1
What are tectonic plates?
Giant pieces of the Earth's lithosphere that move and interact
True or False: The Earth's tectonic plates are constantly moving.
True
Plates move away from one another causing seafloor spreading
Divergent Boudaries
At a subduction zone of continental and oceanic crust...
A volcanic arc can form on the land
A string of islands formed by volcanoes along a deep-ocean trench
Island Arc
Name the three main types of plate boundaries
Convergent Boundaries
Divergent Boundaries
Transform Boundaries
True or False: The Pacific Plate is one of the smallest tectonic plates.
False
With a convergent boundary...
Convection currents are moving towards each other
At a subduction zone of continental and oceanic crust...
A trench is formed where the plates meet
A deep valley that forms where two plates move apart
Rift Valley
Give an example of an area where tectonic plates converge.
The Himalayas are formed by the convergence of the Indian and Eurasian plates.
What is an example of a transform boundary?
San Andreas Fault
With a divergent boundary...
Convection currents are moving away from each other
True or False: The theories of plate tectonics and continental drift are the same
False
In what way is the Pacific plate moving?
Northwest
What type of geological event is most commonly associated with transform plate boundaries?
Transform Boudaries
What is an example of a divergent boundary?
Mid Atlantic Ridge
When looking at the sea floor, the newest rocks can be found...
...At the mid-ocean ridge
When looking at the sea floor's magnetic field, you can see that...
Earth's magnetic field reverses in unpredictable patterns
Why doesn't the Earth get wider from sea floor spreading?
Subduction
When two oceanic plates pull apart, they can form a _________, or a mid-ocean ridge.
Rift
What are the effects of a convergent boundary?
subduction, trenches, earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains
At a subduction zone...
An undersea mountain chain where new ocean floor is produced; a divergent plate
Mid Ocean Ridge
Where are the oldest rocks on the ocean floor typically located near?
Near the continents