Plate Boundaries

Earth is made of four layers.

We live on the crust, made of cool rocks and oceans.

Next, we have the mantle made of hot liquid rock.

Then we have the inner and outer core. They are extremely hot and made of metal.

Scientists made inferences about the inner layers. We cannot really dig through the Earth because the inner layers are so hot.

The crust is made of solid rock called Plates. There are 12 main plates.

Remember that the plates are solid, but they are floating on the mantle, which is liquid. ​

So, the plates ​move due to changes that happen in the mantle below.

The movement of the plates is called Plate Tectonics.​

A boundary divides two things.

Most changes in the geosphere happen at boundaries between two plates.

To make the geosphere easier to study, scientists classify the boundaries into three types:

• Divergent

• Convergent

• Transform

​

"​Verge" means boundary.

A divergent boundary is a place where two plates spread apart.​

A convergent boundary is a place where two plates come together.

A transform boundary is a place where plates ru​b against each other.

​