Plate Tectonics Project

Plate Boundaries:

Convergent; Oceanic Vs. Oceanic: a plate tha is more dense sinks into a trech.

Convergent; Continetal Vs.Continetal: SInce they ar eboth equal, they ush against each other forming a mountain (himalayas)

Convergent; Oceanic Vs. Continetal: More dense oceanic crust sinks under the continetal pushing it up. (indies)

Divergent; Oceanic: Splits the land underwater making a mid-ocea ridge.

Divegent; Continetal: Splits the land up and turns the divergent boundary into a convergent boundary.

Transform: Plates that slide past each other in opposite diretions.

Crust Types:

Continetal: On land, younger, less dense, thicker

Oceanic: Underwater, older, more dense, thinner

Landforms Created by Plate Tectonics:

Deep Ocean Trench: A proceess taking tens of millons of years where part of the ocean floor sinks bak into the mantle (bends downward)

Mid Ocean Ridge: Forms long chains of mountians that rise up from the ocean floor.

Volcano: Produce earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain ranges

d.                  Continents have split and been together many times.

4.        Plate boundaries

a.                  Faults- breaks in Earth’s crust where rocks have slipped past each other.

b.                  Convection currents make the plates move

                                               i. As they move they pull apart, collide, or grind past each other.

1.                  Includes the formation of volcanoes, mountain ranges, and trenches

mountans:   Includes the formation of volcanoes, mountain ranges, and trenches

rift vally:                     Rift valley- where pieces of land diverge on land, a deep valley.

Other Terms:

subduction: during subduction, Gravity pulls denser plate edges downword into the mantle.

Magma: hot fluid or semifluid material below or within the earth's crust from which lava and other igneous rock is formed on cooling.

Sea floor spreading: The size of our oceans are determend by how fast new crust is creted at mid ocean ridge and how fast it goes back to the mantle.

Convection: Make the plates move

New crust being formed: It happens from the mid ocean ridge.

Earthquake-prone area:  Mexico is one of the most seismically active countries on the planet. It sits atop three of the largest tectonic plates on Earth: the North American plate, the Cocos Plate, and the Pacific Plate. Earthquakes occur anytime these plates grind or butt up against each other.