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4.7: Review- Examples of Plate Boundaries

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    9854
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    Convergent boundaries Divergent boundaries Transform boundaries
    When continents collide mountains belts form. Examples:
    • Himalayas
    • Alps
    • ancient Appalachian Mountains
    When plates diverge, spreading centers form creating new oceanic crust. Examples:
    • mid ocean ridges in world's ocean basins
    • The African Rift Zones and the Red Sea
    • The Great Basin and Rio Grande Rift Zone
    When plates slide past each other creating fault systems along plate margins. Examples:
    • San Andreas Fault
    • Pakistan
    • Turkey
    • Jordan River/Dead Sea
    Convergent boundary along Hinalayan Mountains Divergent boundary of Mid Ocean  Ridge in Iceland San Andreas Fault in Central California
    Figure 4.20. Himalayan Mountains are a convergent plate boundary Figure 4.21. Mid Ocean Ridge in Iceland is a divergent plate boundary Fig 4-22. San Andreas Fault system is a transform plate boundary
    When continents collide with ocean crust
    trenches with subduction zones and volcanic arcs form - examples:
    • Andes Mountains
    • Aleutian Islands
    • Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, etc.
    • Ancient Sierra and modern Cascades
    Spreading centers occur where continents are pulling apart. Examples:
    • Africa rift zones
    • Red Sea
    • Iceland
    • North America's Great Basin
    Transform faults also occur within plates, but are related to movements that shape the seafloor. Examples:
    • Dead Sea fault zone, Jordan
    • India/Pakistan boundary fault
    • North Anatolian Fault, Turkey
    South America plate boundar Divergent boundary forming in the Red Sea fransform faults on the seafloor; North American western plate boundary
    Figure 4.23. Convergent boundary along the west coast of South America Figure 4.24. A divergent boundary forming in the Red Sea area Figure 4.25. Transform fracture zones offshore of California are within the Pacific Plate

    Important! Continental margins may or may not be plate boundaries! For example, the East Coast is in the middle of the North American Plate. Why? When North America first split away from Africa and Europe, there was first a continental rift valley; it became a plate boundary between the three expanding lithospheric plates. As new crust formed along the Mid Ocean Ridge spreading center, it became attached to the plates on either side. Today the North American Continent is part of the larger North American Plate! (See Figure 7.29.)


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