Types of Plate Boundaries Convergent Plate BoundariesĬonvergent plate boundaries can be one of three main types depending on whether the crust on either side is made of thin, dense oceanic crust or thick, buoyant continental crust. Collectively, and with the help of modern technology, these scientists help set the stage for the theory of plate tectonics and the foundation of geology as we know it today.
Morley hypothesis of remnant magnetization. These theories were tested and confirmed by scientists and geologists from the early 1900’s to the mid 1960’s including Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift, Harry Hess’s seafloor spreading hypothesis and the Frederick John Vine, Drummond Hoyle Matthews and Lawrence W. Scientists and explorers began theorizing about plate boundaries and tectonics as early as the 1500’s when they observed that 1) the shape of some continents seemed to fit together like a puzzle and 2) the same plant and animal fossils could be found across these continents, as shown in the image below. This heat fuels convection in the ductile mantle which brings magma toward the surface at divergent plate boundaries and forces plates to subduct at convergent plate boundaries.
Movement of the plates is driven by heat generated from the radioactive decay of minerals in the earth. Convergent plate boundaries are home to the deepest and largest earthquakes on the planet.
Most of the Earth’s earthquakes occur along plate boundaries as the brittle plates slide and grind past each other as they move. The places where the plates meet are called plate boundaries which can be one of three main types depending on the relative movement of the plates on either side of the plate boundary.Īs shown above, if the plates are moving away from each other the boundary is called divergent, if they are moving toward each other it’s a convergent boundary, and if they are sliding past each other horizontally, in parallel but opposite directions, then it’s a transform plate boundary. This rigid, brittle layer is ~100 km thick and is made of the Earth’s crust and the uppermost mantle.Īs shown in the image below, the lithosphere is broken into 12 major tectonic plates which fit together like a puzzle. Plate boundaries are made of lithosphere which is the outer portion of the Earth’s surface, on which humans and all species live.