Earth's Tectonic Plates

Which statement explains why tectonic plates move?

• Plates move because the asthenosphere is slowly moving because of convection currents.

• Plates move because they are slowly expanding and growing larger.

• Plates move because landforms cause them to move in different directions.

• Plates move because of the gravitational force of the moon pulling on Earth's surface.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Which can form when oceanic plates move toward each other? Choose 3

• deep-ocean trenches

• Volcanic mountains

• Volcanic islands

• rift valleys

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

What happens when two plates move away from each other?

• They collide.

• One plate sinks and gets melted into magma.

• Mountains form

• Magma rises in the rift valley and causes eruptions.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

What most often causes earthquakes to occur?

• Two plates moving toward each other.

• The plates moving away from each other.

• Two plates moving past each other.

• Landslides

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2

Match the following

• Oceanic crust

• • thicker, less dense, forms landmasses, composed mostly of granite, generally older than oceanic crust

• Continental crust

• thinner, more dense, located under oceans and seas, composed mostly of basalt, generally younger than continental crust

• Plate boundary

• Boundary where two tectonic plates meet

​ (a)   the process by which rock material moves under Earth’s outer layer and into the mantle due to plate motion

• subduction

• uplift

• weathering

• sediment

Tags

ESS2.A

ESS2.C

ESS3.A

ESS3.C

Label the parts of the plate boundary

a

b

c

Continental crust

Subduction zone

Mountains

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

Match the following

• Transform boundary

• The process by which a continent is pulled apart at a divergent plate boundary

• Divergent boundary

• A plate boundary where two tectonic plates move toward each other and collide

• Subduction

• A plate boundary where two tectonic plates move apart from each other

• Convergent boundary

• A plate boundary where two tectonic plates slide horizontally past one another

• Continental rifting

• process in which two lithospheric plates of different densities converge and the denser one sinks into the mantle beneath the other

According to the graph, rock samples found 700 km from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are approximately ​​ ​ (a)   . Rocks found 300 Km from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are ​​ (b)   .

• 45 million years old

• 20 million years old

• 70 million years old

• 30 million years old

• 60 million years old

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Label each plate boundary.

a

b

c

Divergent

Transform

Convergent

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3