GEOLOGY

**What Are Tectonic Plates? Our Earth and Its Movements**

**Introduction:**
Oceans, mountains, and continents are just some of the features
that make up the world we live in. The Earth's surface, known as
the crust, is merely a thin layer compared to the rest of the
planet. But what lies beneath it?

**Layers of the Earth:**

Earth, like a peach, is composed of layers: the crust, mantle, and
core. The crust, the outermost layer, is thin compared to the
others. Beneath it lies the semi-liquid mantle, divided into the
upper and lower mantle. Together, the crust and upper mantle
form the lithosphere. Below the mantle is the core, consisting of
the outer core, made of molten iron and nickel, and the solid
inner core, primarily iron.

**Plate Tectonics:**
The Earth's surface is in constant motion, primarily in the
lithosphere. This layer is divided into tectonic plates, which fit
together like a jigsaw puzzle. Over millions of years, these
plates have shifted, leading to the formation of continents and
oceans.

**Continental Drift:**
All continents were once part of a single supercontinent called
Pangaea, which existed 335 million years ago. Plate tectonics, or
continental drift, caused these continents to move apart,
evidenced by matching geological features and fossils found
across continents.

**Plate Movements:**
Plate movements are driven by convection currents within the
Earth's mantle. At plate margins, where plates meet, different
types of movement occur: constructive (divergent), destructive
(convergent), and conservative (transform). These movements
result in geological features like mountains, trenches, and
earthquakes.

**Conclusion:**
The Earth is a dynamic planet, with its surface constantly
changing due to the movement of tectonic plates. While these
movements occur slowly, they are responsible for significant
geological events such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and
tsunamis.
Title: "What Are Tectonic Plates? Our Earth and Its Movements"
Transcript: "oceans mountains and continents these are just
some of the features that make up the world that we live in the
earth's surface makes up only a tiny fraction of our planet which
we call the crust but do you know what lies beneath it [Music]

to get an idea of how much of the earth is crust take a look at

this peach a peach has three layers a thin hard skin on the
outside a thick layer of yellow flesh and a stone on the inside
like this peach earth is also made up of several layers the crust
the mantle and the core can you see how thin the crust is
compared to the rest of earth's layers under the crust lies a semi-
liquid mantle layer of molten magma which can be divided into
the upper mantle and the lower mantle together.

the upper mantle and the crust are collectively known as the
lithosphere
below the mantle lies the core which can also be divided into the
outer core and inner core
the outer core is made of iron and nickel but because
temperatures are so high here you find these metals in their
molten liquid form
at the center of the earth beneath the outer core lies the inner
core this layer is a solid ball made of iron as well this is the
hottest part of the earth with temperatures as high as the surface
of the sun the inner core stays solid because earth's gravity is
so strong the metals cannot melt despite how hot it is .
if you took a look at a world map it would be easy to think that
the earth has always looked like this and always will however
this is just how the earth's surface looks currently because it is
changing all the time
most of these changes happen in the lithosphere earth's
lithosphere is divided into many tectonic plates that are
different in shapes and sizes but fit tightly together like a jigsaw
puzzle
there are seven large key plates and several smaller plates and
our lands and oceans lie on top of them

all of the continents that we know today once formed a single

supercontinent this supercontinent existed 335 million years
ago and we call it Pangaea
over millions of years the tectonic plates which hold the
continents moved around smashing into each other and then
pulling apart this process is called plate tectonics but is
sometimes also known as continental drift.
if you look closely you can see where some of the edges of the
continents line up like the edges of africa and south america
fossils of animals that couldn't swim or fly have been found on
different continents providing further evidence that all the
continents were previously connected

so how did the plates manage to move the continents to

where they are today
to find out we'll have to look at what lies under the plates
,within the earth there is tremendous heat and pressure and this
drives slow circular movements called convection currents
within the mantle layer which in turn cause the plates to move
different tectonic plates meet each other at their boundaries
which are known as plate margins
there are three types of plate margins depending on what kind
of movement occurs between the two interacting plates.
at a divergent plate margin two plates move away from each
other this movement forms a gap between plates which allows
magma to seep through and cool to form new geological features
such as volcanoes the mid-atlantic ridge under the atlantic
ocean is an example of a constructive plate margin

at a destructive or convergent plate margin two plates move

towards each other this can either cause one plate to go under
and the other to be pushed up or two plates to smash together
and push upwards this process can form majestic fold mountains
and deep trenches and often create powerful earthquakes this is
how the himalayas in nepal home of earth's highest mountain
mount everest were formed .

at a conservative or transform plate margin two plates… slide

against each other either in different directions or in the same
direction at different speeds these parts of the world also
experience earthquakes due to the movement of these plates
an example of this is the san andreas fault in california our earth
is a dynamic and active planet and its surface is composed
of many individual plates that are always on the
move due to the convection currents within the plates are
moving far too slowly for us to notice yet they are responsible
for the most devastating tectonic hazards like volcano eruptions
earthquakes and tsunamis"

Title: "Plate Boundaries-Divergent-Convergent-

Transform"
some of the most dramatic changes in the Earth's crust like
mountain ranges, new islands or earthquakes occur along plate
boundaries .there are three types of plate boundaries
1. divergent boundaries
2. convergent boundaries and
3. transform boundaries

A.convergent boundaries
occur when two plates collide there are three major types
1.continental to continental
this occurs when two plates of continental crust collide they
buckle and thicken and this causes mountains to form
2.continental to ocean collisions
when a plate of ocean crust collides with a plate of
continental crust. The ocean crust is more thick and subducts
or goes underneath the continental crust .
the magma from the melted oceanic crust rises to the surface and
this results in volcanoes along the boundary.
3.ocean to ocean collisions occur when two plates of oceanic
crust collide the older more dense plate subducts under the
younger plate and as a result the crust melts and creates an
island arc
B. divergent boundaries
this is when two plates move away from each other the
separation allows the asthenosphere to rise towards the surface
and partially melt this melting creates magma which erupts as
lava and then the lava cools and hardens to create new rock an
ocean floor or new continental crust that's the crust an upper part
of the asthenosphere cool and become right rigid they form new
lithosphere like mid-ocean ridges most of these divergent
boundaries are located on the ocean floor however rift valleys
may also form where the continents are separated by plate
movement

C. Transform boundaries :
occur where two plates move past each other
horizontally when the plates move next to each other they
do not go along smoothly instead they scrape of each other
in a series of sudden slippage 'as of crustal rock and these
can be felt as earthquakes unlike the other types of
boundaries transform boundaries generally do not produce
magma the San Andreas Fault in California is a major
transform boundary .

- **Constructive Plate Boundaries (Divergent):**

- Magma rises from the mantle, solidifies, and creates new
crust, leading to the gradual separation of tectonic plates.
 - Commonly found at the bottom of the sea, occasionally
visible on land (e.g., Iceland).
- Hazards include volcanic eruptions due to magma
release, with relatively mild earthquakes occurring as plates
move apart.

- **Destructive Plate Boundaries (Convergent):**

- Two types: oceanic plate forced beneath continental
plate (subduction) and collision between two continental
plates.
- Subduction leads to volcanic eruptions due to gas and
magma release, along with powerful earthquakes caused by
plate movement and release of stored energy.
- Collision results in the formation of mountain ranges
(e.g., Himalayas) through gradual plate crumpling and
occasional intense earthquakes.

- **Conservative Plate Boundaries (Transform):**

- Plates slide past each other, either in opposite or
different speeds.
- Energy builds up as plates grind past each other, leading
to occasional earthquakes.
- No volcanic activity due to the absence of magma
movement.

- **General Hazards:**
 - Volcanic eruptions occur primarily at constructive and
destructive boundaries.
- Earthquakes are common but vary in intensity based on
plate movement and boundary type.

Title: MID OCEANIC RIDGE

basically a mid-ocean ridge kind of the easiest way to

explain , it is it is a underwater mountain range it's an
underwater mountain range so above water from land we
have lots of mountain ranges right mountain range just
means like a bunch of mountains together can you think of
some mountain ranges in the United States well the big one
in Washington kind of near Seattle is called the Cascade
Mountain Range what do we call what are the big
mountains in the middle of the US right those are the
Rocky Mountains in the United States there's also the
Appalachian Mountains okay Mount Everest the tallest
mountain in the world is part of the Himalayan mountain
range okay so a mid-ocean ridge is a bunch of mountains
that's underwater kind of lined up in a row and they're
really formed when tectonic plates separate okay so they're
formed when tectonic plates separate and we're going to
talk about tectonic plates the different ways that they move
what exactly they are but just for right now you can kind of
see in this picture we're underwater we have one tectonic
plate here one tectonic plate here going in opposite
directions and that's how this plates gonna this mid-ocean
ridge is gonna form so how the mid-ocean ridges form so
how do we form under watermelons it's actually much
different than I would have thought maybe you would have
thought this is how it happens so you have two tectonic
plates and like I said we will talk more about tectonic plates
but just so you know now what tectonic plates are the
plates that the Earth's crust is made out of so tectonic plates
are the plates that the Earth's crust is made out of so so you
would think at least I would think that mountains or
oftentimes mountains are formed when those plates
smashed together but actually mid-ocean ridge is formed
when those tectonic plates separate they go in opposite
directions so you can see right here okay so we have one
tectonic plate here one tectonic plate here they're going in
opposite directions okay so if this if this tectonic plate is
moving this way if this tectonic plate is moving this way
then that creates a hole in the middle okay and what does it
look like is rising up from that hole right magma rises up
there's a whole bunch of magma right underneath Earth's
surface so that's gonna if two tectonic plates are opening up
you're gonna create an opening to underground there's a
whole bunch of magma that's gonna rise okay so when that
magma rises okay so it's no longer under tectonic plates it's
gonna be exposed to a bunch of water so what do you think
is gonna happen when that magma hits a bunch of water it's
gonna cool down and that's what you can see happening
here so what happens when the magma cools down right
it's gonna form Rock it's gonna turn hard and it's actually
gonna form mountains okay so what do we call rock that's
formed when lava cools down right we call that igneous
rock and that's what's forming the new mountains so I want
you to follow the computer mouse here so this tectonic
plate moving this way this tectonic plate moving this way
they're separating from each other and as they do that this
magma keeps flowing up this magma keeps flowing up and
when it hits the water it kind of instantly cools down and
becomes hard rock and that forms new bigger mountains
right in the middle here okay so this is an important point
so if there's more and more new mountain being formed
let's take two positions on this mountain let's say we're
going to talk right in the middle here and way out on the
edge over here what's gonna be the newest youngest part of
the mountain is it gonna be right in the middle here or are
they gonna be on the edges over here right this middle part
is gonna be the newest youngest part of the mountain
because it was it was just magma just like a couple seconds
ago just barely cooled down just barely became that hard
igneous rock everything out here that's been rocked for a
long time old news it's been pushed out as those tectonic
plates keep moving outwards this is old stuff this is the
good new stuff okay so that's how mid-ocean ridges are
formed tectonic plates separate the magma rises up from
the middle and cools down and forms that new mountain
rock new igneous rock all right so we're gonna head back
and just get a little bit of background on tectonic plates how
they move all this kind of stuff okay so tectonic plates
there's three different type of ways that tectonic plates work
on the Earth's surface okay there's something called
divergent plate boundaries okay so divergent plate
boundaries here's a picture of it right here what does it look
like these two plates are doing okay so the plates move
away from each other okay so tectonic plates are moving
away from each other away from each other so that's
actually what's happening in a mid-ocean ridge these
tectonic plates are moving away from each other they're a
divergent plate boundary okay exactly a mid-ocean ridge is
a divergent plate boundary a convergent plate boundary
convergent plate boundary so what does it look like
happening here if we look at the arrows okay these tectonic
plates actually crash into each other they're due it's the
opposite of divergent these tectonic plates are crashing into
each other so this is actually usually how mountains are
formed on land two plates crashing into each other kind of
builds up a big mountain here in the middle alright there's
one more type of plate boundary it's called a transform
plate boundary called a transform plate boundary and so
your it's different it's not moving away from each other it's
not crashing into each other it's actually just moving side-
by-side and this is actually a lot of places where
earthquakes occur so like san andreas the movie there's
something called the San Andreas Fault Line in California
this is what happens there they're just sliding past each
other which can cause massive earthquakes all right and so
finally finally we talked about mid-ocean ridges how
they're formed different plate boundaries so something
important that you need to know about is the mid-atlantic
ridge okay so there's this cific thing called the mid-atlantic
ridge so it's a mid-ocean ridge which is again if we go back
to the very beginning it is an underwater mountain ranged
and it travels down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean so you
can see it right here so basically the mid-atlantic ridge is
the biggest most famous most important made ocean ridge
in the entire world it goes look at how big it is it says it
goes through the entire planet okay so it starts way up here
near the North Pole goes past America past Mexico past
Africa and South America goes all the way down to the
South Pole so that's a huge mid-ocean ridge and it's called
the mid-atlantic ridge because why because it goes right
through the Atlantic Ocean okay here's a picture of the mid-
atlantic ridge you can see South America is on one side
which would be right here Africa is on another side you can
see right here this is also a really good picture of just
showing how that mid-atlantic ridge is formed and you can
see the two tectonic plates are they going towards each
other or away from each other all right they're going away
from each other and as we know okay as they move away
what's gonna bubble up here in the middle magma and as
soon as that magma hits the water it's gonna cool down
okay form new rock so the newest youngest rock part of the
mountain is gonna be right in the middle and the old stuff's
gonna be pushed away pushed away oldest you can see is
right here alright awesome job you guys just a quick quick
review so we went over we went over what is a mid-ocean
ridge it's an underwater mountain range we went over how
they're formed by tectonic plates moving away from each
other magma rises up and cools down learned about the
different plate boundaries divergent converging and
transform and learned about the most important most
famous mid-ocean ridge called the mid-atlantic ridge
running through the Atlantic Ocean alright awesome job
you guys"