1.

describe the different

types of plate
boundaries (S10 -Ia -j-
36.2);
2. differentiate the types
Plate Boundaries of convergent
boundaries; and
3. identify the
places/plates that lie on
the different types of
boundaries.
This image shows the three main types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform.
Figure 1 shows large and small lithospheric plates, including the Philippine Plate. These plates are moving very slowly but
constantly. The movement of the plate is called Tectonic.
PLATE BOUNDARIES
are the lines at the edges of the different pieces of
the lithosphere.

 The region between these plates that are

colliding, separating and moving
 Sometimes called as the “plate margins”
The Lithosphere
The crust and the upper layer of the
mantle together make up a zone of rigid,
brittle rock called the Lithosphere.
Lithospheric plates are moving due to the
convection current in the Earth’s interior.

Convection currents
are caused by the very
hot material at the
deepest part of the
mantle rising, then
cooling and sinking
again --repeating this
cycle over and over.
According to the Plate Tectonic Theory, the Earth’s
lithosphere consists of the crust and upper mantle
that move slowly and constantly over time. This
movement causes the formation of plate boundaries

Types of Plate Boundaries

 Divergent Plate Boundary
 Convergent Plate Boundary
 Transform Fault Plate Boundary
Convergent boundaries

 are formed when two plates move toward each other.

 The oceanic plate bends downward at the subduction zone.
 This occurs in two oceanic plates convergent boundary and
continental plate and oceanic plate convergent boundary.
Oceanic plate sinks because it is denser than the continental
plate. In the case of convergence of two oceanic plates, the
older plate sinks.
 Whereas in the convergence of two continental plates, they
collide and buckle up forming mountain ranges. No subduction
occurs in this type of convergence.
Divergent boundaries
 refer to plates that separate and move
apart in opposite directions forming new
lithosphere - the young seafloor. This either
occurs at mid-ocean ridges (seafloor
spreading) or at rifted continental margins
(rift valley).
Transform fault boundaries

 are
plates sliding past or slipping past each
other.
Convergent Plate Boundary
 When two plates come together, it is known as
a convergent boundary. The impact of the colliding
plates can cause the edges of one or both plates to buckle
up into a mountain ranges or one of the plates may bend
down into a deep seafloor trench. A chain of volcanoes
often forms parallel to convergent plate boundaries and
powerful earthquakes are common along these
boundaries.
 At convergent plate boundaries, oceanic crust is often
forced down into the mantle where it begins to melt.
Magma rises into and through the other plate, solidifying
into granite, the rock that makes up the continents. Thus,
at convergent boundaries, continental crust is created,
and oceanic crust is destroyed.
Convergent Plate Boundary

 Convergent: compressional; plates move toward

each other. Includes: Subduction zones and
mountain building.
 Subduction zones occur when one or both
tectonic plates are composed of oceanic crust.
The denser plate is subducted underneath the
less dense plate. The plate being forced under is
eventually melted and destroyed.
 1. Convergent Boundary:
Subduction zone, where the
Ocean-Continent Collision old oceanic crust is dragged
downward and “recycled.”

❖ Deep-sea trenches are created at

subduction zones.
❖ Trenches are narrow, deep troughs
parallel to the edge of a continent or
volcanic island arc. They typically have
slopes of 4-5 degrees, and they are often
8-10 km deep. The deepest spots on
earth are found in oceanic trenches. The
Figure depicting oceanic crust subducting beneath continental crust,
creating volcanoes on the land surface above, and a deep-sea trench
Mariana Trench is the deepest ocean
off of the coast. depth at 11 km (35,798 ft) below sea
Credit: U.S. Geological Survey level.
Department of the Interior/USGS
The Washington-Oregon
coastline of the United States is
an example of this type of
convergent plate boundary. Here
the Juan de Fuca oceanic plate
is subducting beneath the
westward-moving North
American continental plate.

The Cascade Mountain Range

is a line of volcanoes above the
melting oceanic plate.
 Volcanoes: Mount St. Helens
❖ When Mount St. Helens exploded,
it had not erupted for 123 years. Most
Before eruption… people thought Mount St. Helens was
a beautiful, peaceful mountain and not
Image:Sthelens1.jpg a dangerous volcano.
300px-MSH82_st_helens_plume_from_harrys_ridge_05-19-82

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

After eruption…
 The Andes Mountain Range of
western South America is another
example of a convergent boundary
between an oceanic and continental
plate.

The Nazca Plate is subducting

beneath the South American
plate.
2. Convergent Boundary:
Continent-Continent Collision

❖ Examples: The Himalayan and

the Appalachian mountain chains.
The Himalaya mountains
are still forming today as
the Ind-Australian Plate
collides with the Eurasian
Plate

Constructive mountain building during

continent-continent collision.
McGraw Hill/Glencoe, 1 st ed., pg 149
Mountain-building forces
❖ When two continental plates collide at a convergent boundary, the process produces a mountain range. Compressional
forces drive the mountain building process.
❖ The Appalachians, the Alps, and the Himalayas were formed through compression.

❖ The Himalayan mountain chain was formed

Continent/ approximately 150 million years ago. When we
continent
convergence think of the Himalayas, we think of very high,
steep mountains, cliffs, and, of course, Mt.
Everest.

The
Matterhorn,
Alps

❖ In contrast, when we consider our own Appalachians,

which formed about 400 million years ago, we see more
subdued topography than in the Himalayas. This is
because the process of wind and water erosion have The Appalachian Mountains. Photo courtesy of K. McCarney-
eroded hundreds of vertical feet of land surface from the Castle
area and reduced high jagged mountains into the rolling
hills present today.
3. Convergent Boundary:
Ocean-Ocean Collision
❖ If 2 oceanic plates collide, the older, denser one is subducted downward into the mantle and a
chain of volcanic islands can form, called a volcanic island arc.

Example: Philippine Island Arc system is formed due to subduction of Philippine Sea plate under the Sunda
Plate (major continental shelf of the Eurasian plate). The trench formed here is called Philippine Trench.

❖ The interaction of the descending oceanic plate causes incredible amounts of stress between the
plates. This usually causes frequent earthquakes along the top of the descending plate known as
the “Benioff Zone.” The focii of Benioff earthquakes can be as deep as 700 km below sea level.

Oceanic/oceanic collision
resulting in a chain of island arcs.
Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Benioff Zone Department of the Interior/USGS
 Convergent Boundary: Volcanism
❖ Most volcanoes form above subduction zones because as one slab is subducted
beneath the other, the interaction of fluids and geothermal heat form new magma.
The new magma then rises upward through the overlying plate to create volcanoes
at the surface.
❖ The Andes Mountains are home to many volcanoes that were formed at the
convergent boundary of the Nazca and South American Plates.
Left: Image of the
❖ Nazca Plate
subducting beneath
the South American
Plate. Modified after McGraw
Hill/Glencoe, 1st ed., pg. 143

Right: Red dots

indicate general
locations of volcanoes
along western coast of
South America.
 Divergent Plate Boundary
 A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move
away from each other. Along these boundaries, earthquakes are
common, and magma (molten rock) rises from the Earth’s mantle
to the surface, solidifying to create new oceanic crust.
 Divergent: extensional; the plates move apart. Spreading ridges,
basin-range
 The space created can also fill with new crustal material sourced
from molten magma that forms below. Divergent boundaries can
form within continents but will eventually open and become
ocean basins.
Divergent Plate Boundary

On land Under the sea

 Divergent boundaries  The most active
within continents divergent plate
initially produce rifts, boundaries are
which produce rift between oceanic
valleys. plates and are often
called mid-oceanic
ridges.
2. Divergent Boundary: Sea-floor Spreading
❖ At a divergent boundary, two oceanic plates pull apart from each other through a
process called sea-floor spreading.
❖ Sea-floor spreading was proposed by Harry Hess in the early 1960’s. Hess proposed
that hot magma rises from the asthenosphere and up into existing ocean crust through
fractures. The crust spreads apart making room for new magma to flow up through it.
The magma cools, forming new sea floor and resulting in a build-up of basaltic rock
around the crack, which is called a mid-ocean ridge.

Sea-floor spreading at an
oceanic divergent boundary.
Modified after McGraw Hill/ Glencoe, 1st ed., pg.
138 (with permission)

❖ New material is constantly being created. This is the opposite of a convergent

boundary, where material is constantly being destroyed.
Divergent Boundary: Mid-Atlantic Ridge
❖ The world’s longest mountain chain is underwater. It is 56,000 km long and is
called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
❖ The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is considered a slow-spreading ridge, spreading at about 1-2
centimeters per year. An example of a fast-spreading ridge is the East Pacific Rise,
which spreads at about 6-8 centimeters per year.

Satellite bathymetry of the East Modified after http://www.ocean.udel.edu/deepsea/level-

2/geology/ridge.html
Pacific Rise spreading ridge. Credit:
U.S. Geological Survey
Department of the Interior/USGS
Divergent Boundaries
Boundary between two plates
that are moving apart or rifting
→
RIFTINGcauses SEAFLOOR
SPREADING
They’re Pulling Apart!

 When plates pull away from

one another they form a
diverging plate boundary or
spreading zone.
spreading_zone

Thingvellir, the spreading zone in Iceland between the North American (left
side) and Eurasian (right side) tectonic plates. January 2003.
 Satellite
bathymetry of the
East Pacific Rise
spreading ridge.
Credit: U.S. Geological
Survey
Sea floor spreading at the mid-ocean ridge Department of the
Interior/USGS
and rift valley. Modified after McGraw Hill/
Glencoe, 1st ed., pg. 138 (with permission)

❖ The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of a divergent boundary found extending around the world dividing
the world’s ocean basins. It spreads at about 1-2 centimeters per year and is made of basalt. It is 56,000 km
long and 2,500 km wide, and it rises 2 –3 km above the sea floor.
❖ The spreading of the ridge creates a rift valley running down the crest of the ridge. The valley is about 1-2
km deep and several kilometers wide- similar to the dimensions of the Grand Canyon!
❖ Shallow earthquakes are frequent along these ridges and long deep fractures run perpendicular to the
ridge.
❖ Seamounts, guyots, and black smokers are other geological features that can be found on the deep sea floor.
Features of
Divergent
Mid-ocean
Boundaries
ridges

rift valleys

fissure
volcanoes
 Transform Plate Boundary
 Two plates sliding past each other forms a transform plate
boundary. Natural or human-made structures that cross a
transform boundary are offset—split into pieces and carried in
opposite directions. Rocks that line the boundary are pulverized
as the plates grind along, creating a linear fault valley or
undersea canyon. Earthquakes are common along these faults. In
contrast to convergent and divergent boundaries, crust is
cracked and broken at transform margins, but is not created or
destroyed.
 Also known as Transform Fault Boundary
Transform Plate Boundary

 Transform: shearing; plates slide past each other.

Strike-slip motion.
 Because of friction, the plates cannot simply glide
past each other. Rather, stress builds up in both
plates and when it exceeds the threshold of the
rocks, the energy is released – causing
earthquakes.
 3. Transform Boundary
❖ When two plates slide past each other moving in different directions or the same
direction, it is termed a transform boundary and is characterized by a transform fault
and earthquake activity.
❖ An example of a transform fault is the San Andreas Fault in California. Here the
North American Plate joins the Pacific Plate. The difference in plate motion along the
contact (fault) leads to a buildup of strain energy that sometimes slips releasing a huge
amount of energy and causing an earthquake.

An aerial photo of the San Andreas Movement between the 2 plates at the San Andreas
fault line. McGraw Hill/Glencoe, 1st ed., pg. 146 Transform Fault. McGraw Hill/Glencoe, 1st ed., pg. 146 (with
(with permission) permission).
The Marikina Valley Fault System, also known as
the Valley Fault System (VFS), is a dominantly right-
lateral strike-slip fault system in Luzon, Philippines.

West Valley Fault

The west segment, known as the West Valley Fault
(WVF), is one of the two major fault segments of the
Valley Fault System which runs through Metro
Manila to the cities of Marikina, Quezon
City, Pasig, Makati, Taguig and Muntinlupa and moves
in a dominantly dextral strike-slip motion. The West
Valley Fault segment traverses from Doña Remedios
Trinidad to Calamba with a length of 129.47 kilometers
(80.45 mi).
The West Fault is capable of producing large
scale earthquakes on its active phases with
a magnitude of 7 or higher.

East Valley Fault

The eastern segment, known as East Valley Fault
(EVF), moves in an oblique dextral motion. It extends
to about 17.24 kilometers (10.71 mi)
from Rodriguez to San Mateo in the province of Rizal.
 Transform Boundary
❖ J. Tuzo Wilson was a geophysicist who was fascinated by Wegener's theory of continental
drifting. He was also inspired by Harry Hess, whom he studied under at Princeton University in
the 1930’s.
❖ Wilson is recognized today for advancing plate-tectonic theory by introducing three major
concepts:
1. Wilson (1963) introduced the concept of a “stationary hotspot”, where the heat from the
mantle could affect the thin crust, forming volcanic islands such as Hawaii.
2. Wilson (1965) proposed the “transform” boundary as the third type of plate boundary.
They commonly offset ocean ridges and trenches, and transform the motion between the offset.
Unlike ridges and trenches, transform faults offset the crust horizontally, without creating or
destroying crust.
3. Wilson proposed what is known today as the Wilson Cycle. This concept explains the origin
for the Appalachian Mountains. The “cycle” goes through the sequence:
1. The splitting of a supercontinent, 2. the opening of an ocean basin, 3. the closing of the ocean
basin, and 4. the collision of continents and formation of mountains.
A map of the tectonic plates of the earth showing the different boundary types in different colors.
Locations where plates collide (convergent boundaries) are shown in red. Locations where plates are
spreading (divergent boundaries) are shown in yellow. And, locations where plates are sliding past one
another are shown in orange. This map was prepared by the National Park Service.
 Plate Boundaries
There are three basic ways that plates interact with one another. Each of these plate boundaries
has the potential to create different geological features.
1. When plates collide with each other = Convergent boundary

2. When plates separate from each other = Divergent boundary

3. When plates slide along side each other = Transform boundary

The tectonic plates and

plate boundaries.
McGraw Hill/Glencoe, 1st ed., pg 143