Plate Tectonics

... Jai Mehta 11AY 1) 2) a) Plates "float" or move very slowly (a few mm per year) on the molten material of the mantle. Convection currents in the mantle cause this movement. b) Plates meet at plate boundaries or margins. c) Plates that move apart are known as diverging and are constructive, as new features are formed e.g. submarine volcanoes in the Mid Atlantic plate margin. d) Plates that move towards each other are converging and destructive - Fold Mountains, earthquakes, and volcanoes are common. e) Plates which move sideways against each other are conservative margins - material isn't gained or lost, volcanoes are rare and earthquakes are common e.g. San Andreas Fault. f) Pangaea was a single landmass; made up of all the present continents, believed to have existed between 300 and 200 million years ago the rest of the Earth was covered by the Panthalassa Ocean. Pangaea split into two landmasses Laurasia in the north

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