The Earth's plates are floating on the Earth's Mantel and bumping into each other and changing the Erath's landforms= Plate Tectonics!
What is causing the plates to move? the mantel has hot molten rock and magma. When it heats up, the magma rises, and when it cools it falls, causing convection currents, a cyclical motion of rising and falling.
There are different types of plate boundaries: Convergent, Divergent, and Transform Boundaries. Convergent- the moving and sinking magma pushes the plates together. Convergent boundaries can form mountains, plateaus, and hills. A special kind of convergent boundary is a Subduction Zone, where one of the plates is more dense and slides under the other plate as they come together. At a subduction zone, trenches can be formed. At divergent boundaries, the plates move away from each other, forming new land as the magma rises, cools and hardens. At a transform boundary, the plates rub next to each other. Earthquakes can occur at any plate boundary.
Note: Don't forget, we focused on the MAJOR plate boundaries. That's not to say there aren't other fault lines in the world. Other movements are occurring over time, not just at those major boundaries.
LINKS:
Good slides about all three boundaries with pictures
COOLEST FORMATIONS FROM PLATE TECTONIC MOVEMENT; National Geographic
Other amazing pictures and links about these plate boundaries:
Convergent:
Famous Mountain Ranges: Here is a list of the most famous mountain ranges.
Here are the tallest mountains in the world.
Subduction Zone: Mariana Trench- deepest part of the ocean in the world! Almost 7 miles deep and over 40 miles long!
Divergent:
New Land is formed: Rift Valley
Transform:
Plates rub together and cause intense earthquakes. Here are the top 25 most famous/most devastating earthquakes.
Video footage to see what an earthquake is like.
What is causing the plates to move? the mantel has hot molten rock and magma. When it heats up, the magma rises, and when it cools it falls, causing convection currents, a cyclical motion of rising and falling.
There are different types of plate boundaries: Convergent, Divergent, and Transform Boundaries. Convergent- the moving and sinking magma pushes the plates together. Convergent boundaries can form mountains, plateaus, and hills. A special kind of convergent boundary is a Subduction Zone, where one of the plates is more dense and slides under the other plate as they come together. At a subduction zone, trenches can be formed. At divergent boundaries, the plates move away from each other, forming new land as the magma rises, cools and hardens. At a transform boundary, the plates rub next to each other. Earthquakes can occur at any plate boundary.
Note: Don't forget, we focused on the MAJOR plate boundaries. That's not to say there aren't other fault lines in the world. Other movements are occurring over time, not just at those major boundaries.
LINKS:
Good slides about all three boundaries with pictures
COOLEST FORMATIONS FROM PLATE TECTONIC MOVEMENT; National Geographic
Other amazing pictures and links about these plate boundaries:
Convergent:
Famous Mountain Ranges: Here is a list of the most famous mountain ranges.
Here are the tallest mountains in the world.
Subduction Zone: Mariana Trench- deepest part of the ocean in the world! Almost 7 miles deep and over 40 miles long!
Divergent:
New Land is formed: Rift Valley
Transform:
Plates rub together and cause intense earthquakes. Here are the top 25 most famous/most devastating earthquakes.
Video footage to see what an earthquake is like.