•The Earth is made up of 3 main layers:
•Core
•Mantle
•Crust
•Core
•Mantle
•Crust
The Crust
•The Earth’s crust is divided into 12 major plates which are moved in various directions.
•This plate motion causes them to collide, pull apart, or scrape against each other.
•Each type of interaction causes a characteristic set of Earth structures or “tectonic” features.
•The word, tectonic, refers to the deformation of the crust as a consequence of plate interaction.
•This plate motion causes them to collide, pull apart, or scrape against each other.
•Each type of interaction causes a characteristic set of Earth structures or “tectonic” features.
•The word, tectonic, refers to the deformation of the crust as a consequence of plate interaction.
Plates are made of rigid lithosphere – formed of the crust and the extreme upper mantle
Plate Movement
•Plates” of lithosphere are moved around by the underlying hot mantle convection cells
How and Why do tectonic Plates move around?
•The question of how tectonic plates are moved around the globe is answered by understanding mantle convection cells.
•In the mantle hot material rises towards the lithosphere (like hot air rising out of an open oven ). The hot material reaches the base of the lithosphere where it cools and sinks back down through the mantle. The cool material is replaced by more hot material, and so on forming a large “convection cell”
•This slow but incessant movement in the mantle causes the rigid tectonic plates to move (float) around the earth surface (at an equally slow rate).
How and Why do tectonic Plates move around?
•The question of how tectonic plates are moved around the globe is answered by understanding mantle convection cells.
•In the mantle hot material rises towards the lithosphere (like hot air rising out of an open oven ). The hot material reaches the base of the lithosphere where it cools and sinks back down through the mantle. The cool material is replaced by more hot material, and so on forming a large “convection cell”
•This slow but incessant movement in the mantle causes the rigid tectonic plates to move (float) around the earth surface (at an equally slow rate).
Three types of plate boundary
Firstly, there are three types of plate boundary, each related to the movement seen along the boundary.
Divergent boundaries are where plates move away from each other
Convergent boundaries are where the plates move towards each other
Transform boundaries are where the plates slide past each other.
Divergent boundaries are where plates move away from each other
Convergent boundaries are where the plates move towards each other
Transform boundaries are where the plates slide past each other.