MTTC Integrated Science - Earth & Space Sciences Accurate 100%

Theory of Plate Tectonics - ANSWER A theory stating that Earth's lithosphere is broken into huge plates that move and change in size over time - explains the process of continental drift - theory is a fusion on the theories of continental drift and seafloor spreading - continents are not floating on the ocean, rather they are rooted What are the 10 major plates of the Earth's lithosphere? - ANSWER African, Antarctic, Australian, Eurasian, North American, South American, Pacific, Cocos, Nazca, and Indian. What are the two main sources of tectonic plate motion? - ANSWER gravity and friction What is the source of energy for tectonic plate motion? - ANSWER the dissipation of heat from the mantle in the (relatively weak) asthenosphere ridge push - ANSWER when the force of gravity moves a plate downward and away from a ridge slab pull - ANSWER a mechanism that contributes to plate motion in which cool, dense oceanic crust sinks into the mantle and "pulls" the trailing lithosphere along mantle drag - ANSWER plates move due to the friction between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere trench suction - ANSWER involves a downward frictional pull on oceanic plates in subduction zones due to convection currents convergent plate boundary - ANSWER when adjacent plates move toward one another and one plate slips underneath another. three types of formations can come of this 1) oceanic plate + oceanic plate = deep trench 2) continental plate + continental plate = mountain 3) continental plate + oceanic plate = ocean goes under continent,