- Convergent boundaries: where two plates are colliding. Subduction zones occur when one or both of the tectonic plates are composed of oceanic crust. ...
- Divergent boundaries – where two plates are moving apart. ...
- Transform boundaries – where plates slide passed each other.
What are the three 3 types of plate boundaries and differentiate from each other?
Divergent boundaries : where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other. Convergent boundaries: where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another. Transform boundaries: where crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide horizontally past each other.
What are the 3 types of plate boundaries and how do they move?
The movement of the plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent, where plates move into one another; divergent, where plates move apart; and transform, where plates move sideways in relation to each other . They move at a rate of one to two inches (three to five centimeters) per year.
What are the three types of plate boundaries for kids?
- Convergent Boundaries – A convergent boundary is where two tectonic plates push together. ...
- Divergent Boundaries – A divergent boundary is one where two plates are getting pushed apart. ...
- Transform Boundaries – A transform boundary is one where two plates slide past each other.
What causes the plates to move?
The heat from radioactive processes within the planet’s interior causes the plates to move, sometimes toward and sometimes away from each other. This movement is called plate motion, or tectonic shift.
What is it called when two plates meet?
Most volcanoes, mountains, and earthquakes occur where plates meet. Places where plates meet are called plate boundaries . There are seven major plates along with countless minor plates. You can see that a plate can be made of both oceanic crust and continental crust.
In which two places do divergent boundaries occur?
Divergent boundaries are typified in the oceanic lithosphere by the rifts of the oceanic ridge system, including the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the East Pacific Rise , and in the continental lithosphere by rift valleys such as the famous East African Great Rift Valley.
What is the location where sinking of a plate occurs is called?
Convergent boundaries. ... Such destruction (recycling) of crust takes place along convergent boundaries where plates are moving toward each other, and sometimes one plate sinks (is subducted) under another. The location where sinking of a plate occurs is called a subduction zone .
Do convergent boundaries cause volcanoes?
Destructive, or convergent, plate boundaries are where the tectonic plates are moving towards each other. Volcanoes form here in two settings where either oceanic plate descends below another oceanic plate or an oceanic plate descends below a continental plate.
What are the 7 major plate boundaries?
These divisions are inevitably somewhat arbitrary, but by convention we recognise seven main or “primary” tectonic plates: these are the African Plate: Antarctic Plate, Eurasian Plate, Indo-Australian Plate, North American Plate, Pacific Plate, and South American Plate .
Which is the major plates of the earth?
The World Atlas names seven major plates: African, Antarctic, Eurasian, Indo-Australian, North American, Pacific and South American .
What are the 3 causes of plate movement?
Mantle dynamics, gravity, and Earth’s rotation taken altogether causes the plate movements. However, convectional currents are the general thought for the motion.
How do we know that the plates are moving?
The most obvious manifestation of moving plates are earthquakes . ... It is possible to use laser ranging surveys across parts of plate boundaries on land (for example the strands of the San Andreas Fault system in California) which can detect the few cm a year movement.
Are Continents still moving?
Today, we know that the continents rest on massive slabs of rock called tectonic plates. The plates are always moving and interacting in a process called plate tectonics. The continents are still moving today . ... The two continents are moving away from each other at the rate of about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) per year.
What would happen if plate tectonics stopped moving?
But without plate tectonics, Earth will simply stop making new ones . The mountains we have now would erode over a few million years, turning into low, rolling hills. Our planet would eventually flatten out, with more land ending up underwater. ... But if volcanoes are out, then so is Earth’s magnetic field.
What will happen if two oceanic plates collide?
A subduction zone is also generated when two oceanic plates collide — the older plate is forced under the younger one — and it leads to the formation of chains of volcanic islands known as island arcs. ... Earthquakes generated in a subduction zone can also give rise to tsunamis.
