types of plate margin Flashcards

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1
Q

What is a collision (destructive) margin?

A

Where two continental plates move together

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2
Q

What is a constructive margin?

A

Where two plates move away from each other

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3
Q

What is a conservative margin?

A

Where two plates slide alongside each other

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4
Q

What happens in subduction?

A
  • Convection currents in the mantle cause the plates to move together.
  • The denser oceanic crust sinks under the lighter continental crust.
  • Great pressure is exerted.
  • The oceanic crust is destroyed as it melts to form magma.
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5
Q

How do volcanoes form at constructive plate margins?

A
  • Usually happens under the ocean
  • As the oceanic plates pull away from each other, cracks and fractures form between the plates where there is no solid crust
  • Magma forces it’s way into the cracks and makes its way to the surface
  • In this way new land is formed as the plates gradually pull apart
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6
Q

How to earthquakes occur at conservative plate margin?

A
  • The two plates are moving in a similar (though not the same) direction, at slightly different angles and speeds
  • Therefore, they tend to get stuck
  • Eventually, the build up of pressure causes them to be released
  • This sudden release of pressure causes an earthquake
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7
Q

What is happening to the crust at a conservative plate margin?

A

It is being neither destroyed nor made

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8
Q

Where are there volcanoes?

A

+ Destructive = composite volcanoes
+ Constructive = shield volcanoes
+ Conservative = there is no source of magma so volcanoes are absent

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9
Q

What is a destructive margin?

A

Where one plate sinks under another (subduction)

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