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98 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
the study of the historical changes of shapes and positions of the continents and oceans
paleogeography
how many large tectonic plates are there
13
fault where plates slide past each other
transform boundary
rock is neither created nor destroyed at this boundary
transform boundary
where and why do transform faults form
near spreading centers to accomodate plate's shape change
extension of transform fault that is no longer active
fracture zone
rare example of transform fault on land
San Andreas Fault
boundary where plates come together
convergent boundary
process of the heavier plate sliding under the lighter one
subduction
trenches are formed by what plate process
subduction
deepest trench
Mariana Trench
deepest part of Mariana Trench; how deep
Challenger Deep; 11 km
longest trench; how long
Peru-Chile trench; 5,900 km
fragments of basaltic oceanic lithosphere embedded in continents by obduction
ophiolites
process by which oceanic crust is deposited in continental crust during subduction
obduction
boundary where plates move apart
divergent boundary
axis of divergent boundary and sea-floor spreading
spreading center
circulation in the mantle that pushes up the lithosphere and causes a divergent boundary
convection current
where are hydrothermal vents found
mid-ocean ridges and rises
longest mid-ocean ridge
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
fastest-spreading oceanic rise; spreading rate
East Pacific Rise; 13-16 cm/yr
depression along the middle of a mid-ocean ridge
rift valley
length of global ridge/rise system
75,000 km
how is an oceanic rise different from an oceanic ridge
faster spreading, smoother, shorter, wider, less steep
where does the Mid-Atlantic ridge come above sea level
Iceland and the Ascension Islands (south Atlantic)
places where superheated water exits from the sea floor after being heated by magma deep beneath the surface
hydrothermal vents
why doesn't water coming from hydrothermal vents boil
high pressure
where are the only active hydrothermal vents in US waters
Oregon coast
3 types of hydrothermal vent
warm-water vent, white smoker, black smoker
chemical responsible for whiteness of a white smoker
barium sulfide
temperature range of white smoker
30-350 C
a black smoker spews what black chemicals; pH range; temperature range
metal sulfides and hydrogen sulfide; pH: 3-4; above 350 C
shallowest hydrothermal vent field found along the Mid-Atlantic ridge
Lucky Strike
places where water comes out of the sea floor but is not hot
seeps
2 types of seeps
hydrocarbon seeps, hypersaline seeps
large volume of warm, grey/black, mineral-rich, low-density water that may occur due to an eruption of an underwater volcano or because of a large quantity of active hydrothermal vents
megaplume
active or passive margin: US Pacific shore; US Atlantic shore
active; passive
wide continental margin with no tectonic activity and lots of sediment
passive margin
thin, steep-sloped continental margin with high tectonic activity (including volcanoes & earthquakes)
active margin
chain of islands formed when subducting lithospheric plate increases pressure on magma, causing volcanoes to pop out of the crust in a line parallel to a convergent boundary
island arc
2 examples of island arcs
Mariana islands, Aleutian islands
Indonesian volcano that exploded in 1883 and is still the strongest explosion ever recorded
Krakatau
a volcanic mountain that is more than 1 km tall but does not break the surface of the water
seamount
a flat-topped seamount that has been eroded by wave action at the surface
guyot [tablemount]
small elevated protusion of the crust under 1 km tall
abyssal hill [seaknoll]
area with many seaknolls
abyssal hill province
locations that have active volcanoes for a long time
hotspot
narrow vertical convective streams of upwelling magma from deep in the mantle that may cause hotspots
mantle plumes
chain of islands formed as a plate passes over a hotspot
nematath
2 examples of nemataths
Galapagos islands, Hawaiian islands
what country owns the Galapagos islands
Ecuador
broad area of great volcanic action and high heat flow in French Polynesia around a hotspot
Superswell
dark igneous rock formed at convergent subductive boundaries above the continental plate that is an intermediate between basalt and granite
andesite
gray or black rock that composes islands and marine volcanoes
basalt
smooth pillow-shaped basalt rocks that form when lava cools quickly underwater
pillow lava / pillow basalt
newer scale used by the USGS to measure medium and large earthquakes
moment magnitude scale
older logarithmic scale used to measure small earthquakes
Richter scale
thicker lithosphere results in _________ earthquakes
stronger
deep, seismically-active zone on a subductive plate caused by the bending and extending of oceanic crust deep below the surface
Benioff zone
2 fast types of seismic waves
pressure/primary waves, shear/secondary wave
waveform of: pressure wave; shear wave
longitudinal, transverse
type of seismic wave that doesn't travel through liquids
shear wave
methodology for estimating the Earth's inner properties
seismic tomography
explosive is detonated underwater and the characteristics of the reflected seismic waves are measured and recorded
seismic profiling
point at which an earthquake originates
focus
point directly above an earthquake’s focus on the Earth’s surface
epicenter
area of divergence on land
rift
raised section of a rift; depressed section of a rift
horst; graben
theory that continents move across Earth’s surface
continental drift
contiental drift was proposed by who; when
Alfred Wegener; 1915
how long ago did Pangaea, the supercontinent, exist
225 million years ago
ocean surrounding Pangaea that was the precursor to the Pacific ocean
Panthalassa
what does Pangaea mean in ancient Greek
all the land
2 continental pieces that formed after Pangaea broke up
Laurasia (north), Gondwanaland (south)
sea separating Laurasia and Gondwanaland that was the precursor to the Mediterranean Sea
Tethys Sea
who proposed mantle convection as the cause for seafloor spreading; when
Harry Hess; 1962
what is the cause of convection currents and temperature differences in the mantle
radioactivity
on average, how long does it take oceanic crust to be recycled
110 million years
age of oldest rocks: in the ocean; on land
180 million years; 3.8 billion years
range of average relative speeds of tectonic plates
2-12 cm/yr
the balance of Earth's internal pressures and maintenance of buoyancy
isostasy
movement of a tectonic plate to balance pressures
isostatic adjustment
who found and explained magnetic anomalies along spreading centers
Frederick Vine
succession of projects created to obtain geological data from the ocean floor
Deep Sea Drilling Project (1968), Ocean Drilling Program (1985), Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (2004)
the growth of a continent as it accumulates pieces of other continents, islands, and volcanoes
continental accretion
a group of islands
archipelago
offshore area along California where transform faults result in unusual basins and islands
continental borderland
small island that just recently appeared near Iceland
Surtsey
newest volcano in the Hawaiian island chain still below the surface
Loihi
island group in the Caribbean including Cuba
Antilles
tallest mountain measured from its base
Mauna Kea
tallest active volcano measured from its base
Mauna Loa
which ocean is shrinking; growing
Pacific ocean; Atlantic ocean
volcanoes and trenches around the edges of the Pacific Ocean due to convergence
Ring of Fire
loop of andesite formations around the Pacific Ocean
andesite line
life cycle of ocean basins as they are changed by tectonic processes
Wilson cycle
6 stages of the Wilson cycle from first to last
embryonic, juvenile, mature, declining, terminal, suturing
column of minerals deposited by a hydrothermal vent
chimney