Tectonic plates, Continental drift, Plate boundaries,

Earthquakes andand Volcanoes.

Ian Weiler

Earthquakes Earthquakes happen when two continental plates slip past

or hit each other creating a quake. The plates are colliding. When the plates are hitting each other, they build up tremendous tension that is released causing an Earthquake. Earthquakes are located near plate boundaries because of the colliding of plates. A transform boundary is related with Earthquakes because a transform boundary is when the plates slip past and hit each other when sideways. That boundary is what causes an Earthquake. During Earthquakes faults (big cracks in the crust) occur because of the pressure of the moving crust. A great amount of Earthquakes happen a year, though only the big ones are considered disasters.

San Francisco Earthquake (1906)

Volcanoes

Volcanoes and Earthquakes have lots in common. A big reason they are is that they are both located at plate boundaries. A divergent boundary is related with Volcanoes. A volcano occurs when two plates drift apart from each other. When this happens, there is a crack left in the crust. (A fault). That crack in the crust leads down to the magma chamber, that is in the crust. The magma chamber then leads down to the mantle that sits below the crust. That creates a volcano. There are volcanoes under the sea as well as on land. The big Earthquake that causes the most damage, is called the main shock. The Earthquake\s that follow after are called aftershocks.

Plate BoundariesA plate boundary is the boundary between two continental plates. These continental plates are always moving very slowly in one direction. There are three kinds of plates boundaries that separate one from another and clarify where they are moving in direction from one another. The three kinds of plate boundaries are

Convergent, Divergent, and Transform. A Convergent boundary is when the plates are drifting together or pulling together. These make mountains because when they hit each other they crush and move up. A Convergent boundary is when the plates are drifting apart from each other. This makes mountains. A Divergent boundary id when the plates are pulling apart from each other. This makes Volcanoes. A Transform boundary is when the plates are hitting each other while side sweeping. This makes Earthquakes.

Tectonic plates\Continental Drift

Alfred Wegner’s theory

If you look at all the seven continents (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica) they all seem to fit into each other like a jigsaw puzzle. Alfred Wegner was the first to discover this theory in the mid to late 1800’s. His theory that many people did not acknowledge when he told it at first, was described that a long time ago the continents were all one big one named Pangaea. These continents over a long period of time soon drifted apart to to make the seven continents we have today. Over the course of time, many people started realizing that Wagner's theory made a lot of sense and appreciated his idea. Each continent is sitting on a tectonic plate that slowly drifts away.

The SourcesEarthquake.usgs.gov/www.enchantedlearning.com/www.eduplace.com/

www.scholastic.com/teachers/