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Lesson 3. Plate Tectonics Notes

This document discusses plate tectonics and different types of plate boundaries. It explains that there are seven major tectonic plates and many smaller plates that are constantly moving via the process of tectonics. The three main types of plate boundaries are convergent boundaries, where plates collide and mountains are formed; divergent boundaries, where plates spread apart and mid-ocean ridges are formed; and transform boundaries, where plates slide past each other like the San Andreas Fault. Various geological features result from the different boundary types, such as volcanoes occurring near subduction zones and earthquakes being common along the Ring of Fire circum-Pacific belt.

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236 views12 pages

Lesson 3. Plate Tectonics Notes

This document discusses plate tectonics and different types of plate boundaries. It explains that there are seven major tectonic plates and many smaller plates that are constantly moving via the process of tectonics. The three main types of plate boundaries are convergent boundaries, where plates collide and mountains are formed; divergent boundaries, where plates spread apart and mid-ocean ridges are formed; and transform boundaries, where plates slide past each other like the San Andreas Fault. Various geological features result from the different boundary types, such as volcanoes occurring near subduction zones and earthquakes being common along the Ring of Fire circum-Pacific belt.

Uploaded by

Ryan Aint simp
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

LESSON 3.

PLATE TE C T ON IC S
Map of Plate Boundaries
•THERE ARE SEVEN RELATIVELY LARGE PLATES
AND A NUMBER OF SMALLER ONES, INCLUDING
THE PHILIPPINE PLATE.
•THE PLATES MOVE VERY SLOWLY BUT
CONSTANTLY, AND THIS MOVEMENT IS CALLED
TECTONICS; THUS THE THEORY OF MOVING
LITHOSPHERIC PLATES IS CALLED PLATE
TECTONICS THEORY.
TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARIES
• THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARIES.
• FOR EXAMPLE, SECTIONS OF EARTH’S CRUST CAN COME
TOGETHER AND COLLIDE (A “CONVERGENT” PLATE BOUNDARY),
SPREAD APART (A “DIVERGENT” PLATE BOUNDARY), OR SLIDE
PAST ONE ANOTHER (A “TRANSFORM” PLATE BOUNDARY). EACH
OF THESE TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARIES IS ASSOCIATED WITH
DIFFERENT GEOLOGICAL FEATURES.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/plate-boundaries
• TYPICALLY, A CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY—SUCH AS THE ONE
BETWEEN THE INDIAN PLATE AND THE EURASIAN PLATE—FORMS
TOWERING MOUNTAIN RANGES, LIKE THE HIMALAYA, AS EARTH’S
CRUST IS CRUMPLED AND PUSHED UPWARD.
• IN SOME CASES, HOWEVER, A CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY CAN
RESULT IN ONE TECTONIC PLATE DIVING UNDERNEATH ANOTHER.
THIS PROCESS, CALLED “SUBDUCTION,” INVOLVES AN OLDER,
DENSER TECTONIC PLATE BEING FORCED DEEP INTO THE PLANET
UNDERNEATH A YOUNGER, LESS-DENSE TECTONIC PLATE. WHEN THIS
PROCESS OCCURS IN THE OCEAN, AN OCEAN TRENCH CAN FORM.
THESE TRENCHES ARE SOME OF THE DEEPEST PLACES IN THE OCEAN,
AND THEY ARE OFTEN THE SITES OF STRONG EARTHQUAKES.
•WHEN SUBDUCTION OCCURS, A CHAIN
OF VOLCANOES OFTEN DEVELOPS NEAR
THE CONVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY.
ONE SUCH CHAIN OF VOLCANOES CAN BE
FOUND ON THE WESTERN COAST OF THE
UNITED STATES, SPANNING ACROSS THE
STATES OF CALIFORNIA, OREGON, AND
WASHINGTON.
•A DIVERGENT PLATE BOUNDARY OFTEN FORMS
A MOUNTAIN CHAIN KNOWN AS A RIDGE. THIS FEATURE
FORMS AS MAGMA ESCAPES INTO THE SPACE BETWEEN
THE SPREADING TECTONIC PLATES. ONE EXAMPLE OF A
RIDGE IS THE MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE, AN UNDERSEA
CHAIN OF MOUNTAINS THAT FORMED AS TWO PAIRS
OF TECTONIC PLATES SPREAD APART: THE NORTH
AMERICAN PLATE AND THE EURASIAN PLATE IN THE
NORTH, AND THE SOUTH AMERICAN PLATE AND THE
AFRICAN PLATE IN THE SOUTH.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge in Iceland
•A TRANSFORM PLATE BOUNDARY OCCURS WHEN
TWO PLATES SLIDE PAST EACH OTHER, HORIZONTALLY.
A WELL-KNOWN TRANSFORM PLATE BOUNDARY IS THE
SAN ANDREAS FAULT, WHICH IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY
OF CALIFORNIA’S EARTHQUAKES.
• A SINGLE TECTONIC PLATE CAN HAVE MULTIPLE TYPES
OF PLATE BOUNDARIES WITH THE OTHER PLATES THAT
SURROUND IT. FOR INSTANCE, THE PACIFIC PLATE, ONE
OF EARTH’S LARGEST TECTONIC PLATES, INCLUDES
CONVERGENT, DIVERGENT, AND
TRANSFORM PLATE BOUNDARIES.
•THE RING OF FIRE, ALSO REFERRED TO AS
THE CIRCUM-PACIFIC BELT, IS A PATH ALONG
THE PACIFIC OCEAN CHARACTERIZED BY
ACTIVE VOLCANOES AND FREQUENT
EARTHQUAKES. THE MAJORITY OF EARTH’S
VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES TAKE PLACE
ALONG THE RING OF FIRE.

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