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Plate Tectonics

Plate Tectonics. Lesson 5.3: The Theory of Plate tectonics. What Is the Theory of Plate Tectonics. Have you ever dropped a hard boiled egg? The eggshell cracks into uneven pieces. Earth’s lithosphere its solid outer shell. (the eggshell)

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Plate Tectonics

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  1. Plate Tectonics Lesson 5.3: The Theory of Plate tectonics

  2. What Is the Theory of Plate Tectonics • Have you ever dropped a hard boiled egg? The eggshell cracks into uneven pieces. • Earth’s lithosphere its solid outer shell. (the eggshell) • Its broken into pieces separated by cracks. These pieces are called Plates Earth’s Plates Plate boundaries divide the lithosphere into large plates.

  3. Earth’s plates meet at the boundaries. They move in one of three ways • Divergent Boundary: Plates move apart • Convergent Boundary: Plates come together • Transform Boundary: Plates slip past each other • The Theory of Plate tectonics states that Earth’s plates are in slow, constant motion, driven by convection currents in the mantle

  4. Mantle Convection and Plate Motions • What force is great enough to move continents? • Earth’s plates move because they are the top part of the large convection currents in Earth’s mantle • During subduction, gravity pulls denser plate edges downward into the mantle. The rest of the plate also moves • The motion of the plates is like the motion of liquid in a hot pot • Over time the movement of earth's plates has changed the location of the continents

  5. Plate Motion Since the breakup of Pangaea, the continents have taken about 200 million years to move to their present location. Earth Today 200 Million Years Ago 115 Million Years Ago

  6. Plate Boundaries • Earth’s plates meet at the boundaries. • Faults are breaks in Earths crust where rocks have slipped past each other • These changes include the formation of volcanoes, mountain ranges and deep ocean trenches.

  7. Divergent Boundaries Can a crack in earth’s crust be so wide that people can walk through it? In Iceland it can TWO PLATES SEPARATE TO FORM A GIANT CRACK IN ICELAND THIS IS ALSO KNOWN AS A RIFT VALLEY. Divergent Boundaries

  8. Convergent Boundaries What happens when two plates collide? The density of the plates determines which one comes out on top. This creates mountains Convergent Boundaries

  9. Beneath the surface of transform boundary the sides of the plates are rocky and jagged Transform Boundaries Earthquakes often occur when the plates suddenly slip along the boundary that they form Transform Boundaries

  10. Earth's Changing Crust As plates move, they produce mountains, volcanoes, and valleys as well as mid-ocean ridges and deep-ocean trenches. Use the terms from the list to label the diagram.

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