Tectonic Plate Boundaries
Ring of Fire
An area that is surrounding the Pacific Ocean that is comprised of multiple chains of volcanic islands. This area also has an abundance of volcanic activity.
Divergent
Areas where plates move away from each other, forming either mid oceanic ridges or rift valleys.
Convergent
Areas where plates move toward each other and collide, causing uplift.
Transform
Areas where two plates grind past each other resulting in faults such as the San Andreas. Earthquakes often occur at fault lines.
Rift Zones
An area in the middle of a continental plate where the plate is beginning to separate. A large valley will form in the area as the crust thins.
Fault
A crack in the Earth's crust where rocks slide past one another. Different types of faults may form based on direction of plate movement (divergent, convergent, and transform).
Trench
A deep depression of the sea floor caused by the subduction of one plate under another
Earthquakes
Caused when two transform plates slide past each other.
Subduction Zone
Convergent boundary where an oceanic plate is pushed beneath a continental plate forming a trench. The oceanic crust melts resulting in the formation of volcanoes.
Convection Currents
Currents driven by rising hot substances and sinking cool substances. Found in the Earth's mantle. These convection currents move the tectonic plates.
Mountains
Formed when two convergent plates collide and the crust crumbles.
Oceanic Ridges
Underwater mountain ranges where the crust is spreading apart creating new ocean floor
Seafloor Spreading
When divergent plates beneath the ocean waters move apart to make new seafloor. Magma is forced up between the cracks.
Pangaea
is from the Greek origin and means "all lands"