Plate Boundaries

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I Lab Science
What happened to the frosting between
the crackers? What do the graham
crackers represent? What does the
frosting represent?
What type of feature is produced by this
movement?
What do you call this process
that creates new ocean
floor from diverging plates?
I Lab Science
What happens to the wet ends of the
crackers?
In what way do the wet crackers act more
like the real crustal plates than the dry
crackers?
What feature do the resulting ends of the
wet crackers represent?
Name a specific location on the Earth where
this type of boundary activity takes place
Type of boundary
Interacting plates Features formed
A. Converging
a. Continental – Mountain ranges,
oceanic trench
b. Continental – Tall mountain ranges
continental
c. Oceanic – oceanic Volcanic island arc
B. Diverging
a. Continental
b. Oceanic

C. Transform
Which of the above boundaries can
produce earthquakes? At which of those
is the largest earthquakes produced?
Which of the above boundaries can
produce volcanoes?
At which of the above boundaries is sea
floor created?
At which of the above boundaries
is sea floor destroyed?

Plate Boundary Boundary type Geologic Feature
N. American Plate and Pacific Plate
Near California Transform San Andreas Fault
Nazca Plate and S. American Plate Convergent Peru – Chile
Trench
S. American Plate and the African Divergent Mid – Atlantic
Plate Ridge
Pacific Plate and the Nazca Plate Divergent East pacific Rise
Cocos Plate and the Nazca Plate Convergent Galapagos
Hotspot
Juan De Fuca Plate and the N. Convergent Yellowstone
American Plate Hotspot
Australian Plate and the Antarctic Divergent Southeast Indian
Plate Ridge
N. American Plate and the Eurasian Divergent Mid Atlantic Ridge
Plate
Pacific Plate and the Philippine Plate Convergent Marianas Trench
African plate and the Arabian Plate Divergent East African Rift
What are the possible things that may
happen when plates move ?
Construction of Earth’s surface
Destruction of Earth’s surface

Give an example of how plate movement
directly affects the construction of Earth’s
surface.
Give an example of how plate movement

directly affects the destruction of Earth’s
surface.
Convergent plate boundary
• formed by tectonic plates
crashing into each other
• subduction zones
• Trench, volcanic arc
• Large earthquakes
• Oceanic – oceanic – volcanic
island arc and a trench
• Philippine islands
• Aleutian islands
• Carribean islands
• Japanese islands
• Oceanic – continental –
mountain ranges, trench
• Andes mountains
• Cascade range
• Continental - continental – tall
mountain ranges
• Himalayas
Divergent plate boundary
• Lithospheric plates move apart
from each other
• Rifts, normal faults, basaltic
volcanism
• Mid – oceanic ridge
Transform boundary
• two plates slide horizontally
past one another
• Oceanic fracture zones
• Faults
• Connect diverging zones
• San Andreas Fault
Transform boundary
• connect divergent and
convergent plate boundaries
• Ridge – ridge transform fault
• Dead Sea transform system
• Ridge – trench transform fault
• Queen Charlotte Island Fault
• Trench – trench transform fault
• Alpine Fault in New Zealand
Is it possible that more than two
tectonic plates meet at one point ?
TRIPLE JUNCTION – ridge, trench,
or transform
 RRR – three plates are moving
apart ( Afar Triangle in Africa – Arabian
Plate, Nubian plate, Somali plate )
 TTT – three plates are
pushing together
As the plates continue to
grind against each other,
what other geologic
events could take place?
The Philippine Sea Plate
• The Philippine Sea plate is tectonically unusual in
that almost all the boundaries are convergent.
– The Pacific plate is subducting beneath the Philippine
Sea plate to the east while the west/northwestern part
of the Philippine Sea plate is subducting beneath the
continental Eurasian plate.
– Transform faults are also found near
Taiwan and the Philippine trench.
• In the northern region of the Philippine Sea plate, part of the Eurasian
plate is being subducted beneath the Philippine Sea plate . This is
surprising because the Eurasian plate is mostly continental crust,
which is typically more buoyant than oceanic crust. However, the
subduction is enabled by the South China sea floor, at the southern
edge of the Eurasian plate, being more dense and moving at a faster
rate than the Philippine Sea plate (Wang et al., 2009). This drags the
Eurasian plate underneath the Philippine Sea plate, creating a unique
subduction zone suggesting the presence of a tear in the northern
region of the Philippine Sea plate. However, to the east of this, around
northern Taiwan, the Philippine Sea plate is subducting beneath the
Eurasian plate making this region considerably the most active
collisional orogen in the world for ocean-continent interactions. Large
earthquakes (Mw8.1) have occurred along the Nankai trench in 1944
and 1946 as well as several others due to the subduction of the
Philippine Sea plate along its boundaries (Smoczyk et al., 2013).
• The relative plate motion of the Philippine Sea
plate is ~80mm/yr relative to the Eurasian plate
(Smoczyk et al., 2013) and is actively in motion
today increasing the likelihood of earthquakes
and tsunamis to occur in the near future.
• Along the eastern side of the plate, the rate at
which the Pacific plate subducts beneath the
Philippine Sea plate ranges from 10 to
46mm/yr (USGS, Smoczyk et al. 2013)
Does the Earth
becomes smaller or
bigger ?
Different Faces of the Earth:
Conduct a research on one
popular and major landform
in the world and introduce it
through a BLOG.
LESSON 2 –
PLATE MOVEMENT
AND BOUNDARIES
LESSON 2 – PLATE MOVEMENT AND BOUNDARIES
ACTIVITY 4 – THE PUZZLED EARTH

Objectives
• use logic and the evidence to reconstruct the
position of large islands and continents as they
appeared 220 million years ago.
• understand the theory of continental
movement and plate tectonics.
• describe how scientists use different kinds of
evidence to form theories
Solve the puzzle to discover what the Earth looked like 220
million years ago.
1. What’s the code? Use the legend to identify the symbols on
each island or continent.
2. Puzzle me this. Look at the shapes of continents and islands.
What landmasses seem to fit together?
3. Let’s rock! Examine the evidence and try to match up
landmass boundaries that show similar rock strata, fossilized
desert belts, and dinosaur fossils.
4. Hold that Pose. Look over the arrangement of the continents
and islands and decide if the position of any of them
should change. When you are satisfied with your
map of Pangaea, tape or glue it down on the
provided sheet.
What evidences have you

gathered to support the
theory of Continental
Drift?
ALFRED WEGENER’S
THEORY OF CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Theory that continents
were once part of a single
landmass that broke apart
and have moved to their
present locations.
can drift apart from one

another and have done so
in the past
EVIDENCE 1 - Geologic
Continents “fit together” like puzzle

pieces
EVIDENCE 1 - Geologic
Mountains
Some mountain ranges on different
continents seem to match.
Ex: ranges in Canada match Norway and
Sweden
Ex: Appalachian Mountain matches UK
Mountain
EVIDENCE 3 - Climate
Climatic evidence such as glaciers in areas
that are now close to the Equator
EVIDENCE 2
Fossil Evidence
similar fossils have been discovered in
matching coastlines on different
continents.
Amazing Facts:
Did you know...
...that India was once in the

Southern Hemisphere
connected to Antarctica?
...that North America was once

surrounded by warm, tropical
seas?
...that Africa was once covered

by glaciers, which were
kilometers in thickness?
...that the Sahara desert was

once a tropical rain forest?
An example of the proof for changing climate:

Why did scientists reject

Wegener’s idea of
Continental Drift ?
He could not find the force that was

causing the continents to drift.
Because of this, he could not convince
anyone that continents could move.
He died in Greenland on an expedition.
At the time of his death, no one believed
his hypothesis!
What evidence/s did

you find that
support/s Plate
Tectonic Theory ?
Evidence For Plate Tectonics

The main evidence to support the idea of plate tectonics
focuses on the different plate boundaries. The many different
features seen at these boundaries provide overwhelming proof
that the sea floor is indeed moving, in fact, it is being recycled.
Evidences supporting Plate Tectonics :
1) Earthquakes and Volcanoes
2) Paleomagnestim A) Polar
wandering B) Magnetic Reversals and
Seafloor Spreading
3) Deep Ocean Drilling
4) Hot Spots
Earth’s lithosphere consist of relatively rigid

plates that move independently
 Plates consist of crust and lithospheric mantle
 Any individual plate contains oceanic and/or continental crust
 Each plate relatively rigid, little internal deformation
 Plate boundaries defined by active seismic and volcanic
activity
 Dynamic: new ones form, boundaries change character,
etc.
How fast do plates move?
Typically ~50 mm/yr (2 in/year),

but up to 240 mm/yr (10 in/yr).
Geologic evidence shows that
rates and directions change over
time
PLATE DRIVING FORCES

 Pull of sinking lithospheric plate
(slab) at subduction zones:
SLAB PULL. This is thought to
be the dominant mechanism
 Push of intrusion, gravity at mid-

oceanic ridges: RIDGE PUSH.
 Traction caused by motion of

asthenosphere below plate:
BASAL TRACTION

 Earthquakes and volcanoes do not occur randomly
throughout the world, but occur in rather limited belts.
These belts mark the location of Plate Boundaries.
 The largest active belt in the world
surrounds the Pacific Ocean and is
referred to as “The Pacific Ring of Mt.
Fire”. 90% of all the world’s Fuji
earthquakes occur there. Some of the

more famous volcanoes are found
surrounding the Pacific.
 These boundaries are areas where compressional forces

cause tectonic plates to move toward one another and
stress builds up. When the stress is to great, fractures
(faulting) may occur within the tectonic plates or the
plates may slip abruptly and earthquakes result.
 The boundaries are also places of high

heat flow, where molten rock rises to
the surface and forms volcanoes.
Example: Mount Saint Helens in USA.
2) Paleomagnetism (Fossil Magnetism)

 The permanent magnetism in rocks which indicate the direction of
the magnetic field when the minerals became magnetized.
 The most persuasive evidence to support the Plate Tectonic

theory comes from the study of Earth’s magnetic field. Polar
wandering and magnetic reversals in the ocean floor provide
this evidence.
 Basaltic rocks contain iron-rich minerals which become

magnetized in the direction of the magnetic field at the time
when the rock solidified. If the rocks move or if the magnetic
poles change the magnetism in the rocks retain its original
magnetic alignment. Rocks that formed millions of years ago
“remember” the location of the magnetic poles at that time.
Rock magnetism
 Certain minerals are magnetic
(e.g., magnetite, iron)
 They loose magnetization

when heated above Curie
point (580oC for iron)
 When cooled below Curie point,

magnetic grain aligns with
Earth’s magnetic field
Geomagnetic reversals
 Earth’s magnetic field “reverses”
 recorded in lava flows

2A) Polar Wandering

 Is the apparent movement of the magnetic poles as outlined from
studying the magnetism fossilized in successive basaltic lava flows
ranging in age over millions of years.
 A plot of this magnetism showed that the magnetic pole appeared
to change position considerably over the past 500 million years.
2A) Polar Wandering

 This was clear that either the magnetic pole had moved with
time, an idea known as polar wandering, or the basaltic lava
flows had moved, explained by continental drift.
 Plate Tectonic theory is believed to be the best explanation for
polar wandering. If the magnetic poles remain stationary, then
their apparent movement was caused by the drifting of
continents.
2B) Magnetic Reversals and Seafloor Spreading

 Paleomagnetism also provided evidence for the Plate Tectonic
theory when scientist discovered that the magnetic field reverses
polarity. Basaltic lavas solidifying during a time of reverse polarity
would display opposite magnetism as rocks forming today.
 Rocks with magnetism the same as our present magnetic field is
said to have normal polarity, while rocks with opposite polarity is
said to have reverse polarity.
Normal Polarity Reverse polarity
Convection Currents Asthenosphere

Magnetic Reversals and Seafloor Spreading
 This alternating magnetic polarity can be

seen in; 1) successive lava flows making up a
volcano and 2) the basaltic rock making up
the ocean floor.
 At oceanic ridges the plates move apart and

new basaltic rock is added to each plate. The
magnetism of these basaltic rocks appears to
alternate to produce identical magnetic
patterns on both sides of oceanic ridges. This
proved to be the strongest evidence to support
seafloor spreading and therefore Plate
Tectonics.
Evidence For Plate Tectonics
Seafloor Spreading
Seafloor Spreading
Proposed by Harry Hess, in the early 1960’s

 ocean ridges are above mantle upwellings, which cause seafloor to
spread, like a conveyor belt
 magma replaces seafloor as it moves away, becoming new oceanic

crust
 deep ocean trenches are locations where oceanic crust dives back
into planet
 From 1968 to 1983, the Deep Sea Drilling

Project collected convincing evidence
confirming the seafloor spreading idea and
the Plate Tectonic theory.
 Drill core samples of the ocean floor and

sediments on the ocean floor were collected
with increasing distance from ocean ridges.
 When the oldest sediment from each drill site was plotted against
the distance from the ocean ridge, it was noted that the age of the
sediment increased with increasing distance from the ridge.
 This evidence also confirmed the idea that the ocean

basins are relatively young, because no sediment older
than 160 million years was found. Continents were
dated to be 4.6 billion years.
3) Hot Spots
 Mapping of the seafloor in the Pacific revealed a chain of volcanoes
and seamounts that extend from the Hawaiian Islands to the
Midway Islands and continue north to the Aleutian trench of the
coast of Alaska.
 Scientist proposed that a plume of magma presently exist beneath
Hawaii and the Pacific plate moved over this stationary magma
chamber. This confirmed that the tectonic plates do move in
relation to earth’s interior thereby supporting the theory of Plate
Tectonics.
 Radioactive age dates of the seamounts

and volcanic islands confirm that the age Older
increases the farther away you go from
Hawaii, and the hot spot. Asthenosphere
Hot
Spot
One Word Synthesis
One word to sum up your learning…
One sentence to sum up the group’s

learning…
Materials
2 whole graham crackers
wax paper
1 rice krispy treat
Frosting ( condensed milk, mayonnaise )
Cup of water
plastic knife
ACTIVITY 11 – DRAW AND TELL AGAIN
• Answer the questions and

draw what is required. Write
and draw your response in the
third column or “ My
Response After Discussion”.

Plate Boundaries

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http://www.livescience.com/images/pangea_animation_03.

Construction of Earth’s surface

Destruction of Earth’s surface

Give an example of how plate movement

ACTIVITY 4 – THE PUZZLED EARTH

What evidences have you

can drift apart from one

Continents “fit together” like puzzle

Did you know...

...that India was once in the

...that North America was once

...that Africa was once covered

...that the Sahara desert was

An example of the proof for changing climate:

Why did scientists reject

He could not find the force that was

What evidence/s did

Evidence For Plate Tectonics

Earth’s lithosphere consist of relatively rigid

How fast do plates move?

Typically ~50 mm/yr (2 in/year),

PLATE DRIVING FORCES

 Push of intrusion, gravity at mid-

 Traction caused by motion of

1) Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Fire”. 90% of all the world’s Fuji

earthquakes occur there. Some of the

1) Earthquakes and Volcanoes

 These boundaries are areas where compressional forces

 The boundaries are also places of high

2) Paleomagnetism (Fossil Magnetism)

 The most persuasive evidence to support the Plate Tectonic

 Basaltic rocks contain iron-rich minerals which become

 They loose magnetization

 When cooled below Curie point,

 recorded in lava flows

2A) Polar Wandering

2A) Polar Wandering

2B) Magnetic Reversals and Seafloor Spreading

Normal Polarity Reverse polarity

Convection Currents Asthenosphere

Magnetic Reversals and Seafloor Spreading

 This alternating magnetic polarity can be

 At oceanic ridges the plates move apart and

Evidence For Plate Tectonics

Proposed by Harry Hess, in the early 1960’s

 magma replaces seafloor as it moves away, becoming new oceanic

 From 1968 to 1983, the Deep Sea Drilling

 Drill core samples of the ocean floor and

 This evidence also confirmed the idea that the ocean

 Radioactive age dates of the seamounts

One Word Synthesis

One word to sum up your learning…

One sentence to sum up the group’s

• Answer the questions and

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