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Plate Tectonics

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Plate boundaries

All major interactions among individual plates occur along their boundaries.

Plate tectonic map showing the location of volcanoes adjacent to subduction zones

Image source:  "Map plate tectonics world" by United States Geological Survey is in the Public Domain


There are three types of plate boundaries:

Divergent Plate Boundary

Two plates moving away from each other.

Graphic showing a cutaway of the Earth through a spreading center. Mantle material is rising up, cooling to form new crust, which is pushed aside as new mantle material rises up.

Image source:  "Oceanic-oceanic constructive plate boundary" by domdomegg is licensed under CC BY 4.0

 

Convergent Plate Boundary

Two plates coming towards each other.

Cutaway view of the Earth showing a subduction zone, with the oceanic plate being pushed into the mantle as it collides with the continental plate.

Image source:  "Oceanic-continental destructive plate boundary" by domdomegg is licensed under CC BY 4.0

 

Transform Plate Boundary

Two plates sliding past one another.

Cutaway view of the crust through a transform fault, where one side is sliding past the other horizontally.

Image source:  "Continental-continental conservative plate boundary opposite directions" by domdomegg is licensed under CC BY 4.0

 

 

Plate boundaries change over geologic time.

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