Study

Tectonic plates

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  • Why is a divergent boundary also called a constructive boundary?
    Magma flows up between the plates and forms new lithosphere.
  • Which layer of the Earth is the hottest?
    The inner core.
  • At which type of plate boundary is one plate pushed down into the mantle?
    Convergent or destructive boundary (The plate that is pushed down into the mantle is the one that is destroyed)
  • What part of the Earth is broken into 'plates'?
    The lithosphere.
  • Tectonic plates move because of this.
    Mantle convection currents (and slab pull force)
  • What will you find in places where an oceanic plate subducts under a continental one?
    A coastal (volcanic) mountain range
  • A land feature that is produced at a convergent boundary is
    A volcanic mountain range, an arc of volcanic islands...
  • What is Pangea?
    A single gigantic continent that existed 250 million years ago.
  • Transform faults, such as the San Andreas Fault system in California, occur where?
    Transform faults occur on boundaries where plates are sliding past each other.
  • Plates do not move smoothly. The rocks on either side become jammed together and incredibly large forces build up as the plates either side continue to move. When the plates finally become 'unstuck', which natural hazards occur?
    Earthquakes are formed when rocks move in this way (not volcanoes).
  • What happens in the boundaries where mid-ocean ridges form?
    Mid-ocean ridges form on boundaries where plates are spreading apart.
  • Type of boundary in the image
    Transform
  • The Mid-Atlantic Ridge or chain of volcanoes formed underneath the Atlantic Ocean is created by what kind of plate boundary?
    Divergent or constructive boundary.
  • Type of boundary where lithosphere is constantly being made up.
    The oceanic crust is constantly being created where plates are separating at divergent boundaries.
  • What kind of plate boundary results to the formation of an Island arc?
    A convergent boundary
  • What are the tectonic plates composed of?
    Continental and/or oceanic crust plus a small part of the upper mantle.
  • What process is building the Himalayas, the tallest mountains on Earth?
    Two continental plates colliding is the process that built the Himalayas.
  • At which type of plate boundary do you get only earthquakes?
    Transform boundary (Plates slide sideways past each other so there is no melting of rocks or gaps through which molten magma can squeeze up from below).
  • Name in order the inner layers of the Earth (4 or more).
    Crust, Mantle (or Upper mantle, Lower mantle), Outer core, Inner core.
  • The movement of plates at a divergent boundary
    They move away from each other