Tectonic Plate Activity (Leaving Cert CASD): Flashcards

Theory explaining how moving plates create landforms

Crust + upper mantle broken into tectonic plates

Partially molten rock layer below lithosphere

2 to 15 centimetres per year

Proposed continental drift hypothesis

Supercontinent that existed 200 million years ago

Proposed seafloor spreading theory

Where oceanic crust cycles back into Earth's interior

Explained hot spots creating volcanic island chains

Alters wind patterns, creates rain shadows & monsoons