Techtonic plates Flashcards
What are the two plates in nz
Australian and pacific plate
What plate is subducting under the other
The pacific plate is subducting under thr australian plate
Can a technic plate have a oceanic crust and a continental crust
Yes
What does Continental crust + Continental crust create
It builds mountains and crumbles land
What does ocean crust + ocean crust do
Subduction/ melting
How thick is oceanic crust
5-12km
How thick is continental crust?
Thicker than oceanic crust with an average of 40km
What are the two types of crust?
Oceanic and continental
Do earths layers get hotter when you go deeper in it
Yes
How does subduction occur
Subductions happens when plate tectonics interact with each other. This happens because plate techtonics move apart from one another which can cause them to collide with another plate.
Is continental crust made mostly of less dense and buoyant granites?
Yes
Is it true oceanic crust made mostly of young dense basalt rock?
Yes
What do plates that get locked together create
Friction
Can rocks stand stress
No it causes breakage on the fault line
When is stress releashed
When plates move
Which way is the pacific plate going when it is subduction
Downwards
Whats an epicentre?
Point on the earths surface directly above the focus
Whats a focus?
Point of interest
What two directions is the alpine fault moving
Vertical and horizontal
What is the source of heat energy that creates convection currents in the mantle?
The core
Whats a convection current
Large scale movements of hot material in the mantle (including the asthenosphere)
Whats a transform boundary?
When plates are scraping past each other
Whats a divergent boundary?
When plates are moving apart
Whats a convergent boundary
When plates are colliding with each other
Whats the alpine fault
It is a transform fault. The australian plate is sliding horizontally towards the north- east, at the same time as the pacific plate is pushing up, forming the southern alps.
Is it true that the pacific plate gets warmer the deeper it subducts
Yes
True or false does the pp sub-ducts under the ap, assisted by gravity
True
How do techtonic plates cause earthquakes?
When tectonic plates, shift, they can get stuck due to the friction. As the pressure/stress builds up, the plates suddenly slip/ release of energy, causing seismic waves that shake the ground and result in an earthquake.
