Tectonic Plates
What are plate boundaries that pull apart from each other called?
Divergent
What are plate boundaries that collide with each other called?
Convergent
What is the Pacific Ring of Fire?
The Pacific Ring of Fire is an arc around the Pacific Ocean where many volcanoes and earthquakes are formed. This tectonic plate has the most seismic activity.
A piece of land having all sides surrounded by water is called
Island
Every map needs to include BOLTSS conventions. What does BOLTSS stand for?
B – border, O – orientation, L – legend, T- title, S – scale, S – source
What are plate boundaries that grind horizontally past each other called?
Transform
Explain convergent plate boundaries
Convergent plates push towards each other and destroy crust. As one plate slides under the other, the crust of that plate is returned to the mantle. This happens in the subduction zone.
What is seismic activity?
Seismic activity is the frequency and severity of earthquakes in a given region.
What are the two types of lithosphere?
A map legend defines features in a map. It displays the symbol followed by a text description of what that symbol represents.
Explain divergent boundaries
Divergent plates pull apart from each other. They create new crust. As the plates pull apart, magma rises to the surface and new crust is formed.
Explain transform plate boundaries
Transform plate boundaries grind horizontally past each other. Pressure builds up along the boundary and, as pressure releases, earthquakes occur. They don’t create or destroy crust — just move the rock layers.
List some short-term effects of an earthquake on a civilisation. Categorise these into social, economic and environmental.
Social – death and injury, anxiety, loss of communication
Economic – Destruction of buildings, increase of crime (looting), donating to help others
Environmental – Loss of water, destruction of gas pipes, pollution, destruction of natural food (crops)
The Earth’s mantle zone lying beneath the lithosphere is known as
Asthenosphere
When grid referencing with 6 digits, are the last three digits the eastings or northings?
The fourth, fifth and sixth digits are the northing. The fourth and fifth digits refer to the northing grid line, and the last digit is a number between 0 and 9, which indicates at what tenth of a grid square further to the north the point is located.
What landforms are created by convergent boundaries?
Mountain ranges, island arcs, trench, volcanic arc,
What landforms do transform plate boundaries create?
Fault lines
List some long-term effects of an earthquake on a civilisation. Categorise these into social, economic and environmental.
Social – Homelessness, loss of family and friends, suicide, trauma, decrease in population, increase risk of disease
Economic – Money loss, rebuilding of infrastructure is expensive, tourism loss, schools/hospitals gone
Environmental – Loss of habitats for animals, tourist attractions gone/significant landmarks
Explain how a volcanic arc is formed
A volcanic arc is formed when two converging tectonic plates collide in the lithosphere. The oceanic crust subducts under the continental crust (as it is weaker) which causes magma to rise to the surface. This creates a volcano. The force of the tectonic plates moving in an upward direction creates the volcanic arc (mountains).
When grid referencing with 6 digits, are the first three digits the eastings or northings?
The first three digits and the eastings. The first two digits refer to the easting grid line, and the third digit is a number between 0 and 9, which indicates at what tenth of a grid square further to the east the point is located.
What landforms are created by divergent plate boundaries?
Mid-ocean ridges, rift valleys,
Name the only transform plate boundary to exist
Pacific plate and the North American plate
Why are most of the world’s earthquake epicentres located on the tectonic plate boundaries?
The earthquake epicentres are mostly distributed along the boundaries of the tectonic plates because these are sites of high rates of seismic activity. At the boundaries of these plates, the increased movement of the tectonic plates causes pressure to build up until it causes a release of energy (seismic waves), resulting in an earthquake.
Explain how a trench is formed
A trench is formed when two converging tectonic plates below the oceanic and continental crust in the lithosphere collide or pushed into the mantle which destroys crust and forms a trench. A trench is a downward ditch in the ocean that stretches across the crust.
Why is 6 figure grid-referencing important?
6 figure grid-referencing is important to ensure the accuracy of locating and placing specific landforms on a map.