POINTERS TO REVIEW IN SCIENCE

• Oceanic plates are plates under the oceans such as the Pacific plate and Nazca plate.
• Continental plates are plates under landmasses such as the Eurasian plate and
Arabian plate.
• Earth began as a single landmass or supercontinent called Pangaea. The term Pangaea
comes from the Greek word pan which means “all” and gaea which means “Earth”.
• Pangaea would later break into two smaller supercontinents, Gondwana and Laurasia.
These two supercontinents further split into smaller landmasses, which are the
continents today. Gondwana is composed of Africa, Antarctica, South America,
Australia, and the subcontinent of India
• A subduction zone is also generated when two oceanic plates collide — the older plate
is forced under the younger one — and it leads to the formation of chains of volcanic
islands known as island arcs.
• Convergent boundaries occur due to subduction. They are also called destructive
boundaries.
• Mountains and volcanoes are often found in the subduction zones.
• "slab pull" As lithospheric plates move away from mid ocean ridges they cool and
become denser. This helps to pull the rest of the plate down with it. resisting forces
• Convergent boundaries are classified into three types.
• Convergence may occur between an oceanic plate and continental plate (oceanic-
continental), two oceanic plates (oceanic-oceanic), or two continental plates (continental-
continental).
• Because of the plates move apart, the ridges are called divergent boundaries.
• Collisional Resistance – This force directly opposes the slab pull force. It occurs as the
heavy basaltic plate is pulled down into the mantle. The collisional force occurs because
the mantle, although less dense than the subducting plate, still resists subduction to
some extent due to friction.
• Granodite or granite – is a common rock type found within continental crust
• Basalt – is a common rock type found within oceanic crust
• Divergent boundaries are also called constructive boundaries.
• When plates diverge, oceans can form.
• A mass of land situated between two diverging plates may break apart. Over time, the
surrounding water will fill the space between broken
• The third type of plate boundary is the transform boundary, where the plates slide past
each other.
• As the plates are carried in opposite directions, the rocks that line the boundary are
crushed.
• This creates a fault valley or undersea canyon. Most earthquakes occur along transform
boundaries as the plates alternately
• Divergent boundaries between oceanic plates produced mid-ocean ridges, the
mountain ranges formed underwater. In places where molten lava or magma can move
up and fill the gap, volcanic islands are eventually formed. Molten lava that rises
eventually cools and forms part of the ocean floor. The East Pacific Rise and the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge represent divergent boundaries.
• Convergent boundaries occur when two plates slide toward each other and form either
a subduction zone or an orogenic belt.
• The transform-fault plate boundary is a margin between two plates sliding past each
other and moving in separate opposite directions. The San Andreas Fault in California
is a good example to illustrate how transform-fault plate boundaries were formed.
 Along the San Andreas Fault, the Pacific Plate, and the North American Plate slide past
each other and move in opposite directions.
• Alfred Wegener became interested in the way continents seemed to fit together at the
boundaries. Based on his hypothesis on the fit of continental shorelines, his observation
developed a theory called the “continental drift theory”.
• Christopher Scotese. The surface of the Earth is broken into large pieces that are
slowly shifting -- a gradual process called "plate tectonics." Using geological clues
to puzzle out past migrations of the continents. dafsadfgvdve