Tectonic Plates
Wait, what just happened? I was standing over there, I didn't move at all, well at least I don't think I did. Tectonic plates make the world move, they are what make earthquakes, volcanoes and mountain ranges too, but that's not all, there are three different boundaries and so much to learn about them. There are also a lot of plates to learn about. Oh, and I think I should tell you, you're standing on a plate right now!
Convergent Boundary
What are convergent boundary's? Well, convergent boundaries are where the plates crash and crunch together. There are three types of convergent boundaries, continental to continental, oceanic to oceanic, and continental to oceanic. When the oceanic and continental collide, the oceanic plate goes under the continental plate and creates a trench, then the rock breaks and creates and earthquake or tsunami. As the oceanic plate pushes into the continental plate, the rocks get pushed into the hotter interior, and starts a process called “subduction”, the rocks melt and rise and this creates volcanic eruptions. An example of this type of collision is on the plate of South America where the oceanic Nazca Plate is crashing into the continent of South America. The crash formed the Andes Mountains, the long string of volcanoes along the mountain crest, and the deep trench off the coast in the Pacific Ocean. The same thing happens with the oceanic to oceanic, the denser one gets pushed down under and goes through the subduction zone.
But for continental to continental, instead of one going under it collides and makes mountains. What is a Convergent Boundary? A convergent boundary is where the plates crash and collide and make volcano's and earthquakes. Are convergent boundary's dangerous to live on/by? Yes it is dangerous to live on/or by a convergent boundary because with all the colliding there would be alot of earthquakes and volcanoes that could or would harm you.What happens to the crust when the volcanoes form? When the volcanoes form the crust gets pushed under and melts and the crust becomes magma or lava for the volcano, when the volcano is active.
But for continental to continental, instead of one going under it collides and makes mountains. What is a Convergent Boundary? A convergent boundary is where the plates crash and collide and make volcano's and earthquakes. Are convergent boundary's dangerous to live on/by? Yes it is dangerous to live on/or by a convergent boundary because with all the colliding there would be alot of earthquakes and volcanoes that could or would harm you.What happens to the crust when the volcanoes form? When the volcanoes form the crust gets pushed under and melts and the crust becomes magma or lava for the volcano, when the volcano is active.
Divergent Boundary
What is a divergent boundary?
A divergent boundary is when the earths brittle surface layer (the lithosphere) is being pulled apart. it typically breaks along parallel faults that tilt slightly outward from each other. As the plates separate along the boundary, the block between the faults cracks and drops down into the soft, plastic interior (the asthenosphere). The sinking of the block forms a central valley called a rift. Magma (liquid rock) seeps upward to fill the cracks. In this way, new crust is formed along the boundary. Earthquakes occur along the faults, and volcanoes form where the magma reaches the surface. Places where plates are coming apart are called divergent boundaries. When a divergent boundary crosses land the rift valley which forms. Why does the magma have to fill up the cracks in the lithosphere? It fills the cracks in the lithosphere because it sinks into the lithosphere and forms a new crust. Is it a dangerous place to live on? Yes, because if you would live there it would be dangerous, caused by the magma that flows up and the plates split apart.
A divergent boundary is when the earths brittle surface layer (the lithosphere) is being pulled apart. it typically breaks along parallel faults that tilt slightly outward from each other. As the plates separate along the boundary, the block between the faults cracks and drops down into the soft, plastic interior (the asthenosphere). The sinking of the block forms a central valley called a rift. Magma (liquid rock) seeps upward to fill the cracks. In this way, new crust is formed along the boundary. Earthquakes occur along the faults, and volcanoes form where the magma reaches the surface. Places where plates are coming apart are called divergent boundaries. When a divergent boundary crosses land the rift valley which forms. Why does the magma have to fill up the cracks in the lithosphere? It fills the cracks in the lithosphere because it sinks into the lithosphere and forms a new crust. Is it a dangerous place to live on? Yes, because if you would live there it would be dangerous, caused by the magma that flows up and the plates split apart.
Transform Boundary
Transform boundaries are places where plates slide horizontally past each other moving in opposite directions. The result of two plates pushing against one another is massive amounts of energy built up. Occasionally this built up energy is released suddenly in the form of large earthquakes.
Perhaps the most famous transform boundary in the world is the San Andreas fault. The San Andreas fault zone is about 1,300 kilometers long and slices through two thirds of California at an average rate of about 5 centimeters per year. What is a transform boundary? When two plates slide horizontally past each other moving in opposite directions. Could a rock that is sticking out stop the plates from moving? No the plates would grind the rock down. Could the world start to break up? Yes it could happen. but at such a slow rate we do not need to worry about it.
Perhaps the most famous transform boundary in the world is the San Andreas fault. The San Andreas fault zone is about 1,300 kilometers long and slices through two thirds of California at an average rate of about 5 centimeters per year. What is a transform boundary? When two plates slide horizontally past each other moving in opposite directions. Could a rock that is sticking out stop the plates from moving? No the plates would grind the rock down. Could the world start to break up? Yes it could happen. but at such a slow rate we do not need to worry about it.
Pangaea
What is pangea? Well, let me tell you. Pangaea is the theory of continental drift. In 1912 Alfred Wegener hypothesized that at one point in time all the continents were part of one super continent called pangaea. But, is there evidence to show proof of this? Yes there is, the evidence came from the shape of the land, fossils, landforms, and the ancient ice age. How did it come from all of this? Well, South America and Africa's shape would line up perfectly. Also matching animal and plant fossils have been found on different sides of the ocean. Plus landforms like mountains and rock formations match on different continents. But wait, i never told you what the theory of drift was....... Theory of Continental Drift: The theory that over time, the continents are drifting.