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Earth
Plate Tectonics
Sea Floor Spreading
Internal Structure of the Earth
The Earth has four
internal layers:
• Crust
• Mantle
• Outer core
• Inner core
Earth’s Interior
How do we know there are four
layers?
• We don’t, it’s a theory!
• Using earthquake waves, they can tell
whether an object is a liquid or a solid, so
by using that information, they theorized
about the interior layers of the Earth
Seismic waves and the Earth’s
Interior
Layers of the Earth
• Crust
– Made out of ocean crust or continental crust
– Thinnest layer
– The one we live on
– We have never dug through this layer
• Ocean crust: Dark, dense, and thin
• Continental crust: Light, less dense, and
thicker
Ocean Vs. Continental Crust
2. The continents
on either side
begin to move
away from each
other.
What makes the plates move?
3. Dense seafloor
hits continental
land.
• Collide
• Separate
• Slide past each
other
Convergent Plates
Continent vs. Ocean
• The more dense ocean
plate slides under the less
dense continental plate –
called Subduction
• Chains of volcanoes are
formed along the edge of
continents. Also trenches
are formed off the coast of
the continent.
• The Cascade Mountain
chain is formed this way.
Convergent Plates
Ocean vs. Ocean
• Both dense plates are
pushed towards the
center of the Earth
• Extremely deep trenches
are formed, and also
chains of volcanic
islands are created
(island arcs)
• The Japanese Islands
are formed this way.
Convergent Plates
Continent vs. Continent
• When two continental plates
hit both plates are forced
up. No subduction occurs.
• Mountains are formed, not
volcanoes.
• The Himalayan Mountains
in India are formed this way.
Transform Boundary
• When one plate slides
past another.
• The most famous is
the San Andreas fault
in California.
• No creation of
anything, just
destruction.
Divergent Boundary
• When two plates
separate from each
other.
• The Mid-Atlantic ridge
is the best example.