GCSE Geography - Plate Boundaries

GCSE Geography - Plate Boundaries

1. Collision boundary

   • Plates involved
     • Eurasian plate
     • Indo-Australian plate
   • What happens
     • Two continental plates clash into each other
     • As they collide, they trigger earthquakes
     • The rock between the plates gets pushed up and folded
   • Hazards
     • Earthquakes
   • Landforms
     • Mountains

2. Conservative boundary

   • What happens
     • Two plates slide in the same direction
     • However, one is moving faster
     • As the plates slide past each other, they snag
     • Pressure and tension builds up as the plates lock together
     • Eventually one breaks down
     • This causes a sudden surge forward
   • Plates involved
     • North American plate
     • Pacific plate
   • Hazards
     • E.g. San Francisco earthquake
       • April 18th 1906
       • 8.25 on Richter scale
   • Landforms
     • San Andreas fault line

3. Destructive boundary

   • Plates involved
     • Nazca plate
     • Oceanic crust
     • South American plate
     • Continental crust
   • What happens
     • Two plates are pushed together
     • The heavier oceanic plate gets subducted
     • Oceanic plate sticks and locks as it tries to slide under the continental plate
     • Heat from friction and the mantle starts to melt the subducted plate
   • Hazards
     • Paricutin volcanoes
     • Volcanoids
   • Landforms
     • Paricutin volcanoes
     • Volcanoids

4. Constructive boundary

   • Plates involved
     • North American plate
     • Eurasian plate
   • What happens
     • Two plates move apart from one another
     • A gap appears between them
     • Molten magma rises to fill the gap
     • This solidifies to create new rocks on the seabed
     • Over time, the new rocks build up and break through the surface
   • Hazards
     • Volcanoes undersea
   • Landforms
     • Surtsey Island
       • Created 14th November 1963
       • Off the coast of Iceland