Plate tectonics Crossword

a long, undersea chain that has a steep, narrow valley at its center and that creates new organic lithosphere as tectonic plates move apart
scientist who first proposed that thermal convection in the mantle causes continental drift
source of heat in the mantle
paleontologists noticed that these were the same on different continent's even though the continent's were separated by oceans
section of the Earth below the crust
places where the sea floor is forced under continental plates SUBDUCTION
the primary force that causes the seafloor to spread and continent's to drift THERMAL
a piece of lithosphere that has a unique geologic history and that may be part of a larger piece of lithosphere such as a continent
the hypothesis that a single large landmass broke up into smaller landmasses to form the continent's which then drifted to their present location CONTINENTAL
the theory that explains large pieces of the lithosphere called plates move and change shape PLATE
the boundary between tectonic plates that are colliding CONVERGENT
the process by which supercontinents form and break apart over millions of years SUPERCONTINENT
the solid plastic layer of the mantle beneath the lithosphere
the solid outer layer of earth that consists of the crust and the rigid upper part of the mantle
the single, large ocean that covered earths surface during the time the supercontinent Pangaea existed
the process by which new organic lithosphere (sea floor) forms as magma rises to Earths surface and solidifies SEA FLOOR
the boundary between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other DIVERGENT
the supercontinent that formed 300 million years ago and that began to break up 200 million years ago
the study of the alignment of magnetic minerals in rock, specifically as it relates to the reversal of earths magnetic poles
the process by which earths crust breaks apart, can occur within continental crust or organic crust