Cracking Crustal Questions

Convergent

• Also called convergent boundary

• The motion of two plates toward one another

• Requires that the subducting plate move beneath the other, overriding plate.

Crust

• The exterior portion of the earth that lies above the mantle

Continental Crust

• the layer of granitic, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks

• Form the continents and

• Shores, known as continental shelves.

• “Floats" on top of the liquid mantle

Oceanic Crust

• A thick mass of igneous rock which lies under the ocean floor.

Divergent Plate

• 2 plates moving away from each other

• Splits the plate

Fault

• A fracture in the continuity of a rock formation

• Caused by a shifting or dislodging of the earth's crust,

• Adjacent surfaces are displaced relative to one another and parallel to the plane of fracture.

• Also called shift.

Mountain

• Created collisions between continental masses.

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Subduction

• Zone or area

• Ocean crust collides with continental crust

• Ocean crust goes UNDERNEATH continental crust

Transform plate or boundary

• Two plates slide or grind against one another

Trench

• Marks where subduction has occurred

• A very deep pocket in the ocean

Volcano

• An opening in the earth's crust through which molten lava, ash, and gases are ejected.

• A mountain• Most volcanoes are found on the boundaries of

the enormous plates that make up the Earth's surface.

• Some of the most violent eruptions take place along convergent boundaries where one plate margin is forced beneath another.