THE THEORY OF PLATE
TECTONICS’ - BOUNDARIES,
STRESSES,
AND FAULTS
PREPARED BY: LYRA JOY S. ELLANIC
S10ES – Ia-j-
36.3
Explain the different processes
that occur along the plate
boundaries
1.WHAT IS THE THEORY OF PLATE
TECTONICS?
2.WHAT ARE THE THREE TYPES OF
PLATE BOUNDARIES?
WHAT ARE PLATES?
• The Earth’s crust and upper
mantle (Lithosphere) are
broken into sections called
plates
Plates move around on top of the mantle like rafts
A section of the lithosphere that slowly
moves over the asthenosphere, carrying
pieces of continental and oceanic crust.
WHAT IS THE THEORY OF PLATE
TECTONICS?
The theory that pieces of Earth’s
lithosphere are in constant motion, driven
by convection currents in the mantle.
• Plates move
slowly in
different
directions
❑ Cause different
geologic events
(like
earthquake,
volcano, etc.)
WHAT MAKES THE PLATES MOVE?
Convection Currents in the mantle move the plates as the core heats
the slowly-flowing asthenosphere (the elastic/plastic-like part of the
mantle).
Plate
Boundaries
The edges of Earth’s
plates
meet at plate
boundaries.
❖Extended deep into the
lithosphere
FAULT – BREAKS IN EARTH’S CRUST WHERE
ROCKS HAVE SLIPPED PAST EACH OTHER.
THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF PLATE
BOUNDARIES!
WHAT ARE THE THREE TYPES OF
BOUNDARIES?
• Divergent Boundaries
• Convergent Boundaries
• Transform Boundaries
A different type of plate movement
occurs along each type of
boundary.
DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES
A plate boundary where two plates move away from each
other.
🡨🡪
RIFTING
causes
SEAFLOOR SPREADING
HOW IS THE ROCK PULLED AT
DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES?
ROCK GETS THIN IN THE MIDDLE AS IT IS
PULLED APART.
THIS STRESS IS CALLED
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ROCK SNAPS
FROM THE STRESS OF TENSION?
A NORMAL FAULT (FAULT IS A BREAK IN
EARTH’S CRUST)
ROCK DROPS DOWN AS IT BREAKS
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AT DIVERGENT
BOUNDARIES?
• A geologic feature or
event…
May form RIFT VALLEYS on
continents
SEA-FLOOR
SPREADING in the
ocean
HELPFUL HINTS…
• Divergent is like “dissecting” or “dividing”
• If you pull warm bubble gum or silly putty, it will thin in the
middle until it is stressed so much that it breaks.
• Happens on land
& under H2O
FEATURES OF DIVERGENT
• BOUNDARIES
Mid-ocean ridges
• rift valleys
• fissure volcanoes
HOW IS THE ROCK PUSHED AT
CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES?
A plate boundary where two plates
move towards each other.
Boundaries between two
plates that are colliding
🡪 🡨
This stress is called COMPRESSION
CONVERGENT BOUNDARIES
• Places where
plates crash (or
crunch) together
or subduct (one
sinks under)
THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF CONVERGENT
BOUNDARIES…
Type
1
Ocean plate colliding
continental plate
with a less dense
Subduction Zone: The process by which
oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean
trench and back into the mantle at a
convergent plate boundary.
THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF CONVERGENT
BOUNDARIES…
Type
1
What else happens at Convergent Boundaries?
VOLCANOES
occur at
subduction
zones
ANDES MOUNTAINS, SOUTH AMERICA
TYPE 2
• Ocean plate colliding with another ocean plate
• The less dense plate slides under the more dense plate
creating a subduction zone called a TRENCH
ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
TYPE
•3
A continental plate colliding with
another continental plate
• Have Collision Zones:
• A place where folded and thrust
faulted mountains form.
• May form Mountain Ranges.
These are Folded Mountains, like the Himalayas or the Rockies.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ROCK IS SQUEEZED
FROM THE STRESS OF COMPRESSION?
• A REVERSE FAULT
• Rock is forced upward as
it is squeezed.
HELPFUL HINTS…
• Convergent = “Connecting” boundaries
• May work like a trash compactor smashing rock.
• Rock goes crunches up to make folded mountains.
• Rock goes down “under” @ subduction zone.
TRANSFORM BOUNDARIES
A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in
opposite direction.
HOW IS THE ROCK BROKEN AT
TRANSFORM BOUNDARIES?
• Rock is pushed
in two opposite
directions (or
sideways, but no
rock is lost)
• This stress is
called
SHEARING
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AT TRANSFORM
BOUNDARIES?
• May cause
Earthquakes when the
rock snaps from the
pressure.
• A famous fault @ a
Transform Boundary is
the San Andreas Fault
in California.
SAN ANDREAS FAULT, CA
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ROCK IS
SHEARED (OR “CUT”) FROM THE
STRESS OF SHEARING?
• A STRIKE-SLIP FAULT
• Rocks on each side of the fault
slip past each other as they
break.
HELPFUL HINTS…
• Shearing means cutting (“Shears” are like scissors)
• Transform boundaries run like trains going past each other in
different directions & they shake the ground!
PLATE BOUNDARIES:
Can you match
the boundary
name correctly
with its
diagram?
A._____________
B._____________
C._____________
PLATE BOUNDARIES:
• Correct
Answers:
A.Divergent
B.Convergent
C.Transform
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