Plate Boundaries Geological Processes Resulting Landforms

Convergent Such destruction (recycling) of crust Mountains and mountain ranges

(Oceanic-oceanic) takes place along convergent are formed , while oceanic crust
boundaries where plates are moving is being destroyed in subduction
toward each other, and sometimes zone.
one plate sinks (is subducted) under
another. The location where sinking
of a plate occurs is called
a subduction zone.

Divergent occur along spreading centers Ridges and rift valleys are being
(continental-continental) where plates are moving apart and formed
new crust is created by magma
pushing up from the mantle. Picture
two giant conveyor belts, facing
each other but slowly moving in
opposite directions as they
transport newly formed oceanic
crust away from the ridge crest.

Convergent where crust is destroyed as one Trenches and under water

(oceanic-oceanic) plate dives under another. volcanoes
Divergent Spreading of the sea floor Mid-oceans ridges, Mid-Antlantic
(continental-continental) Ridge
Convergent Folding and uplifting Volcanic mountains
(oceanic-oceanic)
Transform faulting/ ridge spreading Faulted and fractured crust

C. Test your Understanding

1. The Divergent, Convergent and Transform boundaries. Convergent boundaries: where two
plates are colliding. Subduction zones occur when one or both of the tectonic plates are
composed of oceanic crust. The denser plate is subducted underneath the less dense plate. The
plate being forced under is eventually melted and destroyed. Divergent boundaries are where
two plates are moving apart. The space created can also fill with new crustal material sourced
from molten magma that forms below. Divergent boundaries can form within continents but
will eventually open up and become ocean basins. Transform boundaries  are where plates slide
passed each other. The relative motion of the plates is horizontal. They can occur underwater or on
land, and crust is neither destroyed nor created. Because of friction, the plates cannot simply glide past
each other. Rather, stress builds up in both plates and when it exceeds the threshold of the rocks, the
energy is released – causing earthquakes.

2. Earth’s interior is hot. The mobile rock beneath the rigid, but fragile plates that make up
Earth's lithosphere forms convection cells. Hotter material rises toward the surface, spreads
laterally at mid-ocean spreading centers, or ridges, then cools and sinks back into the depths at
subduction zones. The pull of the cooled edges of the plates sinking beneath the continents
helps drive the spreading process at mid-ocean ridges, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Because
the spreading ridges are relatively hot, they rise to depths much higher than the mean ocean
floor. Their height enables them to push the plates sideways. Hence, mantle convection in
combination with the pull of the sinking lithospheric slab and the push of the spreading ridge
act together to drive the global motion of lithospheric plates. The plates move slowly. Their
speed is measured in centimeters per year, roughly the same rate that fingernails grow. But the
motions, though slow, are inexorable. They drive the contacts between plates that produce
fundamental structures on Earth's surface, such as the elongate mountain belts of folded rock
and chains of majestic arc volcanoes.

3. They are all located nearby. Meaning there are mountain ranges and volcanoes
formed/located closely or relatively close to the location of the earthquake's epicenter. The
relative location of mountain ranges and volcanoes is very related with the location of the
epicenter because during earthquakes there are lots of geological processes and events that
happens and one of those is the formation of Mountains. We learned that Earth’s features
occur at plate boundaries. During the “when plates collide lab,” we saw that certain features
occur at each of the three types of boundaries. Ocean trenches and volcanoes form at
divergent boundaries. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain ranges can all be found at the site
of convergent boundaries. Finally, earthquakes are also found at the site of transform
boundaries. Each of our learning activities was a line of evidence. They helped us find and
explain why patterns occur at the locations of mountain ranges, ocean trenches, volcanoes, and
earthquakes.

4.  Each type of plate boundary generates distinct geologic processes and landforms. At
divergent boundaries, plates separate, forming a narrow rift valley. Here, geysers spurt super-
heated water, and magma, or molten rock, rises from the mantle and solidifies into basalt,
forming new crust. Thus, at divergent boundaries, oceanic crust is created. The mid-ocean
ridge, the Earth’s longest mountain rangethe divergence of the North American and Eurasian
plates along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge can be observed as the ridge rises above sea level. At
convergent boundaries, plates collide with one another. The collision buckles the edge of one
or both plates, creating a mountain range or subducting one of the plates under the other,
creating a deep seafloor trench. At convergent boundaries, continental crust is created and
oceanic crust is destroyed as it subducts, melts, and becomes magma. Convergent plate
movement also creates earthquakes and often forms chains of volcanoes.. Hardened mounds of
lava, called pillow lavas, were once on the bottom of the ocean where this convergence
occurred, but have been pushed up and are now visible at the surface.

5. Tectonic plates shift on top of a weak, fluid layer of rock called the asthenosphere. The
asthenosphere is part of the Earth’s upper mantle, and while it’s a layer of solid rock, it gets so
much heat and pressure from below that it flows like a liquid. When molten hot rock pushes up
from Earth’s core, it moves in opposite directions along the asthenosphere until it cools, and
sinks back down towards the core. This process is called convection, and it’s what causes huge
chunks of land to slide, separate, or collide. For tectonic plates to stop moving, the Earth’s
mantle will have to be too cold for convection to occur. If that were to happen, then it means
the Earth’s outer core has likely solidified. Normally a liquid layer, the outer core, transfers heat
between the inner core and the mantle. But if that heat-transfer process breaks down, Earth
either becomes a planet of ice, or a fireball. On one hand, if heat can’t reach the mantle or
Earth’s crust, then the whole planet might freeze. But then again, plate movement helps our
planet regulate its internal temperature, since the convection process cools down hot molten
rock from the Earth’s core.