Earth Science: Layers and Continental Drift

The outermost layer of the Earth, made of rock and dirt.

The layer beneath the crust, made of molten rock (magma).

The liquid layer under the mantle, composed of magma.

The Earth's innermost layer, the hottest part, primarily iron.

The theory that continents were once joined and have moved over time.

The name of the supercontinent that existed 225 million years ago.

The scientist who proposed the theory of continental drift.

Movement of magma in the mantle that moves tectonic plates.

One tectonic plate moving under another.

A deep valley in the ocean floor formed by subduction.

The point where the subducting plate melts into the mantle.

Where plates collide, leading to subduction.

When a continental plate meets an oceanic plate, and the oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate

When two oceanic plates collide, one subducts beneath the other.

Large pieces of the Earth's lithosphere that move.

A volcano forms above the Benioff zone when magma rises to the surface.

The Earth is made of four main layers: the crust (outermost), mantle (second layer), outer core (liquid layer), and inner core (solid, hottest layer).

The Earth's crust is the outermost layer, composed mostly of rock and dirt.

The mantle is the layer beneath the crust, made of magma, which is molten rock.

The outer core is a liquid layer beneath the mantle, made of magma.

The inner core is the Earth's innermost layer, the hottest part, made primarily of iron and solid due to immense pressure.

The theory that the continents were once joined together as a supercontinent called Pangaea and have been moving apart over millions of years.

Alfred Wegener was a scientist who proposed the theory of continental drift.

Pangaea was a supercontinent that existed about 225 million years ago when all continents were joined together.

The Earth's tectonic plates move due to convection currents in the mantle, caused by the heating and cooling of magma.

At a destructive boundary, tectonic plates collide, causing one plate to subduct (slide) under the other.

The denser oceanic plate subducts beneath the continental plate, leading to the formation of ocean trenches and volcanoes.

Subduction is the process where one tectonic plate slides beneath another plate.

An ocean trench is a deep valley formed by the subduction process at destructive plate boundaries.

The Benioff Zone is the area where the subducting plate melts into the mantle, creating magma.

Volcanoes can form above the Benioff Zone when the magma from the melting subducting plate rises to the surface.

One oceanic plate subducts beneath the other, forming an ocean trench.