What plate boundary was the Christchurch earthquake on?

Tectonic setting & Cause Regardless, the earthquake was created along a conservative plate margin where the Pacific Plate slid past the Australian Plate in the opposite direction. The earthquake occurred on a fault running off this major plate boundary.

What type of boundary was the 2011 Christchurch earthquake?

A group of dextral strike-slip structures, known as the Marlborough Fault System, transfer displacement between the mainly transform and convergent type plate boundaries in a complex zone at the northern end of the South Island.

What plate boundary caused the New Zealand earthquake?

Earthquakes in New Zealand occur because we are located on the boundary of two of the world’s major tectonic plates – the Pacific Plate and the Australian Plate. These plates are colliding with huge force, causing one to slowly grind over, under or alongside the other.

What plate boundary is Christchurch?

Made from data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, the map illustrates how geologic activity shaped the region and why it makes Christchurch vulnerable to earthquake damage. New Zealand sits on top of the boundary between the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates.

What happened to the tectonic plates in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake?

Eventually, the leading edge of the Pacific Plate gets forced down to depths of about 600 km where it melts into magma. To the west of the main North Island faults, fissures develop in the Indo-Australian Plate. In effect, the plate cracks as it is forced up over the Pacific Plate.

What plate boundary caused the Haiti earthquake?

Cause of the earthquake

Haiti lies right on the boundary of the Caribbean and North American plates. There was slippage along a conservative plate boundary that runs through Haiti.

Is transform boundary?

Transform boundaries are places where plates slide sideways past each other. At transform boundaries lithosphere is neither created nor destroyed. Many transform boundaries are found on the sea floor, where they connect segments of diverging mid-ocean ridges. California’s San Andreas fault is a transform boundary.

What boundary causes earthquakes?

About 80% of earthquakes occur where plates are pushed together, called convergent boundaries. Another form of convergent boundary is a collision where two continental plates meet head-on.

What type of boundary is strike-slip fault?

c) Transform Plate Boundaries

Because rocks are cut and displaced by movement in opposite direction, rocks facing each other on two sides of the fault are typically of different type and age. These structures are so-called strike-slip faults.

What is the third plate boundary?

The movement of the plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent, where plates move into one another; divergent, where plates move apart; and transform, where plates move sideways in relation to each other.

What plate boundary shows the sliding of two plates?

A transform plate boundary occurs when two plates slide past each other, horizontally. A well-known transform plate boundary is the San Andreas Fault, which is responsible for many of California’s earthquakes.

What plate boundary shows the collision of two plates?

If two tectonic plates collide, they form a convergent plate boundary. Usually, one of the converging plates will move beneath the other, a process known as subduction.

What are the 3 types of plate boundaries and where are they found?

There are three main types of plate boundaries:

• Convergent boundaries: where two plates are colliding. Subduction zones occur when one or both of the tectonic plates are composed of oceanic crust. …
• Divergent boundaries – where two plates are moving apart. …
• Transform boundaries – where plates slide passed each other.

Where do earthquakes generally occur at plate boundaries?

The Earth’s crust (the outer layer of the planet) is made up of several pieces called tectonic plates and most earthquakes occur along their edges.

Where are the plate boundaries located?

Plate boundaries. Plate boundaries are found at the edge of the lithospheric plates and are of three types, convergent, divergent and conservative. Wide zones of deformation are usually characteristic of plate boundaries because of the interaction between two plates.

Where does convergent boundary occur?

Convergent boundaries occur between oceanic-oceanic lithosphere, oceanic-continental lithosphere, and continental-continental lithosphere. The geologic features related to convergent boundaries vary depending on crust types. Plate tectonics is driven by convection cells in the mantle.

Where are divergent plate boundaries found?

mid-ocean oceanic ridges

Most divergent boundaries are located along mid-ocean oceanic ridges (although some are on land). The mid-ocean ridge system is a giant undersea mountain range, and is the largest geological feature on Earth; at 65,000 km long and about 1000 km wide, it covers 23% of Earth’s surface (Figure 4.5. 1).

Do transform boundaries cause earthquakes?

Transform boundaries typically produce large, shallow-focus earthquakes. Although earthquakes do occur in the central regions of plates, these regions do not usually have large earthquakes.

What are some examples of convergent boundaries?

The Pacific Ring of Fire is an example of a convergent plate boundary. At convergent plate boundaries, oceanic crust is often forced down into the mantle where it begins to melt. Magma rises into and through the other plate, solidifying into granite, the rock that makes up the continents.

What type of plate boundary is Mt Everest?

Convergent boundaries

Convergent boundaries are responsible for producing the deepest and tallest structures on Earth. Among those that have formed due to convergent plate boundaries are K2 and Mount Everest, the tallest peaks in the world. They formed when the Indian plate got subducted underneath the Eurasian plate.

Is the Nazca Plate convergent or divergent?

convergent boundaries

Examples of ocean-continent convergent boundaries are subduction of the Nazca Plate under South America (which has created the Andes Range) and subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate under North America (creating the mountains Garibaldi, Baker, St.

Is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge a convergent boundary?

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world.

What plate boundaries are Antarctic and South American plates?

The two longest boundaries—those with the Antarctic and South American plates—are both sinistral strike-slip boundaries (Thomas et al., 2003). The southern border with the Antarctic plate, known as the South Scotia Ridge, moves with a rate of 7.5-9.5 mm/yr.

What type of plate boundary is the mid-ocean ridge?

divergent plate boundaries

Mid-ocean ridges occur along divergent plate boundaries, where new ocean floor is created as the Earth’s tectonic plates spread apart. As the plates separate, molten rock rises to the seafloor, producing enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt.

Which plate is the Eurasian Plate?

The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia.

What type of plate boundary is Eurasian and Philippine plate?

convergent boundaries

3 show that the segments of the Philippine-Eurasia plate boundaries are different with each other though they are all convergent boundaries. The interaction between the plates could be discussed one by one in four parts: the Nankai trough, the Ryukyu trench, the Tanwan area, and the Philippine islands.

What type of plate boundaries exist in the Eurasian and Philippine plates?

The Philippine Sea Plate. The Philippine Sea plate is tectonically unusual in that almost all the boundaries are convergent. The Pacific plate is subducting beneath the Philippine Sea plate to the east while the west/northwestern part of the Philippine Sea plate is subducting beneath the continental Eurasian plate.