Download 6.6 NOTES What are some effects of plate tectonics? Objective

6.6 NOTES
What are some effects of plate tectonics?
Objective: Explain how plate tectonics causes changes on Earth’s
surface
Earthquakes- In some places, two tectonic plates slide past each other
at a transform boundary. The San Andreas Fault, in California, is one
example.
Mountain Building- When two plates collide, the force may push
oceanic crust under the continental crust. This causes the continental
crust to crumple. It may even be pushed upward to form mountains.
Mountains along the east and west coasts of the United States were
formed this way. They are young mountains that are still being pushed
upward.
Two plates carrying continents may collide without one plate being
pushed under the other. The Himalaya Mountains formed when the
Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate. The edges of the plates
buckled, forming the mountains.
Volcanoes- At subduction zones, oceanic plates are pushed back down
into the hot mantle. The magma collected in underground pockets
called magma chambers. When magma pushes its way through the
cracks and reaches the surface, a volcano forms. Mount St. Helens
formed this way.
Islands- The Hawaiian islands are a chain of volcanic islands in the
Pacific Ocean that formed one after the other as the Pacific plate they
were on drifted over a hot spot. A
hot spot is a place where magma
works its way to the surface within
a plate. As the plate moves along
over the hot spot, new layers of
volcanic mountains are built up.
The islands farthest northwest are
the oldest, and the islands to the
southeast are the youngest.