Tectonic plates Flashcards
What are the 3 plate types?
- Divergent
- Convergent
- Conservative
What is a divergent plate boundary?
Plates that move away from each other
Where are divergent plate boundaries usually found?
In the middle of the oceans
What forms at divergent plate boundaries?
- Rift valleys
- Ocean ridges
- Shield volcanoes
What is a convergent plate boundary?
Plates that move towards each other, creating a subduction zone.
- Oceanic goes beneath continental as it is less dense
What forms at a convergent plate boundary?
- Strato volcanoes
- Deep ocean trenches
- Fold mountains
- Accretionary wedges
What is a conservative plate boundary?
Plates that slide past each other, creating friction
What occurs at a conservative plate boundary?
Earthquakes. For example the San Andreas fault in California
What is continental drift
The movement of continents across the surface of the globe
What is a convection current?
Heated magma rising to the crust, cools, spreads, and sinks.
What is ridge push?
Sliding and pulling apart of plates, due to gravity at divergent plate boundaries
What is convection drag?
Convection currents horizontal movement dragging plates
What is slab pull?
Cooler parts of convection currents drag the crust downwards
What are fold mountains?
Mountains created at convergent plate boundaries e.g. Himalayas
What is an ocean trench?
Deep part of the ocean created in the subduction zone
