomagnetism

• subduction zone

Definition: An underwater mountain chain where new ocean floor is formed.

• mid-ocean ridge

• trench

• plate tectonics

• subduction zone

Definition: Changes in Earth's magnetic field over geologic time, recorded in ocean-floor rocks and continental basalt flows.

• paleomagnetism

• continental drift

• magnetic reversals

• subduction zone

Definition: The study of the alignment of magnetic minerals in rock, specifically as it relates to the reversal of Earth's magnetic poles; also the magnetic properties that rock requires during formation.

• subduction zone

• magnetic reversals

• mid-ocean ridge

• paleomagnetism

Definition: In tectonic plates, the site at which an oceanic plate is sliding under a continental plate.

• plate tectonics

• trench

• subduction zone

• mid-ocean ridge

Definition: The formation of new ocean crust as a result of magma pushing upward and outward from Earth's mantle to the surface.

• subduction zone

• seafloor spreading

• plate tectonics

• mid-ocean ridge

Definition: credited with the theory of Plate Tectonics

• Abraham Ortelius

• Harry Hess

• Mid-ocean Ridge

• Albert Einstein

Definition: A theory stating that the earth's surface is broken into plates that move.

• subduction zone

• continental drift

• plate tectonics

• seafloor spreading