Plate Tectonics

Plate: large rock surfaces along which

rocks can break or move
Plate Tectonics: Primary process that
creates earthquakes and volcanoes and
determines the geography of Earths
surface
The USA is almost completely on the
North American Plate
Plate Tectonics
Three Types Plate
Tectonics
1. Divergent plate boundaries
2. Transform plate boundaries
3. Convergent plate boundaries
Divergent Plate Boundaries
Magma rises from
under the crust.
Two plates divide and
are steadily pushed
apart.
New crust is created.
Ex. Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Transform Plate Boundaries
Two plates slide next to each
other.
They create friction that leads
to earthquakes along strike-slip
faults
Strike-slip Fault: an extended
crack in the crust that breaks
down the rocks on either side.

Ex. Pacific Plate and North American Plate
San Andreas Fault, making California a
place with many earthquake.
Convergent Plate Boundaries
Plates collide
together causing
a. one plate to slide beneath
another in subduction,
causing magma to emerge in
volcanoes

a. both plates to lift, creating
new mountain ranges

Ex. Mt. Saint Helens of the Cascades.

Ex. Himalayas and Appalachian Mountains