Plate Tectonics

Question 1

How do plates move

Answer 1

Magma moves in convection currents, this makes the crustal plates crash together, pull apart, and slide past each other. This causes earthquakes etc.

Question 2

What happens when plates collide?

Answer 2

Crust is destroyed called a destructive plate boundary this causes fold maintains, volcanoes etc.

Question 3

What happens when two plates separate?

Answer 3

Magma comes to the surface to fill the gap. Lava cools and hardens into basalt, new crust is formed - called constructive plate boundary. Happens on ocean floors.

Question 4

What happens when two plates slide past each other

Answer 4

called a transform plate boundary. We see this as a line on earth’s surface called a fault line. Usually plates slide smoothly causing small harmless earthquakes. Sometimes they get stuck and build up great pressure, till they slip releasing the pressure. This causes a destructive earthquake.

Question 5

What are the three types of plate boundaries?

Answer 5

Destructive, constructive and transform boundary