Download Plate Tectonics and Land Forms Notes

Plate Tectonics and Landforms
Essential Question:
How does the movement of tectonic
plates result in landforms?
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Structure of Planet Earth
• Earth’s Layers
– Crust
– Mantle
– Core
• Mechanical Layers
–
–
–
–
–
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Mesosphere
Outer Core
Inner Core
Earth’s Crust
• Earth’s thin outermost
layer made of solid
rock.
• Continental Crust
– LAND
• less dense rock
• Oceanic Crust
– SEA FLOOR
• more dense rock
Earth’s Mantle
• Earth’s thickest layer
• Made of dense iron-rich super heated soft
rock.
Earth’s Cores
• Earth’s innermost layers made of hot, dense
iron and nickel.
– Outer core - Liquid
– Inner core - Solid
Earth’s Lithosphere
• Includes the crust and
solid upper part of the
mantle.
• Broken up into Earth’s
Tectonic Plates
The Lithosphere
Earth’s Tectonic Plates
Earth’s Asthenosphere
• Part of the Earth’s mantle
• Made of super heated semisolid rock
• Differences in temperature
and pressure cause it to
move slowly
– Causes the Earth’s
tectonic plates to move
Tectonic Plate Boundaries
Convergent Boundaries
Tectonic plates collide
Crustal Features Formed:
– Mountain Ranges
• Continental/Continental crust
(similar densities)
• Plates buckle up
Subduction Zones
– Deep Sea Trenches
– Volcanic Mountains
– Islands Arcs
• Continental/Oceanic crust
• Oceanic/Oceanic crust
Subduction Zones
One tectonic plate subducts or goes under another
tectonic plate at a convergent boundary.
Forms trenches, volcanoes and island arcs
Island Arcs
A chain of volcanic islands formed at a convergent
plate boundary where subduction occurs.
Divergent Boundaries
Tectonic plates move apart
Crustal Features Formed:
• Mid-Ocean Ridges
– In oceans
• Rift Valleys
– On Land
Mid-Ocean Ridges – Underwater chains of
volcanic mountains where sea floor
spreading occurs
Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Transform Boundaries
Tectonic plates slide against each other horizontally
Crustal Feature Formed:
•
Fault lines
–
Most found on the ocean floor
San Andreas Fault in California
Ring of Fire
Volcanoes and earthquakes around the Pacific
Ocean caused by tectonic plates colliding into
creating subduction zones at convergent
boundaries.
Hot Spots
• Areas in the middle of tectonic plates where
magma inside the Earth rises through the
crust and forms volcanoes.
• Like the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaii Islands
Chain of volcanoes created by a hot spot in the middle of the
pacific plate
Yellowstone National park
Super Volcano
• Underground
volcano created
by a hot spot on
the North
American Plate