Ch 4: Plate Tectonics Study Guide (6Th)

Ch 4: Plate Tectonics Study Guide (6th)

Terms to Know:

1. Continental drift continents move slowly across Earth’s surface

2. Global positioning system (GPS) network of satellites used to determine locations on Earth

3. Magnetometer measures the strength of the magnetic field

4. Ridge push the force of gravity moves the plate downward and away from the ridge

5. Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) uses pulses of light to measure distances

6. Slab pull a plate is forced into the mantle

Details to Know:

7. Know who proposed the continental drift theory Alfred Wegener

8. Know what provides scientists with evidence of magnetic polarity reversals iron-rich crystals in the basalt

9. Know what scientists discovered had reversed itself several times in the past when they studied the alignment of iron-bearing minerals in rocks the magnetic field

10. Know how scientists describe the orientation of the magnetic field today normal

11. Know what can occur when plates slide past one another earthquakes

12. Know what causes seafloor spreading hot, less-dense material below Earth’s crust is forced upwards

13. Know what action occurs at the mid-ocean ridge plates move apart from each other

14. Know how ocean floor rocks compare with continental rocks ocean floor rocks are younger than continental rocks

15. Know where the youngest rocks in the ocean floor are located ridges

16. Know what provides the matter and energy for plate movement convection

17. Know what term describes the cycle of heating, rising, cooling, and sinking convection current 18. Know what would best describe the speed of plate movement growth of a fingernail

19. Contrast a pot of boiling water to model convection currents to how convection currents operate in Earth’s mantle unlike the water in a pot, convection currents are not the same in all places in the mantle. Also, convection in Earth’s mantle is much slower than convection in water

20. Indicate the type of evidence a scientist could use to locate the plate boundaries if he/she wanted to map the edges of the lithospheric plates earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur where the edges of plates run into, move apart from, or scrape past each other. By mapping the occurrence of these forces, the scientist could locate the edges of the lithospheric plates