Post on 14-Dec-2015
DO NOW
• Take out last night’s homework – Continental Drift vs. Sea-Floor Spreading handout
• Turn to your neighbor and share your answers with your neighbor.
PLATE TECTONICS
Plate Tectonics• The idea that Earth’s surface is broken into
plates that slide slowly across the mantle• Mantle- the layer beneath the Earth’s crust
Tectonic Plates
Tectonic Plates
What causes the plates to move?• Convection currents caused by magma
The Lithosphere and Asthenosphere
• The crust and the layer of the upper mantle that form plates are called the lithosphere
• They rest on the upper mantle called the asthenosphere
• Earth has two kinds of crust: continental crust and oceanic crust– Continents are made of continental
crust, which is made up of rocks that are less dense than oceanic crust
– The ocean floor is made up of oceanic crust, which is made up of rocks that are more dense than continental crust
What is a plate boundary?
• Plate boundaries are where the edges of plates meet
• There are three types of plate boundaries• The type of boundary depends on whether
the plates are moving toward each other, separating, or sliding past each other
Three Types of Plate Boundaries
Plate Boundaries
Divergent Boundaries
• Divergent boundary- form where plates diverge, or move away from each other
- These boundaries are under oceans and build undersea mountain ranges called mid-ocean ridges
Divergent Boundaries
Convergent Boundaries
• Convergent boundary- form where plates collide -The pressure and violence at
convergent boundaries produces mountains, bands of volcanic activity, and deep ocean trenches
Convergent Boundaries• Oceanic and Continental Crust Convergent
Boundary
Convergent Boundaries• Continental and Continental Crust Convergent
Boundary
Convergent Boundaries• Oceanic and Oceanic Crust Convergent Boundary
Transform Fault Boundaries
• Transform fault boundary- form where two plates slide past each other - As plates smash and grind past
each other, there are many earthquakes
Transform Fault Boundaries