1.3 Meet the Plate Boundaries

After your reading assignment earlier this week, you should understand that plate tectonics is a pretty solid theory that explains how the Earth’s lithosphere is segmented into rigid “plates” that slowly move along the more putty-like mantle or asthenosphere. Different types of things happen, however, when these plates meet at boundaries.

Terminology Review!

Once Again, let’s get comfortable with using some of the words to describe plate boundaries and their processes. Some of these you may have learned from the previous section on Earth’s interior, although others apply specifically to plate tectonics.

You’ve seen diagrams and explanations of these boundaries.

Time to get comfortable identifying, describing, and thinking critically about what happens at them!

Tectonic Features

Convergent boundaries smash two plates together. Divergent plates pull apart. Transform plates grind past one another. These are the basic ways in which the Earth’s upper surface behaves to create rich landscapes such as valleys, mountains, volcanoes, rifts, and much more! It’s all a matter of linking each feature to each tectonic process!