Welcome to Plate Tectonics!!
Have you ever asked yourself...Why does the Earth look the way it does? Where did the mountains come from? Why is the ocean so deep? Where do earthquakes and volcanos come from? How did Pangea move apart to form our current continents?
The answer to these questions, and many more can be found in the study of Plate Tectonics!
Let's begin by learning about the different plates and boundaries that exist on Earth.
The basic idea behind plate tectonics is that there are eight major plates on the surface of the Earth. There are also bunches of minor plates. The plates are like the skin of the planet. They constantly move around the planet. When we say constantly moving, we're talking centimeters each year. You couldn't sit down and watch it happen. Or can you? You might have already experienced this movement in Earth's crust. We call them earthquakes!
(Taken from http://www.geography4kids.com/files/earth_tectonics.html)
The answer to these questions, and many more can be found in the study of Plate Tectonics!
Let's begin by learning about the different plates and boundaries that exist on Earth.
The basic idea behind plate tectonics is that there are eight major plates on the surface of the Earth. There are also bunches of minor plates. The plates are like the skin of the planet. They constantly move around the planet. When we say constantly moving, we're talking centimeters each year. You couldn't sit down and watch it happen. Or can you? You might have already experienced this movement in Earth's crust. We call them earthquakes!
(Taken from http://www.geography4kids.com/files/earth_tectonics.html)
The plates of Earth often interact with each other in a variety of ways. We classify the interactions by the movement of the crusts along their boundaries. Click on the links below to learn more about these boundaries, and why they are so important to understanding our Earth.