Transcript The Birth of Plate Tectonics

The Birth of Plate Tectonics
Plate Tectonic Map of the Earth
Types of Plate Motion
When plates move away from each
other we call these plates divergent
When plates move toward each other
we call these plates convergent
When plates slide past each other we
call these plates transform faults
• At a divergent plate boundary, plates move away from each
other. The mid-Atlantic Ridge, an area near the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean, is an example of a divergent plate boundary.
• At a convergent plate boundary, plates move toward each other.
The western coast of the South American continent, where the
oceanic Nazca Plate is pushed toward and beneath the
continental portion of the South American Plate, is an example
of a convergent plate boundary.
Subduction
• At a transform plate boundary, plates slide past each other. The
San Andreas fault in California is an example of a transform plate
boundary, where the Pacific Plate slides past the North American
Plate.
Hot Spots
• Some active volcanoes are not
associated with plate boundaries.
• The Hawaiian Islands provide perhaps
the best example of a hot spot.
• The islands formed when the
northwest-moving Pacific Plate passing
over a “hot spot" provides magma to
form new volcanoes.