1. Draw and label a diagram to show the layers of the earth. 2. Explain what a plate boundary is. 3. With the aid of a diagram, explain how convection currents cause plates to move.
1.4 Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics means that the earth is made up of large, moving plates of solid rock. This map shows the world’s principal plates, their boundary lines and the direction in which they move.
Plate boundary North
American Plate
Direction of plate movement Oceanic plate Continental plate
Eurasian Plate
Pacific Plate
African Plate
Pacific Plate
South
Nazca Plate
American Plate
Indo-Australian Plate
Antarctic Plate
Sliding plates
Separating plates Working with others:
Working with a partner, create a table like this one. Examining the map and diagrams above, name two plate boundaries that are separating, two that are colliding and two that are sliding past each other.
