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Understanding Plate Motions
published by the United States Geologic Survey
This site, from the U.S. Geological Survey, provides an introduction to the motions of tectonic plates.  Descriptions of each of the four types of plate boundaries are presented along with illustrations of the motions associated with each.  The site also shows examples of each type of boundary, such as the San Andreas Fault in California.
https://faculty.virginia.edu/rwoclass/astr1210/guide06.html
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Keywords:
boundary, earthquake, fault, plate, plate tectonics, subduction, tectonic
Record Creator:
Metadata instance created April 26, 2007 by Ann Deml
Record Updated:
August 19, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update
when Cataloged:
May 5, 1999
Other Collections:

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4C. Processes that Shape the Earth
  • 6-8: 4C/M2a. Some changes in the earth's surface are abrupt (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions) while other changes happen very slowly (such as uplift and wearing down of mountains).
  • 6-8: 4C/M11. The outer layer of the earth—including both the continents and the ocean basins—consists of separate plates.
  • 6-8: 4C/M12. The earth's plates sit on a dense, hot, somewhat melted layer of the earth. The plates move very slowly, pressing against one another in some places and pulling apart in other places, sometimes scraping alongside each other as they do. Mountains form as two continental plates, or an ocean plate and a continental plate, press together.
  • 9-12: 4C/H3. The outward transfer of the earth's internal heat causes regions of different temperatures and densities. The action of a gravitational force on regions of different densities causes the rise and fall of material between the earth's surface and interior, which is responsible for the movement of plates.
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Record Link
AIP Format
(United States Geologic Survey, Sioux Falls, 1999), WWW Document, (https://faculty.virginia.edu/rwoclass/astr1210/guide06.html).
AJP/PRST-PER
Understanding Plate Motions (United States Geologic Survey, Sioux Falls, 1999), <https://faculty.virginia.edu/rwoclass/astr1210/guide06.html>.
APA Format
Understanding Plate Motions. (1999, May 5). Retrieved April 25, 2024, from United States Geologic Survey: https://faculty.virginia.edu/rwoclass/astr1210/guide06.html
Chicago Format
United States Geologic Survey. Understanding Plate Motions. Sioux Falls: United States Geologic Survey, May 5, 1999. https://faculty.virginia.edu/rwoclass/astr1210/guide06.html (accessed 25 April 2024).
MLA Format
Understanding Plate Motions. Sioux Falls: United States Geologic Survey, 1999. 5 May 1999. 25 Apr. 2024 <https://faculty.virginia.edu/rwoclass/astr1210/guide06.html>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{ Title = {Understanding Plate Motions}, Publisher = {United States Geologic Survey}, Volume = {2024}, Number = {25 April 2024}, Month = {May 5, 1999}, Year = {1999} }
Refer Export Format

%T Understanding Plate Motions %D May 5, 1999 %I United States Geologic Survey %C Sioux Falls %U https://faculty.virginia.edu/rwoclass/astr1210/guide06.html %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %D May 5, 1999 %T Understanding Plate Motions %I United States Geologic Survey %V 2024 %N 25 April 2024 %8 May 5, 1999 %9 text/html %U https://faculty.virginia.edu/rwoclass/astr1210/guide06.html


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