Earthguide Online Classroom

Plate margins

Interactive diagram by Earthguide.

Basemap from the National Geophysical Data Center GLOBE Elevations with bathymetry from Smith and Sandwell.

Questions for thought

  1. Before you look at the answer, consider the North American Plate. Where is the western edge of this plate? Where is the eastern edge? Then check your answer.
  2. Is the North American Plate made up of exclusively of land or ocean areas?
  3. What key tectonic structure is found at the eastern edge of the North American Plate?
  4. What key process of plate tectonics takes place at the eastern edge of the North American Plate?
  5. What makes all of the area found on any single plate, such as the North American Plate, be designated as part of a continous plate?
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