Section 3: Plate Boundaries

(Chapter 8 — Plate Tectonics)

VOCABULARY
____________________________ - a lithospheric plate boundary where two plates move apart.
____________________________ - a lithospheric plate boundary where two plates come
together.
___________________________________ - a lithospheric plate boundary where two plates slide
by each other.
__________ - a valley in the ocean created where on lithospheric plate subducts under another.

Moving plates
Three types of boundaries
• On a single moving plate of the lithosphere, the edge that moves away from things is
called a ____________________________. The edge that moves toward things is called the
_____________________________. The side of the plate that does not collide with or
move away, but simply slides by other plates is the ________________________________.

How plates move relative to each other

Divergent Boundaries
New sea-floor at mid-ocean ridges
• ________________ boundaries are found in the ocean as _______________________. As
the two plates move apart at the divergent boundary, the melted rock from the mantle fills
the space. The melted rock hardens and becomes new ocean floor.
Rift valleys
• ________________ boundaries are found on continents as ______________________.
When a rift valley is formed, it may split so wide that the sea flows into the valley.
Sometimes the rift is marked by a series of long _______, as shown by the East African Rift
Valley.

Convergent boundaries
Trenches
• When oceanic plates collide, one ____________ under the other. This forms a _________.
Why does one plate subduct under another?
• A __________ plate subducts under a less dense one. _________ plates are cooler plates,
and therefore denser than younger plates. So older plates tend to ____________ under
younger plates.
Oceanic and continental plate subduction
• When an oceanic plate and a continental plate collide, the oceanic plate ______________
under the continental plate because the oceanic plate is
made of dense basalt whereas the continental plate is made
of the less dense andesite and granite.
• _________________ ranges
are formed as a result of
_______________
boundaries when two
continents collide.
• For example, the
Himalayan Mountains are
the result of the slow but
powerful ______________
between India on the Indo-
Australian Plate and China
on the Eurasian Plate.
Transform fault boundaries
Finding boundaries
• Mid-ocean ridges and continental rift valleys are ______________ boundaries. Trenches
and mountain ranges mark ________________ boundaries.
Zig-Zags are clues
• _____________________________________ are difficult to find because they are not single
straight lines of movement. Transform faults are usually branched and often change
location with time.
• A good clue for locating transform faults is _____________. If a feature like a creek or a
highway crosses a transform fault, the movement of the fault will break, or offset the
feature.

Earthquakes are another clue

• The best way to detect transform faults is by the __________________ they cause.