7 Major Tectonic Plates: The World’s Largest Plate Tectonics
From large to small, the 7 major tectonic plates include the Pacific, North American, Eurasian, African, Antarctic, Indo-Australian and South American plate.
Plate Tectonics
10 Little-Known Facts About Volcanoes
Ready to learn about volcanoes? From lightning that sparks at a volcano to its deadly hazards, we’re going to dive into 10 little-known facts about volcanoes
3 Types of Faults: Normal, Reverse and Strike-Slip
The 3 types of faults are: normal, reverse and strike-slip. When two blocks slide horizontally, it’s strike-slip. If it moves vertically, it’s dip-slip.
Transform Plate Boundaries: Sliding Plate Tectonics
Conservative or transform plate boundaries slide across each other. They neither converge or diverge such as parts of the North American and Pacific Plate.
Pacific Plate: Movement and Direction of the Pacific Tectonic Boundary
The Pacific Plate stretches all the way along the west coast of North America and reaches all the way to the east coast of the islands of Japan & Indonesia.
Convergent Plate Boundaries: The Collision of Plate Tectonics
Convergent plate boundaries have some of the most violent catastrophes and geology on Earth. When plates smash together, it has created chains of volcanoes.
Divergent Plate Tectonics: Boundaries that Pull Apart
Beneath the oceans, lava erupts every day from mid-oceanic ridges. These divergent plate boundaries pull apart from each other creating new igneous rock.
North American Plate: Tectonic Boundary Map and Movements
The North American plate extends all the way over the North pole to Siberia. It also includes Greenland, Cuba, the Bahamas and part of the Atlantic Ocean.
How Does the Supercontinent Cycle Work?
If you went 200 million years back in time, Earth was 1 supercontinent. Now, it’s made up of 7 separate continents. This is the supercontinent cycle at work.
What Is Pangaea? Piecing Together the Supercontinent Jigsaw Puzzle
About 200 million years ago, all the continents were together as one giant supercontinent known as Pangaea. Over time, these continents have broken apart.
Continental Drift: A Tale of Moving Continents and Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics are deceptively slow. It’s just centimeters each year. Continental drift is the idea that continents passively move due to tectonic activity
Antarctic Plate: The Drifting Continent of Antarctica
Antarctic plate holds the continent of Antarctica including the surrounding ocean. It shares borders with the African, Pacific & South American plate.
African Plate and the East African Rift Zone
The African major plate contains all of Africa as well as the surrounding oceanic crust of the Atlantic Ocean. It moves at an average rate of 2.5 cm per year.
Indo-Australian Plate: Tectonic Boundaries and Movement
The Indo-Australian Plate combines the Australian & Indian Plate. Widely considered two separate plates, it includes Australia, India and the Indian Ocean.
South American Plate: Tectonic Boundary and Movement
The South American plate is the smallest of all major plates that includes the continent of South America and a large portion of the Atlantic Ocean.