Assignment: (Science) 6/20/2019

1. Define Plate Tectonics.

- Plate tectonics is a scientific theory describing
the large-scale motion of seven large plates and
the movements of a larger number of smaller
plates of the Earth's lithosphere, since tectonic
processes began on Earth between 3 and 3.5
billion years ago.

2. Enumerate the Big Plate Tectonics in our Planet.

- These plates comprise the bulk of the continents
and the Pacific Ocean. For purposes of this list,
a major plate is any plate with an area greater
than 20 million km2.
Pacific Plate – An oceanic tectonic plate under the
Pacific Ocean – 103,300,000 km2.
North American Plate – Large tectonic plate
including most of North America, Greenland and a
bit of Siberia – 75,900,000 km2. Eurasian
Plate – A tectonic plate which includes most of the
continent of Eurasia – 67,800,000 km2
African Plate – Tectonic plate underlying Africa
west of the East African Rift – 61,300,000 km2
Antarctic Plate – A tectonic plate containing the
continent of Antarctica and extending outward
under the surrounding oceans – 60,900,000 km2.
Indo-Australian Plate – A major tectonic plate
formed by the fusion of the Indian and Australian
plates – 58,900,000 km2 often considered two
 plates:
- -- Australian Plate – A major tectonic plate,
originally a part of the ancient continent of
Gondwana – 47,000,000 km2.
Indian Plate – A major tectonic plate once part of
the supercontinent Gondwana – 11,900,000 km2
South American Plate – A major tectonic plate
which includes most of South America and a large
part of the south Atlantic – 43,600,000 km2

3. Who is Alfred Wegener?

- Alfred Wegener, in full Alfred Lothar
Wegener, (born November 1, 1880, Berlin,
Germany—died November 1930, Greenland),
German meteorologist and geophysicist who
formulated the first complete statement of
the continental drifthypothesis.

4. Describe the 3 Types of Boundaries.

There are three kinds of plate tectonic boundaries:

divergent, convergent, and transform plate boundaries.

- A divergent boundary occurs when two

tectonic plates move away from each other.
Along these boundaries, lava spews from long
fissures and geysers spurt superheated water.
Frequent earthquakes strike along the rift.
Beneath the rift, magma—molten rock—rises
from the mantle. It oozes up into the gap and
 hardens into solid rock, forming new crust on
the torn edges of the plates. Magma from the
mantle solidifies into basalt, a dark, dense rock
that underlies the ocean floor. Thus at divergent
boundaries, oceanic crust, made of basalt, is
created.
- When two plates come together, it is known as
a convergent boundary. The impact of the two
colliding plates buckles the edge of one or both
plates up into a rugged mountain range, and
sometimes bends the other down into a deep
seafloor trench. A chain of volcanoes often
forms parallel to the boundary, to the mountain
range, and to the trench. Powerful earthquakes
shake a wide area on both sides of the
boundary.
- Two plates sliding past each other forms
a transform plate boundary. Natural or
human-made structures that cross a transform
boundary are offset—split into pieces and
carried in opposite directions. Rocks that line
the boundary are pulverized as the plates grind
along, creating a linear fault valley or undersea
canyon. As the plates alternately jam and jump
against each other, earthquakes rattle through a
wide boundary zone. In contrast to convergent
and divergent boundaries, no magma is formed.
Thus, crust is cracked and broken at transform
margins, but is not created or destroyed.