THE THEORY OF PLATE
TECTONICS’ - BOUNDARIES,
STRESSES,
AND FAULTS
PREPARED BY: TYPE YOUR NAME HERE
S10ES – Ia-j-
36.3
Explain the different processes
that occur along the plate
boundaries
[Link] IS THE THEORY OF PLATE
TECTONICS?
[Link] ARE THE THREE TYPES OF
PLATE BOUNDARIES?
WHAT ARE PLATES?
• The Earth’s crust and upper
mantle (Lithosphere) are
broken into sections called
plates
Plates move around on top of the mantle like rafts
A section of the lithosphere that slowly
moves over the asthenosphere, carrying
pieces of continental and oceanic crust.
WHAT IS THE THEORY OF PLATE
TECTONICS?
The theory that pieces of Earth’s
lithosphere are in constant motion, driven
by convection currents in the mantle.
• Plates move
slowly in
different
directions
❑ Cause different
geologic events
(like
earthquake,
volcano, etc.)
WHAT MAKES THE PLATES MOVE?
Convection Currents in the mantle move the plates as the core heats
the slowly-flowing asthenosphere (the elastic/plastic-like part of the
mantle).
Plate
Boundaries
The edges of Earth’s
plates
meet at plate
boundaries.
❖Extended deep into the
lithosphere
FAULT – BREAKS IN EARTH’S CRUST WHERE
ROCKS HAVE SLIPPED PAST EACH OTHER.
THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF PLATE
BOUNDARIES!
WHAT ARE THE THREE TYPES OF
BOUNDARIES?
• Divergent Boundaries
• Convergent Boundaries
• Transform Boundaries
A different type of plate movement
occurs along each type of
boundary.
DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES
A plate boundary where two plates move away from each
other.
Along this
boundaries,
Earthquake are
common and
magma(molten
rock) rises from
the earths mantle
solidifying to
create oceanic
crust.
RIFTING
causes
SEAFLOOR SPREADING
HOW IS THE ROCK PULLED AT
DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES?
ROCK GETS THIN IN THE MIDDLE AS IT IS
PULLED APART.
THIS STRESS IS CALLED
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ROCK SNAPS
FROM THE STRESS OF TENSION?
A NORMAL FAULT (FAULT IS A BREAK IN
EARTH’S CRUST)
ROCK DROPS DOWN AS IT BREAKS
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AT DIVERGENT
BOUNDARIES?
• A geologic feature or
event…
May form RIFT VALLEYS on
continents
SEA-FLOOR
SPREADING in the
ocean
HELPFUL HINTS…
• Divergent is like “dissecting” or “dividing”
• If you pull warm bubble gum or silly putty, it will thin
in the middle until it is stressed so much that it
breaks.
• Happens on land
& under water
FEATURES OF DIVERGENT
BOUNDARIES
• Mid-ocean ridges
• rift valleys
• fissure volcanoes
Features of Divergent
Boundaries
• Mid – ocean Ridge – a continuous
underwater mountain range formed
by volcanic activity where tectonic
plates diverge and new oceanic crust
is created
Rift Valey
• Is a low land
region that forms
where earths
tectonic plates
move apart or rift.
They are found on
land and the
bottom of the
ocean where they
are created by
tectonic activity
Fissure Volcanoes
• A type of volcano
characterized by
eruptions along
elongated cracks
or fractures in the
earths surface
rather that
through central
craters.
Convergent Boundaries
This is when two plates come together and move
towards each other.
The impact of
colliding plates can cause
the edges of one or both
plates to buckle up into
mountain ranges or one
of the plates may bend
down into a deep seafloor
trench.
This stress is called COMPRESSION
CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES
• Places where
plates crash (or
crunch) together
or subduct (one
sinks under)
THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF CONVERGENT
BOUNDARIES…
Continental – oceanic Oceanic – Oceanic Continental - continental
Ocean plate colliding with a less dense
continental plate
Subduction Zone: The process by which
oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean
trench and back into the mantle at a
convergent plate boundary.
THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF CONVERGENT
BOUNDARIES…
1. Oceanic -
Continental
What else happens at Convergent Boundaries?
VOLCANOES
occur at
subduction
zones
An oceanic plates sub
ducts under continental
plates. This process ca
lead to the formation of
volcanic mountain
ranges on the continent,
as well as the deep
ocean trenches.
ANDES MOUNTAINS, SOUTH AMERICA
2. Oceanic – Oceanic
This happened when two oceanic plates collide forming deep
ocean trenches and volcanic island arcs.
• Ocean plate colliding with another ocean plate
• The less dense plate slides under the more dense plate
creating a subduction zone called a TRENCH
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
3. Continental –Continental – When
two continental plates collide, they crumpled and fold
creating massive mountain ranges.
• A continental plate colliding with
another continental plate
• Have Collision Zones:
• A place where folded and thrust
faulted mountains form.
• May form Mountain Ranges.
These are Folded Mountains, like the Himalayas or the Rockies.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ROCK IS SQUEEZED
FROM THE STRESS OF COMPRESSION?
• A REVERSE FAULT
• Rock is forced upward as
it is squeezed.
HELPFUL HINTS…
• Convergent = “Connecting” boundaries
• May work like a trash compactor smashing rock.
• Rock goes crunches up to make folded mountains.
• Rock goes down “under” @ subduction zone.
TRANSFORM BOUNDARIES
A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in
opposite direction.
HOW IS THE ROCK BROKEN AT
TRANSFORM BOUNDARIES?
• Rock is pushed
in two opposite
directions (or
sideways, but no
rock is lost)
• This stress is
called
SHEARING
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AT TRANSFORM
BOUNDARIES?
• May cause
Earthquakes when the
rock snaps from the
pressure.
• A famous fault @ a
Transform Boundary is
the San Andreas Fault
in California.
SAN ANDREAS FAULT, CA
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ROCK IS
SHEARED (OR “CUT”) FROM THE
STRESS OF SHEARING?
• A STRIKE-SLIP FAULT
• Rocks on each side of the fault
slip past each other as they
break.
HELPFUL HINTS…
• Shearing means cutting (“Shears” are like scissors)
• Transform boundaries run like trains going past each other in
different directions & they shake the ground!
PLATE BOUNDARIES:
Can you match
the boundary
name correctly
with its
diagram?
A._____________
B._____________
C._____________
PLATE BOUNDARIES:
• Correct
Answers:
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
Activity No. 2
Going Separate Ways
I. Objective;
1. Explain the processes that occur along
divergent boundaries.
2. Determine the results of plates that are
moving apart.
II. Materials: photographs of rift valley, ocean
ridges and divergent boundaries plate.
III. Procedure:
1. Analyzed the photographs
of rift valleys (topmost picture)
and oceanic ridges below, and
answer the questions that
follow.
IV. Data ( Please paste pictures
here)
V. Guide Questions:
1. What are common in the two
pictures?
2. Millions of years ago the land
masses in each picture were once
connected. What do you think is
happening to the earth’s crust to those
pictures?
3. If this event continues for
millions of years, what do you think will
4. Complete the drawing
below to illustrate your
answer in question number 3.
Paste here the picture of divergent
boundaries
Draw/ illustrate divergent
boundaries after millions of
years
