Wow! Mr. Buckley provided so much great information yesterday. Today we recapped what was said. We talked about how plate tectonics is a little bit like bumper cars. Bumper cars are either coming together and hitting each other, moving apart, or going by each other. Tectonic plates are moving and interacting in the same way.
Convergent
When two things converge they come together. An every day example would be "I was playing Pokemon Go and we all converged on the same location to catch a Pokemon". When two plates converge, they smash together. If they are different densities, then the less dense plate will go over the more dense plate. This happens when a "continental plate" converges with a "oceanic plate". The oceanic plate is more dense, so it goes beneath the continental plate. This is called "subduction". Here's a video that show convection (the engine of plate tectonics) and subduction. We made the connection that the same principle of convection happens with wind - hot air rises and then cools and sinks. |
When two plates converge and they are the same density (such as two continental plates), then mountains form. Did you know the Himalayan mountain range and Tibetan plateau have formed as a result of the collision between the Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate which began 50 million years ago and continues today.The Himalayas are still rising by more than 1 cm per year as India continues to move northwards into Asia, which explains the occurrence of shallow focus earthquakes in the region today. However the forces of weathering and erosion are lowering the Himalayas at about the same rate. (source)
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Divergent
When two things diverge, they move apart from each other. An every day example is "We were arguing over a theme for mom's birthday party and our ideas were diverging.
When two tectonic plates diverge, they are move apart. Lava erupts at the boundary and hardens like a scar over a cut. This is how new ocean lithosphere is formed and the ocean floor gets wider. Here's a video about the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the North American and Eurasian Plates are moving away from each other.
When two things diverge, they move apart from each other. An every day example is "We were arguing over a theme for mom's birthday party and our ideas were diverging.
When two tectonic plates diverge, they are move apart. Lava erupts at the boundary and hardens like a scar over a cut. This is how new ocean lithosphere is formed and the ocean floor gets wider. Here's a video about the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the North American and Eurasian Plates are moving away from each other.
Transform
Transform is when two things slide past each other. A real life example is when two bumper cars slide past each other. Here's a video about the San Andreas Fault where the North American and Pacific plates are sliding past each other. The fault is 1300 km long, extends to at least 25 km in depth, and has a north west-south east trend. (source)
Transform is when two things slide past each other. A real life example is when two bumper cars slide past each other. Here's a video about the San Andreas Fault where the North American and Pacific plates are sliding past each other. The fault is 1300 km long, extends to at least 25 km in depth, and has a north west-south east trend. (source)