What are PLATES?

Earth's crust called the lithosphere.

There are 2 types of plates. Contentential crust plates and oceanic crust plates.

These plates are constantly moving because of convection currents in the mantle.

Convection Currents

Types of Plate Boundaries:

1. Convergent: when tectonics plates move TOGETHER

2. Divergent: when tectonics plates move AWAY from each other.

3. Transform: when plate slide SIDE by SIDE

1. Tectonics plates move toward each other.

2. The denser plate will subduct beneath the less denser plate.

3. That plate will melt and become part of the matle.

4. Different convergent boundaries produce different landforms.

Convergent Boundary

1. Oceanic -Continental: forms subduction zone/volcanoes

2. Oceanic-Oceanic:

   forms trench/small islands

3. Continental - Continental :

   forms mountain ranges

Types of Convergent Boundaries

1. Plates pull apart/move in opposite directions.

2. New crust is creataed a divergent boundary.

3. Location of new rocks.

1. When 2 tectonic plates slide past each other

2. Crust is not created or destroyed, it is just changed.

3. Sometimes called a strike slip fault.

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Transform Boundary

Plate Boundary Landforms

Structures on the Earth's surface that can form near plate boundaries.

Trench & Subduction ZONE

1. Formed at a convergent boundary.

2. Can be at oceanic- oceanic boundaries or oceanic-continental boundaries.

3. The denser plate will subduct under the other.

4. The plate that is subducted will melt in the magma and can often form volcanoes and/or mountains to occur.

​Mid-Ocean Ridge

​A mid-ocean ridge is formed when 2 oceanic plates diverge. This is sometimes called Sea Floor Spreading.

This is an area in the ocean where new rock is being formed.