Plate Boundaries Flashcards
Processes and Landforms along Plate Boundaries
Divergent Boundaries
As two continental plates separate, a ??? is formed
Rift
As the plates move apart the crust widens and
thins forming the ??? and ??? around the area.
valleys and volcanoes
Processes and Landforms along Plate Boundaries
Divergent Boundaries
As two oceanic plates separate, lava erupts into the ocean, cooling and creating new crust.
As magma continues to build up and spread on the sea floor or magma intrusion at the spreading center, new mountain ranges form under the sea creating a ???
An example is the Mid- Atlantic ridge from the separation of the North American and Eurasian plates.
mid-oceanic ridge
Processes and Landforms along Plate Boundaries
Divergent Boundaries
When the rising magma continues to build up above the ocean’s surface (magma intrusion at mantle plumes) a ??? is formed.
An example is in Surtsey, Iceland. Both earthquakes and volcanoes occur in this process.
volcanic island
Processes and Landforms along Plate Boundaries
Transform Boundaries
The most famous example of this is the San Andreas Fault Zone of western North America.
The San Andreas connects a divergent boundary in the Gulf of California with the Cascadia subduction zone.
Another example of a transform boundary on land is the Alpine Fault of New Zealand.
