Plate Boundaries

From GeoClasses

Plate interactions at the boundaries explain the large scale topography of the Earth, such as the locations of mountain ranges, island arcs, ocean ridges and ocean trenches. They are also, by definition, the locations of major faults in the Earth's crust and are therefore the locations of much volcanism, and seismisity (earthquakes).

There are 3 types of boundaries;

• Divergent boundaries - where plates are moving apart.
  • It is at divergent boundaries that new crust is formed.
  • The mid-Atlantic ridge is at a divergent boundary.
• Convergent boundaries - where are plates are colliding with one another.
  • At convergent boundaries crust is subducted and destroyed.
  • The boundary between the South American plate and the Nazca plate is a good example.
• Transform boundaries - where the plates slide past one another.
  • The San Andreas fault in California is located at a transform boundary.

The major tectonic plates and their relative motions.

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