Plate Tectonics

Question 1

What is plate tectonics?

Answer 1

Earth’s crust is made up of different “plates” that move dynamically

Question 2

How can we tell where plate boundaries are?

Answer 2

Volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains, valleys, faults

Question 3

What are the different plate boundaries?

Answer 3

Divergent (pull apart)
Convergent (subduction)
Transform (strike-slip)

Question 4

What occurs through divergent plate boundaries?

Answer 4

New crust is formed as magma rises from the mantle to the Earth’s surfaces (i.e., mid-oceanic ridges, continental rifts)

Question 5

What occurs through convergent plate boundaries?

Answer 5

Crust is destroyed as heavy, dense crust descends back into the mantle

Question 6

What are the types of convergent boundaries?

Answer 6

Oceanic-continental
Oceanic-oceanic
Continental-continental

Question 7

What occurs through transform plate boundaries?

Answer 7

Crust is neither created nor destroyed