Science, Unit 3, Lesson 6

What happens at the mid-ocean ridge?

Molten magma rises from the mantle to make new oceanic crust.

Which type of plate boundary or zone would be most likely to lead to above-ground volcanic activity?

Subduction zone

tectonic plates

The pressure cracks in Earth's lithosphere.

divergent boundary

a plate boundary where two plates move away from each other

transform boundary

a plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions

convergent boundary

a plate boundary where two plates move toward each other

What force drives the movement of plates in the mantle?

convection currents

In what way does a transform boundary differ from the other boundary types?

At a transform boundary, the plates move in a direction that is parallel to the boundary line.

Which boundary or zone adds new material to the lithosphere (the hard outer crust of the Earth)?

Divergent boundary

What causes Earth's plates to move continuously?

Earth's plates move continuously in response to slow-moving convection currents in the mantle.

The highest mountains in the world are the Himalayas, at the border between the Indian and Eurasian plates. The Himalayas formed in a ________________.

collision zone

What are the three types of plate boundaries?

convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries

theory of plate tectonics

the theory that pieces of Earth's lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle