Tectonic Plates

Tectonic Plates

The crust around the surface of the Earth is not smooth. It is broken into lots of different sections. We call these sections plates.

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The plates range in size and each one is moving in a different direction (about the speed of your fingernails are growing, 2-4 inches per year).

Earth's Structure

Tectonic Plates: Tectonic plates are large, solid pieces of the Earth's crust. They fit together like a puzzle and move very slowly over time. There are 15 plates and are 125km thick on average.

How do the plates move?

• The lower mantle is hotter than the upper mantle.

• Hot magma rises to the surface, replacing the cooler magma which is forced back down.

• The cycle is circular and causes the plates to move together or apart.
  
  

• Pangea was a supercontinent that existed around 300 million years ago.

• It included almost all of Earth's landmasses.

• The break-up of Pangea was caused by tectonic plate movement.

• The rest of the planet's surface was covered by a vast ocean called Panthalassa.

Pangea

Multiple Choice

All tectonic plates are moving at the same speed.

• True

• False

• I'm not sure

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is true about tectonic plates?

• They only exist under the ocean

• They are always the same size and shape

• They can move apart, collide, or slide past each other

• They move so fast we can feel them daily

Dropdown

Pangea existed around ​

Select answer

million years ago.

Dropdown

As Pangea split, the part that eventually included Australia became part of ​

Select answer

.