Plate Boundary Type and Earthquakes

Question 1

What are the four main boundary types?

Answer 1

Destructive collision
Destructive subduction (Continental-Oceanic and Oceanic-Oceanic)
Conservative
Constructive

Question 2

What is a destructive collision boundary?

Answer 2

These occur when two plates are converging but are both continental plates. As continental plates cannot be destroyed, the land between the two plates is pushed upwards to form mountains.

Question 3

What is a destructive subduction boundary?

Answer 3

This is where a continental and oceanic plate are moving towards each other. As they meet the oceanic is forced down where it melts in the subduction zone. The molten rock rises through cracks in the rock and and can create volcanoes. They can also occur where two oceanic plates meet and one is less dense than the other.

Question 4

What is a conservative plate boundary?

Answer 4

A constructive boundary occurs when two plates slide past one another with parallel motion. May be moving faster than the other but both plates move along the same axis. Violent earthquakes occur at these boundaries.

Question 5

What is a constructive plate boundary?

Answer 5

This is where two plates diverge and pull apart. As a gap appears between the two plates, lava can escape in a line or fissure. The lava creates new oceanic crust and forms mid-ocean ridges.