15 major tectonic plates and their boundaries book

It causes earthquakes, volcanoes, the rise of mountains etc. These images show the locations of the plates and their boundaries in the earths crust. The lithosphere is broken up into seven very large continental and oceansized plates, six or seven mediumsized. Voyage through time a plate tectonics page 3 of 16 boundary. This is a list of the biggest tectonic plates on earth. These seven plates make up most of the seven continents, and the pacific and atlantic oceans. A plate boundary occurs where two plates come together. The earths lithosphere is composed of seven or eight major plates. These forces shape the plates and provide important insights into how plate boundaries will evolve.

Before we talk about processes at plate boundaries, its important to point out that there are never gaps between plates. What are the names of 15 major tectonic plates answers. Frame 1 should be on top although the frames could also be ordered so that f20 is on the top, but it is useful. To the east, several smaller plates collide in various ways that also produce earthquakes and volcanoes. Rates of motions of the major plates range from less than 1 cmy to over. There is little tensional stress at transform boundaries. The concept of plate tectonics was formulated in the 1960s. The following quiz tests your knowledge on plate tectonics.

A tectonic plate also called lithospheric plate is a massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere. Ncert solutions for class 9 social science geography. The one exception is the pacific plate, which lies beneath the pacific ocean. Simply said, plates will only move if they are pulled by a. Including small ones, there are about a hundred tectonic plate. The movement of the tectonic plates creates three types of boundaries. Like the scientists before us, we will now merge the ideas of continental drift and seafloor spreading into the theory of plate tectonics. Plate tectonics information and facts national geographic. The collision buckles the edge of one or both plates, creating a mountain range or subducting one of the plates under the other, creating a deep seafloor trench.

Students will cut their maps and make puzzles for their partners to put together. Have students cut out each frame carefully along the outside frame lines. The volcanoes get younger from one end to the other. The crust upper part of the earth has been formed out of seven major and some minor plates. Movement of the plates over earths surface is termed plate tectonics. Although the seven major plates of the earth comprise most of the continental surface and the pacific ocean, the secondary plates cover the rest of the earths surface. There are a total of seven major tectonic plates which cover nearly 95% of the earths surface. Brian lazos plate tectonics project plate tectonics tectonic plates plates sectioned of earths crust and mantle that move across the earth as stated. Global plate tectonic map illustrating the major tectonic plates, their velocities in cmyr, and the major plate boundaries. Pdf introduction to plate boundaries and natural hazards. The latest classification of ingersoll and busby 1995 assigns sedimentary basins into five major groups based on their relationship to plate boundaries figure 4. Tectonic plates are defined as major and minor plates depending on their size. Earth surface lithosphere is divided into 7 major and 8 minor plates. Tectonic plates and boundaries1 tectonic plates and.

Plate, plate motions, and plate boundary processes. This supercontinent then broke apart, and over time, the continents drifted into their current locations. The plates act like a hard and rigid shell compared to earths mantle. There are 5 big tectonic plates and 12 other small tectonic plates. The earths continents are constantly moving due to the motions of the tectonic plates. The greatest quiz on tectonic plates youll ever attempt. Start with the major plates, and then work on the smaller ones. The movement of the earths major plates throughout the planets history is also responsible for the formation of the seven continents. The plates are around 100 km 62 mi thick and consist of two principal types of material. This map shows the boundaries between the major plates. The structure of the earth, plate tectonics and landforms.

Tectonic plates and plate boundaries earthquakes at a. Plate tectonics state the earths outermost layer, the lithosphere, is divided into large slabs known as plates. There are twelve main plates on the earths surface. The arrows show whether the plates are moving apart, moving together, or sliding past each other. At convergent boundaries, plates collide with one another. As you can see, some of the plates contain continents and others are mostly under the ocean. Also, known as litospheric plates, their movement is the main cause of earthquakes. Faultblock mountains form because of tensional stress. The type of plate boundary and the type of crust found on each side of the boundary determines what sort of geologic activity will be found there. I am currently studying plate tectonics and references are made to major and minor tectonic plates. Tectonic plates are pieces of earths crust and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere. The major plates are african, seeing the different types of plates will help me map out the shape of them when i design my tectonic plates, depending on which sketch i decide to go with.

One plate will usually go underneath another and form a trench whilst lifting up the other plate, 2014. Varying between 0 to 100mm per year, the movement of a plate is driven by convection in the underlying hot and viscous mantle. Tectonic plates are sometimes subdivided into three fairly arbitrary categories. List of tectonic plates simple english wikipedia, the. As you can see, some of the plates contain continents and others are mostly under the. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountainbuilding, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries in zones that may be anything from a few kilometres to a few. From mr s lolley april 2010 reply by dr ted nield these divisions are inevitably somewhat arbitrary, but by convention we recognise. Major plates edit these plates comprise the bulk of the continents and the pacific ocean. Additional plates with evidence extra credit 20 44 potential. When the ground loses its solid nature and sink while water rises. Every continent formed rises above the sea due to plate tectonics. These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries. Tectonic plates definition at, a free online dictionary with pronunciation, synonyms and translation.

The world is composed of 15 major plates and a number of other minor tectonic plates. How many tectonic plates make up earths surface answers. Convergent colliding boundaries are shown as a black line with teeth, divergent spreading boundaries as solid red lines, and transform sliding alongside boundaries as solid black lines. The earths outer shell, the lithosphere, is broken up into plates. The red lines on this map of the world represent the largest plate boundaries. The major plates are eurasia, pacific, india, australia, north america, south america, africa, and antarctic. Sections of the crust, called plates, push against each other due to forces from the molten interior of the earth. Because the plate boundaries in question 2 and 4 are exactly the same. At convergent boundaries, continental crust is created and oceanic crust is destroyed as it subducts, melts, and becomes magma. Such boundaries are highly susceptible to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. This work page has 34 fillintheblank questions for students to answer about tectonic plates and tectonic plate boundaries question topics include, but are not limited to. In fact, six of the seven major tectonic plates are named after the continents they contain. Continent very large landmass identified by convention.

The earths outermost layer is fragmented into about 15 major slabs called tectonic plates. Geological survey map of tectonic plates show 21 of the major plates, as well as their movements and boundaries. According to the theory, earth has a rigid outer layer, known as the lithosphere, which is typically about 100 km 60 miles thick and overlies a plastic moldable, partially molten layer called the asthenosphere. Closely examine the map below, which shows the 15 major tectonic plates. What are the seven major tectonic plates and which one. Theory of plate tectonics when the concept of seafloor spreading came along, scientists recognized that it was the mechanism to explain how continents could move around earths surface. However, sometimes two of the different plate tectonics unexpectedly move in the way that they are marked with their boundaries. The largest plates are the pacific plate and the north american plate. Divergent boundaries are boundaries where plates pull away from each other. Kids learn about the earth science subject of plate tectonics including major and minor plates, convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries. These types of boundaries must be plotted on a map showing their approximate locations. Tectonic plates and boundaries lecture tutorial solution 1. The india and australian plates are pushing underneath the burma and sunda plates, forming an arc of volcanoes in western indonesia. Nazca for example is neither as large nor small as many other plates.

This is a list of tectonic plates on the earths surface. These plates are generally shown on major plate maps, with. With this activity, students will use a simple paper plate and the attached world map to model and label the major tectonic plates on earth. This theoretical model builds on the concept of continental drift which was developed during the first few decades of the 20th century. Image description rates of motions of the major plates range from less than 1 cmy to over 10 cmy. Plates move at a rate of a few centimeters a year, about the same rate fingernails grow. At transform boundaries, tectonic plates move past each other and produce shear stress.

When all rectangles are cut out, stack them in order 120. The addition of continents does not change the number of plates. At divergent boundaries in the oceans, magma from deep in the earths mantle rises toward the surface and pushes apart two or more plates. It is well known that plate tectonics move very slowly on the earths crust and make changes to the earths appearance over a course of million of years. Geology2 plate tectonics from the late latin tectonicus, from the template. Tectonic setting is the principal controlling factor of lithology, chemistry, and preservation of sediment accumulations in their depocenters, the sedimentary basins.

We are only going to talk about the minor but not so minor plates and there are 7 of them. The pacific plate is the fastest, followed by the australian and nazca plates. Tectonic plates are responsible for shaping the earths crust. This video was produced by rasa juras, an undergraduate at the university.

There may be scientific consensus as to whether such plates should be considered. Warmed by the blazinghot core, the mantle churns in circular convection currents, dragging tectonic plates along for the ride. It was first met with criticism and dismissal, however since the 1960s it has become a renowned and widely accepted theory. The areas where these plates collide often have increased volcanic and earthquake activity. Chapter 8 earthquakes section 1 what are earthquakes. Sfn is a scientific theory that describes the largescale motion of earths lithosphere. Plate tectonics earthquakes discovering geology british. I love the idea of an aerial shot of a world map with the tectonic plates highlighted. Plate tectonics is the theory that earths outer shell is divided into several plates that glide over the mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core.