Earthguide - Demo

Vocabulary: Plate tectonics

Abyssal plain
Abyssal hills Accretionary prism Aerial view Age of rock Apparent polar wander Asthenosphere Atolls Basement Benioff zone Buoyancy Convection Continental shelf Continental slope Continental rise Core Cross-section Crust Dating Fracture zones Geothermal gradient Guoyts Hotspot Island arcs Isostatic equilibrium Lateral extent Lithosphere Midocean ridges Morphology Oceanic islands Paleomagnetism Plateaus Polar wander (see Apparent polar wander) Potential energy Radioactive decay Radiometric dating Seafloor spreading Sediment Spreading rate Subduction Submarine fans Submarine canyons Terranes Transform faults Trench Vertical extent Volcanic arcs

Plate margin: A plate margin is the edge of a plate. All the edges of each plate touch the edge of a neighboring plate beccause the entire surface of the Earth is covered with plate. There are no holes where there are no plates.

The plate margins are important because that is where neighboring plates touch and where most action takes place. It is a little like cars in a minor traffic accident. The outer edges of the car are where most action takes place. The stuff in side is more protected.

At any plate margin, there can be three different kinds of interaction between neighboring plates.

The three kinds of plate margins are:

Divergent plate margin - where adjacent plates move apart from each other

Convergent plate margin - where adjacent plates move towards each other

Transform plate margin - where adjacent plates move ... each other

Ways with words:
1. How we use them here, the words edge, margin and boundary are interchangeable.
2. When people talk or write about "divergent plate margins" for example, they might call them "divergent margins" or "divergent boundaries" too.

Plate boundary (see Plate margin)

Plate tectonics

Subduction zone

Seafloor spreading

TBA

TBA

TBA
Plate boundary (see Plate margin): Plate tectonics

Subduction zone

Seafloor spreading

TBA

TBA

TBA


Vocabulary - Plate tectonics
	Vocabulary: Plate tectonics Abyssal plain Abyssal hills Accretionary prism Aerial view Age of rock Apparent polar wander Asthenosphere Atolls Basement Benioff zone Buoyancy Convection Continental shelf Continental slope Continental rise Core Cross-section Crust Dating Fracture zones Geothermal gradient Guoyts Hotspot Island arcs Isostatic equilibrium Lateral extent Lithosphere Midocean ridges Morphology Oceanic islands Paleomagnetism Plateaus Polar wander (see Apparent polar wander) Potential energy Radioactive decay Radiometric dating Seafloor spreading Sediment Spreading rate Subduction Submarine fans Submarine canyons Terranes Transform faults Trench Vertical extent Volcanic arcs Plate margin A plate margin is the edge of a plate. All the edges of each plate touch the edge of a neighboring plate beccause the entire surface of the Earth is covered with plate. There are no holes where there are no plates. The plate margins are important because that is where neighboring plates touch and where most action takes place. It is a little like cars in a minor traffic accident. The outer edges of the car are where most action takes place. The stuff in side is more protected. At any plate margin, there can be three different kinds of interaction between neighboring plates. The three kinds of plate margins are: Divergent plate margin - where adjacent plates move apart from each other Convergent plate margin - where adjacent plates move towards each other Transform plate margin - where adjacent plates move ... each other Ways with words: 1. How we use them here, the words edge, margin and boundary are interchangeable. 2. When people talk or write about "divergent plate margins" for example, they might call them "divergent margins" or "divergent boundaries" too. Plate boundary (see Plate margin) Plate tectonics Subduction zone Seafloor spreading TBA TBA TBA