Christine Khong

Duncan
APES- Period 2
13 December 2010
Summary About Plate Tectonics

Proposed by Alfred Wegener, the theory of continental drift stated that

all of the land masses on Earth had once formed one supercontinent which
broke apart and drifted to different locations. Evidence such as fossil
evidence, rock evidence, and that the continents can virtually fit together
like a puzzle supports this idea thus leading to the theory of plate tectonics.
The ‘floating’ plates on the Earth’s surface move or change shape due to the
convection of the asthenosphere which can cause changes in the topography
of the Earth, change the location/size of a continent, alter the climate, and/or
cause isolation between species as land is split up which may lead to the
evolution of a new species.
Three types of plate boundaries include: divergent, convergent, and
transform fault boundaries. Divergence, either between two continental
plates or two oceanic plates, move away from each other when magma rises
to the surface between them which can cause ocean ridges, seafloor
spreading, and rift zones. Rift zones can lead to a large system of faults and
could eventually tear a continent in half, currently happening in Africa in the
Red Sea. Continental- continental convergence happens when equal density
plates collide with one another, forming mountain ranges. Oceanic-
continental convergence happens when a denser oceanic plate collides with
a continental plate, plunges below the continental play, creating a
subduction zone. When the oceanic plate descends below the overriding
plate, it heats up and the friction causes the overlying rock to melt forming
magma. The magma is less dense than the rock around it so it rises to the
surface causing volcanic eruptions. Some surface features that can be found
near subduction zones are volcanoes, mountain ranges, and rugged
coastlines. Forming from oceanic- continental convergence are oceanic
trenches and volcanoes. Oceanic-oceanic convergence happens as two
oceanic plates collide, one sliding beneath the other and a similar pattern of
volcanic formations and ocean trench formations happens as in the oceanic-
continental convergence. A transform fault boundary happens when one
plate slides laterally past another. This movement can cause massive
amounts of energy to build up which can cause earthquakes. New
continental crust is created in ocean ridges and can be destroyed at
subduction zones as the ocean floor rips from the ridge and plunges at the
subduction zone.
As we can see, the movements of the tectonic plates are continuously
changing the Earth’s topography and can affect the diversity of life on Earth
by isolating or combining landmasses. The resulting activity of the tectonic
cycle also affects the Earth with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and
tsunamis.