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Chapter 3
Plate Tectonics
27
Geology
Undergraduate 1
01/18/2012

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Term
Asthenosphere
Definition
Layer below Lithosphere. Lacks strength or rigidity. Helps concept of continental drift become possible. Plastic layer (tooth paste)
Term
Brittle
Definition
Easily ruptured. Occurs near-surface conditions with faults and fractures.
Term
Compressive Stress
Definition
Stress that squeezes or compresses the object.
Term
Continental Drift
Definition
Wegener proposed Pangaea split apart and continents drifted to present place.
Term
Convection Cell
Definition
Slowly churning in the plastic asthenosphere. Due to heating and cooling of the asthenosphere. Drags the overlying lithosphere with it.
Term
Convergent Plate Boundary
Definition
Lithospheric plates are moving toward each other.
Term
Curie Temperature
Definition
The temperature, if a mineral is below, can remain magnetic, but above the temperature the mineral loses its magnetic properties.
Term
Divergent Plate Boundary
Definition
Lithospheric plates move apart.
Term
Ductile
Definition
A material that can undergo extensive plastic deformation without breaking.
Term
Elastic Deformation
Definition
Deformation occurs but material returns to its original size and shape when the stress is removed.
Term
Elastic Limit
Definition
The maximum amount of elasticity within a material with out going through plastic deformation.
Term
Hot Spot
Definition
Isolated areas of volcanic activity usually not associated with plate boundaries.
Term
Island Arc
Definition
Created from plate movement with a hot spot.
Term
Lithosphere
Definition
Outer solid layer of the earth. Made up of the earths crust and upper mantle, is some-what brittle and elastic.
Term
Paleomagnetism
Definition
Fossil magnetism in rocks. Reveals the stripes of reversed magnetisms on sea floor.
Term
Plastic Deformation
Definition
Small stresses yield large corresponding strains, and the changes are permanent.
Term
Plate Tectonics
Definition
Relates tectonics to the existence and movement of rigid "Plates" over a weaker, more plastic layer in the earth's upper mantle.
Term
Polar-Wander Curve
Definition
The resulting curve showing the apparent movement of the magnetic pole relative to the continent as a function of time.
Term
Rupture
Definition
To break.
Term
Seafloor Spreading
Definition
The moving apart of lithospheric plates at the ocean ridges.
Term
Shearing Stress
Definition
Stress that causes different parts of an object to move in different directions across a plane or to slide pass one another.
Term
Strain
Definition
Deformation resulting from stress.
Term
Stress
Definition
Occurs when force is applied to an object.
Term
Subduction Zone
Definition
Boundary where one plate is carried down below another.
Term
Tectonics
Definition
The study of large-scale movement and deformation of the earth's outer layers.
Term
Tensile Stress
Definition
Stress that pulls the object apart.
Term
Transform Fault
Definition
A break in the lithosphere where opposite sides of the fault belong to two different plates and move in opposite directions. (Sand Andreas Fault)
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