Plate Tectonics Theory 2 Flashcards
What are the three types of plate boundaries?
Convergent, Divergent, and Transform
Convergent Boundary
A plate boundary where two plates move towards each other.
Colliding, compressing, connecting
Cause: 3 types - ocean to ocean, O to C and C to C
Characteristics:
subduction, where one plate sinks under another
collision, where two plates crash together.
This creates features like volcanoes, mountains, and more.
Geographical Features:
Rock goes up to create folded Mountains
Rock goes under at subduction zone - Volcanoes
Divergent Boundary
A plate boundary where 2 plates move away from each other
Dividing or dissecting
Characteristics:
Plates move away
Seafloor spreading
Geographical Features:
Rift Valleys
Mid ocean ridges
Fissure volcanoes
Happens in water and on land
Transform Boundary
A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite direction
Characteristics:
Rock is pushed in two opposite directions
Cause: SHEARING
STRIKE-SLIP FAULT
Geographical Features:
Earthquake
San Andres Fault in California
Tectonic Plates Theory
The theory that pieces of Earth’s lithosphere are in constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle.
Main Features of the mid-ocean ridge
Occur along Divergent Plate Boundary
plates spread apart.
Enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt.
Typically has a depth of about 2,600 meters and rises about 2,000 meters above the deepest portion of an ocean basin.
Composed of basaltic rock formed from magma.
What is the process that causes magma to rise and create new oceanic crust?
Mid-ocean ridges along divergent plate boundaries
As the tectonic plates separate, molten rock rises to the seafloor, producing volcanic eruptions of basalt.
The magma cools into new crust
What is the role of tectonic plates in the formation of land features
Plates move together or apart to form land features
Seafloor spreading
new ocean crust is created at mid ocean ridges spreading outward and pushing older curst out
3 Types of Convergent Boundaries
Ocean to Ocean - Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Ocean to Continent - Andes Mountains, South America
Continent to Continent - like the Himalayas or the Rockies.
Subduction zone
oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle
Where do volcanos occur
Convergent Boundaries, Subduction zones
What causes plates to move
Convection from the Earth’s center
What is the process of how tectonic plate movement can lead to an earthquake
plates move side by side,
sheering,
transform boundaries
What is a Fault?
Breaks in Earth’s crust where rocks have slipped past each other.
