Which plates are interacting in what ways?

Tectonic plates can interact in one of three ways. They can move toward one another, or converge; move away from one another, or diverge; or slide past one another, a movement known as transform motion.

What are the three ways that the Earth’s plates interact?

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.

What are the four types of plate interactions?

There are four types of boundaries between tectonic plates that are defined by the movement of the plates: divergent and convergent boundaries, transform fault boundaries, and plate boundary zones.

What are the different ways in which tectonic plates interact with each other as they move around?

Tectonic plates can interact in one of three ways. They can move toward one another, or converge; move away from one another, or diverge; or slide past one another, a movement known as transform motion. All plate margins along which plate movement is occurring have one thing in common—earthquakes.

What are the 3 different types of plate boundaries?

• Divergent boundaries — where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other.
• Convergent boundaries — where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another.
• Transform boundaries — where crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide horizontally past each other.

What two interacting plates form the transform fault boundary?

San Andreas Transform Plate Boundary

The transform plate boundary between the Pacific and North American Plates in western California formed fairly recently. About 200 million years ago, a large tectonic plate (called the Farallon Plate) started to subduct beneath the western edge of North America.

What type of crust interact at convergent plate boundaries?

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. Thus, at convergent boundaries, continental crust is created and oceanic crust is destroyed.

What determines how the plates interact at their boundaries?

When plate move together we say that are converging, and so these are Convergent Plate Boundaries. How the plates interact very much depends on the type of crust at the boundary.

What major tectonic plates interact the Philippine plate?

The Philippine Sea plate is the largest of the collage of plates and marginal basins that occupy the complex boundary zone between the three major plates that converge in East Asia: the Pacific, Indo-Australian, and Eurasian/Sundaland plates (Figures 1 and 2).

How does the interaction of tectonic plates cause earthquakes?

Earthquakes occur along fault lines, cracks in Earth’s crust where tectonic plates meet. They occur where plates are subducting, spreading, slipping, or colliding. As the plates grind together, they get stuck and pressure builds up. Finally, the pressure between the plates is so great that they break loose.

How the plate interaction depends on the combination of continental or oceanic crust involved?

Plates interact with one another at boundaries in one of three ways: they diverge, converge, or slide past one another. Plates are made up of two types of crust – oceanic and continental; oceanic crust is thinner and denser than continental crust. A single plate can have both continental and oceanic crust.

How many lithospheric plates are interacting on the map?

Earth’s Major Tectonic Plates

The lithosphere is divided into a number of tectonic plates. These plates move and interact with one another, driven by convectional forces within the Earth. The map at the top of this page shows the geographic location and extent of 15 major lithospheric plates.

How do two continental plates collide?

The collision of two continental plates occurs when a sea becomes narrower until both plates collide. After collision the oceanic lithosphere breaks off and sinks into the mantle. The subduction zone eventually becomes inactive The two continents become welded together as they are compressed together over time.

What happens when two plates carrying oceanic crust collide?

When two plates carrying oceanic crust collide the more dense crust sinks under the less dense one and creates a trench. When two continental plates collide they form mountain ranges and volcanoes.

What occurs when plates collide?

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. Deep trenches are features often formed where tectonic plates are being subducted and earthquakes are common.

What happens when 3 tectonic plates collide?

Click on a diagram on the right to learn more. When an ocean plate collides with another ocean plate or with a plate carrying continents, one plate will bend and slide under the other. This process is called subduction. A deep ocean trench forms at this subduction boundary.

What are the two theories that support plate movement?

The theory of plate tectonics is what brings together continental drift and seafloor spreading. Plates are made of lithosphere topped with oceanic and/or continental crust.

What evidence best supports the plate tectonic theory?

Evidence from fossils, glaciers, and complementary coastlines helps reveal how the plates once fit together. Fossils tell us when and where plants and animals once existed. Some life “rode” on diverging plates, became isolated, and evolved into new species.

What are the 5 evidence that supports the theory of plate tectonics?

There is variety of evidence that supports the claims that plate tectonics accounts for (1) the distribution of fossils on different continents, (2) the occurrence of earthquakes, and (3) continental and ocean floor features including mountains, volcanoes, faults, and trenches.

What theory will you present to describe the movements of plates?

The theory of plate tectonics revolutionized the earth sciences by explaining how the movement of geologic plates causes mountain building, volcanoes, and earthquakes.

How is the earth’s surface affected by the movement of the tectonic plates?

Plate motions cause mountains to rise where plates push together, or converge, and continents to fracture and oceans to form where plates pull apart, or diverge. The continents are embedded in the plates and drift passively with them, which over millions of years results in significant changes in Earth’s geography.