boundaries

A mechanical layer of earth located within the mantle below the lithosphere, that has the ability to flow, so is called a plastic-solid.

Predominant rock of the oceanic crust. Quartz poor igneous rock, high in magnesium and iron.

part of outermost compositional layer of earth. Usually made of granite (mostly quartz and feldspar minerals)

chain of volcanoes that form on land, caused by partial melting due to the subduction of an oceanic plate

A rising and sinking loop of slow flowing asthenosphere due to differences in density, temperature and pressure.

When plates move toward each other: subtypes are O-C, O-O, or C-C.

Plates that are moving away from each other.

Mountains formed when two plates carrying continental crust collide, deforming the rocks and earth with great force.

Predominant composition of continental crust. Igneous rock high in quartz, formed from partial melting.

plumes of very warm mantle material that rises up in essentially fixed locations.

A mechanical layer of earth which is rigid and brittle and breaks into segments. It includes the crust and very top of mantle.

part of outermost compositional layer of earth, usually made of basalt (magnesium and iron-rich igneous rock).

One of the mechanisms that moves plates. Gravity slides plates downslope from the higher elevation ridges at divergent boundaries.

A shallow valley formed on land as plates pull the lithosphere apart.

a mechanism that contributes to plate motion in which cool, dense oceanic crust sinks into the mantle and "pulls" the trailing lithosphere along