Plate Margins Flashcards
Do volcanoes and earthquakes occur at all plate margins?
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Volcanoes and earthquakes occur at all plate boundaries except at a conservative margin where only earthquakes happen.
Do volcanoes and earthquakes occur at all plate margins?
What are the characteristics of the mantle?
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The thickest section of the Earth. Approximately 2900km.
It is made up of semi-molten rock called magma.
What are the characteristics of the mantle?
Some volcanoes occur in the middle of plates. What are these known as?
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Volcanic hotspots
Some volcanoes occur in the middle of plates. What are these known as?
Describe the physical processes that happen at constructive plate margin.
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At a constructive plate margin magma rises between two tectonic plates. The plates move away from each other due to ridge push and slab pull. The magma cools to form a new plate. On land rift valleys form such as the East African rift valley. Where two oceanic plates move apart new islands can be formed e.g. Iceland.
Describe the physical processes that happen at constructive plate margin.
Explain ridge push and slab pull as a cause of plate movement.
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Ridge push –magma rises as the plates move apart. The magma cools to form new plate material. As it cools It becomes denser and slides down away from the ridge. This causes other plates to move away from each other.
Slab pull – The denser plate sinks back into the mantle under the influence of gravity. It pulls the rest of the plate along behind it.
Slab pull – The denser plate sinks back into the mantle under the influence of gravity. It pulls the rest of the plate along behind it.
Explain ridge push and slab pull as a cause of plate movement.
