This document defines key terms related to plate tectonics, including plate tectonics theory, the different types of crust (continental and oceanic), mid-oceanic ridges, trenches, volcanic island arcs, rift valleys, and processes like subduction. It also defines plates, faults, hot spots, and the three main types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent, and transform fault boundaries.

1. TERMS TO
REMEMBER
PLATE TECTONICS

2. TERMS TO REMEMBER
◦ Plate tectonics - a theory which suggests that Earth’s crust is
made up of plates that interact in various ways, thus
producing earthquakes, mountains, volcanoes, and other
geologic features
◦ Continental Crust - the thick part of the Earth’s crust, not
located under the ocean (Less dense)
◦ Oceanic Crust - the thin part of the Earth’s crust located
under the oceans (Denser than the Continental Crust)

3. TERMS TO REMEMBER
◦ Mid-Oceanic Ridge - a continuous mass of land with long
width and height on the ocean floor.
◦ Trench - a depression in the seafloor produced by subduction
process
◦ Volcanic Island arc - a chain of volcanoes that develop parallel
to a trench
◦ Rift Valley - a large elongated depression with steep walls
formed by the displacement of a block of the earth's surface
between nearly parallel faults or fault systems.

4. TERMS TO REMEMBER
◦ Subduction - an event in which a slab of rock thrust into
the mantle
◦ Plates - rigid sections of the lithosphere that move as a
unit
◦ Fault - a break in a rock along which movement has
occurred
◦ Hot spot - a concentration of heat in the mantle capable
of creating magma

5. TERMS TO REMEMBER
◦ Convergent boundary - a boundary in which two plates
move toward each other, causing one of the slabs of the
lithosphere to subduct beneath an overriding plate
◦ Divergent boundary - a region where the crustal plates
are moving apart
◦ Transform fault boundary - a boundary produced when
two plates slide past each other