Three types of plate boundaries

• Divergent (move apart)

• Convergent (come together)

• Transform (move side by side)
• Plates move apart
• Spreading centers
East Pacific Rise
Divergent Boundary

As two plates continue to

move apart, the rock in the
seafloor grows older as its
distance from the rift zone
increases
Mid-Ocean Ridge
Spreading Center
 Paleomagnetism at Divergent Plate
Boundaries
• Two plates pull apart
• New molten material rises
through Rift Zone
• Like conveyer belts, the newer
crust travels away from the
center on each side.
• Oceanic crust records reversed
and normal polarity episodes
 • Plates collide
1 2 • Subduction zones
• We observe:
3 1) Trench
2) Volcanoes
3) Earthquakes
Ocean-continent convergent boundary

Plate of oceanic crust collides with plate of continental

crust. Oceanic crust is subducted(goes under) continental
plate.
Fig.4.15a

Pacific Plate
 Ocean-ocean convergent boundary

Two oceanic crust plates collide. Older, denser plate

usually subducts, site of Island Arc formation.
 trench volcano
chain
lithosphere

asthenosphere

• Old oceanic lithosphere is more dense than

continental lithosphere -- so it sinks
 collison zone

Example: India - Asia collision is forming the Himalayas

Continent-continent convergent boundary
OROGENESIS
 Megathrust Earthquakes
Occurs when “locked” subduction zone ruptures

1. Strain accumulates.
2. Crust shortens.
3. Uplift occurs.
4. Plates unlock.
5. Crust extends rapidly,
culminating in a
megathrust earthquake
Megathrust Earthquakes
Megathrust Earthquakes: Tsunamis
 • Plates slide by
• Transform faults
• We observe:
1) Offset
surface
strike-slip features
faulting 2) Earthquakes
North American Plate

Pacific Plate
 Oceanic Fracture Zone
Transform Boundary with inactive (fracture zone)
and active (transform fault) portions.
Hotspots
 Fig.4.20

- sometimes marked by chain of islands

- less common than plate-boundary volcanoes
- different composition (deep source)

hot spot trail

Fig.4.22a
 Plate tectonics explains
chains of volcanic islands
Hot Spots
 Plates have divergent, convergent, and
transform boundaries.

the “Ring of Fire” the most seismically and volcanically active zone
in the world.
• Earth’s crust is divided into plates
• Plates move relative to one another at 1-15 cm/yr
• Plate interiors are largely undisturbed
• Deformation is concentrated at plate boundaries

Consequences:
• Plate tectonics constantly change Earth’s surface
• Earthquakes occur mostly at plate boundaries
• Volcanoes occur mostly at plate boundaries
 Why is Plate Tectonics Important?

• For us: delivers earthquakes and volcanoes

• For Earth: helps Earth cool

- spreading centers, hotspots give off heat
- subduction allows recycling of cold material

• Plate tectonics effectively “stirs” outer layer of Earth

Plate Movement
Powers the Rock
Cycle