Tectonic Plate Boundaries

Page 105

Think: Plates are moving- moving away, towards, or past each other! What happens??

Plate Boundary • Place where edges of tectonic plates meet.

• 3 Different types of plate boundaries based on motion of the plates:

Convergent Boundary

• When two plate collide or crash into each other.

• 3 Possibilities:– Oceanic into Oceanic

– Oceanic into Continental

– Continental into Continental

•

Convergent Boundary

• One plate must go under the other. This is called Subduction.

• Subduction only occurs at convergent boundaries

Subduction • One tectonic plate goes under another, back into the mantle to be recycled.

Divergent Boundary

• When two plates move away from each other

• Sea floor spreading

• New lithosphere is created to fill the “gap.”

•

Transform Boundary

• Two plates slide past each other

• Lithosphere is not created or destroyed