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Plate Tectonics

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Plate tectonics is a result of the cooling of our planet.

 

Isostacy

Mantle material moves:

 

Mantle Convection

Hot mantle material moves up from the core, cools beneath the crust, them moves down to the core.  This not only helps to cool the Earth but helps drive plate motion.

 

Plates move in response

Plate motion

Movement Description

 Visual Image

Apart – divergent plate boundaries

 two arrows moving away from each other

Together – convergent plate boundaries

 two arrows moving away towards each other

Slide past – transform plate boundaries

 two arrows sliding past each other in opposite directions

Hot spots also release heat

Image sources:  own work by  Sonjia Leyva © 2020.

 

Profile extending from the continental margin (left), dropping off to the deep sea floor, where there is a spreading center in the middle. The abyssal plain continues to the left before subducting beneath another continental plate on the right. Locations of the spreading center, subduction zone, and transform faults are noted.

Image sources:  own work by  Sonjia Leyva © 2020.

 

Divergent vs. Convergent Boundaries

Divergent plate boundaries

Convergent plate boundaries

Break tectonic plates into smaller pieces

Creates new ocean basins.

Combines two or more tectonic plates into larger ones.

Creates mountain belts and volcanoes

 

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copyright Sonjia Leyva 2022

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