north american plate and african plate boundary type

Explain why the Nootka Fault is a transform fault, and show the relative sense of motion along the fault with two small arrows. Divergent boundaries are areas where plates move away from each other, forming either mid-oceanic ridges or rift valleys.These are also known as constructive boundaries. The simplest plate geometry that can explain these data involves a North American‐Eurasian boundary that extends from the Nansen ridge through a broad zone of deformation in northeast Asia to the Sea of Okhotsk and thence southward through Sakhalin and Hokkaido to a … The major plates are Eurasia, Pacific, India, Australia, North America, South America, Africa, and Antarctic. The south side of the Eurasian plate neighbors the Arabian, Indian and Sunda plates. As discussed in the context of subduction-related volcanism in Chapter 4, the significant volume of water within the subducting material is released as the subducting crust is heated. Tags: Question 8 . Spreading rates vary considerably, from 2 cm/y to 6 cm/y in the Atlantic, to between 12 cm/y and 20 cm/y in the Pacific. This plate is in the Pacific Ocean between the Pacific plate and the South America plate. The Eurasian Plate is a plate tectonic boundary consisting most of Europe, Russia and China.. It’s the third largest, being slightly smaller than the Pacific Plate and North American Plate.. Because Earth’s tectonic plate boundaries often consist of continent and ocean crust, the Eurasian Plate contains parts of the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean. South America plate, Antarctic plate, Eurasia plate, North America plate, Arabia plate, India plate, Australia plate. The San Andreas Fault is the transform plate boundary where a thin sliver of western California, as part of the Pacific Plate, slides north-northwestward past the rest of North America. CC BY. Between 200 and 150 Ma, rifting started between South America and Africa and between North America and Europe, and India moved north toward Asia. The series of hot spots that has been identified in the Atlantic Ocean may also have existed for several hundred million years, and thus may have contributed to rifting in roughly the same place on at least two separate occasions (Figure \(\PageIndex{13}\)). The grinding action between the plates at a transform plate boundary results in shallow earthquakes, large lateral displacement of rock, and a broad zone of crustal deformation. It runs from the tip of South America eastwards to form a barrier between the Antarctic plate and the South America plate. Divergent boundaries are spreading boundaries, where new oceanic crust is created from magma derived from partial melting of the mantle caused by decompression as hot mantle rock from depth is moved toward the surface (Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)). Eurasia plate, Pacific plate, Africa plate, Caribbean plate, South America plate, Cocos plate, Juan de Fuca plate. This plate moves north and slightly west towards the Caribbean plate and the North America plate. See Appendix 3 for Exercise 10.5 answers. There are also numerous small plates (e.g., Juan de Fuca, Cocos, Nazca, Scotia, Philippine, Caribbean), and many very small plates or sub-plates. Learn about the North American Plate and how it is moving relative to other tectonic plates. Correct answers: 1 question: What type of boundary is shown between the South American Plate and the African Plate? It runs along the west coast of Mexico and western Caribbean countries. The Pacific Plate is almost entirely oceanic, but it does include the part of California west of the San Andreas Fault. Rates of motions of the major plates range from less than 1 cm/y to over 10 cm/y. When divergent, they usually open valleys on land and oceanic ridges like the Mid Atlantic Ridge. The Pacific Plate constitutes most of the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean. It is likely that as many as 20 mantle plumes, many of which still exist, were responsible for the initiation of the rifting of Pangea along what is now the mid-Atlantic ridge (see Figure 10.14). This plate is rotating counter clockwise in towards the Pacific plate. (circle any that apply) a. This plate is moving north east towards the Arabia and Eurasia plates. The western part of California (including Los Angeles and part of San Francisco) will split away from the rest of North America, and eventually sail right by the west coast of Vancouver Island, en route to Alaska. It runs along the north western coast of the United States and the southern British Columbia coast. A continent-continent collision occurs when a continent or large island that has been moved along with subducting oceanic crust collides with another continent (Figure \(\PageIndex{8}\)). Explain why the Nootka Fault is a transform fault, and show the relative sense of motion along the fault with two small arrows. By the end of 1967, Earth’s surface had been mapped into a series of plates (Figure 4.4.1). Physical Geology by Steven Earle is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Figures 10.4.2, 10.4.3, 10.4.5, 10.4.6, 10.4.7, 10.4.8, 10.4.9, 10.4.10, 10.4.11, 10.4.12, 10.4.13, 10.4.14: © Steven Earle. There will also be continued northerly movement of Australia and Indonesia. The approximately 80 million year old Caribbean Plate is roughly rectangular, and it slides eastward at about two centimeters/year relative to the North American Plate. This plate is rotating in a clockwise direction towards the Pacific plate. The major plates are Eurasia, Pacific, India, Australia, North America, South America, Africa, and Antarctic. Subduction zones occur when one or both of the tectonic plates are composed of oceanic crust. For example, the North American Plate includes most of North America, plus half of the northern Atlantic Ocean. Convergent boundaries: where two plates are colliding. Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): © Steven Earle. The magma, which is lighter than the surrounding mantle material, rises through the mantle and the overlying oceanic crust to the ocean floor where it creates a chain of volcanic islands known as an island arc. The mafic magma produced adjacent to the subduction zone rises to the base of the continental crust and leads to partial melting of the crustal rock. The series of hot spots that has been identified in the Atlantic Ocean may also have existed for several hundred million years, and thus may have contributed to rifting in roughly the same place on at least two separate occasions (Figure 10.27). Illustration of the Main Types of Plate Boundaries [55 k] Divergent boundaries. Based on Keary and Vine, 1996, Global Tectonics (2ed), Blackwell Science Ltd., Oxford. The North American Plate is a tectonic plate that underlies much of North America and Central America as well as part of the Caribbean Sea. The plates are made up of crust and the lithospheric part of the mantle (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)), and even though they are moving all the time, and in different directions, there is never a significant amount of space between them. The types are ocean-ocean, ocean-continent, and continent-continent. The mafic magma produced adjacent to the subduction zone rises to the base of the continental crust and leads to partial melting of the crustal rock. When plate boundaries are convergent there is always a subduction zone. Start with the major plates, and then work on the smaller ones. The Rocky Mountains in B.C. For example, the North American Plate includes most of North America, plus half of the northern Atlantic Ocean. The west side shares a divergent plate boundary with the North American plate. Such boundaries are called transform plate boundaries because they connect other plate boundaries in various combinations, transforming the site of plate motion. Incipient rifting has begun along the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa, extending from Ethiopia and Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden (Red Sea) all the way south to Malawi. A single tectonic plate can have multiple types of plate boundaries with the other plates that surround it. If spreading along the mid-Atlantic ridge continues to be slower than spreading within the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean will start to close up, and eventually (in a 100 million years or more) North and South America will collide with Europe and Africa. Image courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. A well-known transform plate boundary is the San Andreas Fault, which is responsible for many of California’s earthquakes. The part of California west of the San Andreas Fault and all of Baja California are on the Pacific Plate. The Pacific Plate is the fastest, followed by the Australian and Nazca Plates. the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate in California Use the map below to see where the three different types of plate boundaries are found throughout the world. Convergent boundaries, where two plates are moving toward each other, are of three types, depending on the type of crust present on either side of the boundary — oceanic or continental. New Guinea and the northern parts of New Zealand are part of the Australia plate. Before we talk about processes at plate boundaries, it’s important to point out that there are never gaps between plates. a. Unless otherwise noted, LibreTexts content is licensed by CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Some of the processes taking place in this setting include: Spreading is hypothesized to start within a continental area with up-warping or doming related to an underlying mantle plume or series of mantle plumes. Name a type of convergent boundary. The largest earthquakes occur near the surface where the subducting plate is still cold and strong. Weathering, erosion, and the. 1972) (Emerick and Duncan, 1982). This plate includes India and the surrounding India Ocean. To the east, the North American plate shares the Mid-Atlantic Ridge with the Eurasian plate. Once this happens, the continents will no longer continue to move apart because the spreading at the mid-Atlantic ridge will be taken up by subduction. As discussed in the context of subduction-related volcanism in Chapter 4, the significant volume of water within the subducting material is released as the subducting crust is heated. Seafloor spreading occurs along mid-ocean ridges—large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. and Alberta are also a result of continent-continent collisions. 8. What is associated with convergent plate boundaries? A destructive plate boundary is sometimes called a convergent or tensional plate … The roots of ancient mountain belts, which are present along the eastern margin of North America, the western margin of Europe, and the northwestern margin of Africa, show that these land masses once collided with each other to form a mountain chain, possibly as big as the Himalayas. Find an answer to your question type of plate boundary that occurs between the african plate and the arabian platea. If this continues without changing for another couple hundred million years, we will be back to where we started, with one supercontinent. Note that each has the key properties I mentioned: arcuate shape and volcanoes in a tight line roughly parallel to the plate boundary. Most of this water is present within the sheet silicate mineral serpentine which is derived from alteration of pyroxene and olivine near the spreading ridge shortly after the rock’s formation. 2.8 / 2.8 points The boundary of the North American plate and the African plate in the Atlantic Ocean is an example of which type of plate boundary? At an ocean-continent convergent boundary, the oceanic plate is pushed under the continental plate in the same manner as at an ocean-ocean boundary. Most divergent boundaries are located at the oceanic ridges (although some are on land), and the crustal material created at a spreading boundary is always oceanic in character; in other words, it is mafic igneous rock (e.g., basalt or gabbro, rich in ferromagnesian minerals). What type of boundary exist on African plate and North American plate? The major plates are Eurasia, Pacific, India, Australia, North America, South America, Africa, and Antarctic. As described above in the context of Benioff zones (Figure 10.10), earthquakes take place close to the boundary between the subducting crust and the overriding crust. A mature island arc develops into a chain of relatively large islands (such as Japan or Indonesia) as more and more volcanic material is extruded and sedimentary rocks accumulate around the islands. Have questions or comments? As the Atlantic Ocean floor gets weighed down around its margins by great thickness of continental sediments (i.e., geosynclines), it will be pushed farther and farther into the mantle, and eventually the oceanic lithosphere may break away from the continental lithosphere (Figure \(\PageIndex{12}\)). To see the timing of these processes for yourself, go to time lapse of Continental Movements. What are Plate Boundaries? We know that the JDF Plate is moving toward the North American Plate at around 4 centimeters per year to 5 centimeters per year. These borders are regions of intense seismic activity, including frequent earthquakes, … (Note that spreading rates are typically double the velocities of the two plates moving away from a ridge.). The western edge of the African Plate is a divergent boundary with the North American Plate to the north and the South American Plate to the south which forms the central and southern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Convergent boundaries are areas where plates move toward each other and collide. Transform faults do not just connect divergent boundaries. and Alberta are also a result of continent-continent collisions. Similarly the South American Plate extends across the western part of the southern Atlantic Ocean, while the European and African … This water is mostly derived from alteration of pyroxene and olivine to serpentine near the spreading ridge shortly after the rock’s formation. The types are ocean-ocean, ocean-continent, and continent-continent. The resulting magma ascends through the crust, producing a mountain chain with many volcanoes. The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America. The North American Plate is one of the slowest, averaging around 1 cm/y in the south up to almost 4 cm/y in the north. It shares a boundary with the Pacific Plate and Cocos Plate in the west and the Caribbean Plate in the south. A well-known transform plate boundary is the San Andreas Fault, which is responsible for many of California’s earthquakes. Another is the boundary between the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate. Start with the major plates, and then work on the smaller ones. It is assumed that the relative lack of strength of the partial melting zone facilitates the sliding of the lithospheric plates. The San Andreas Fault is a place where two tectonic plates touch, the North American and Pacific Plates. For example, the Queen Charlotte Fault connects the north end of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, starting at the north end of Vancouver Island, to the Aleutian subduction zone. Finally, using a highlighter or colored pencil, label as many of the boundaries as you can as divergent, convergent, or transform. By the end of 1967 the Earth’s surface had been mapped into a series of plates (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). Question options: A) Convergent B) Transform C) Subduction D) Divergent 0 / 2.8 points Alvarez and his team hypothesized, and found evidence for, an asteroid impact that triggered a global extinction. Boundaries. Plates move as rigid bodies, so it may seem surprising that the North American Plate can be moving at different rates in different places. There are three types of convergent boundaries that occur through out the world. Once this happens, the continents will no longer continue to move apart because the spreading at the mid-Atlantic ridge will be taken up by subduction. At an ocean-ocean convergent boundary, one of the plates (oceanic crust and lithospheric mantle) is pushed, or subducted, under the other. Incipient rifting has begun along the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa, extending from Ethiopia and Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden (Red Sea) all the way south to Malawi. The North American and Eurasian plates move apart at different speeds depending on the part of the boundary being measured, but the average rate of spreading is about 2.5 centimeters per year. There is commonly an ocean trench along the boundary. The southern edge of the Caribbean Plate, passing through northern South America, is an example. As originally described by Wegener in 1915, the present continents were once all part of a supercontinent, which he termed Pangea (all land). Eventually Africa will split apart. For example the Juan de Fuca Plate is actually three separate plates (Gorda, Juan de Fuca, and Explorer) that all move in the same general direction but at slightly different rates. The North American Plate, for example, rotates counter-clockwise; the Eurasian Plate rotates clockwise. There are three main types of plate boundaries: 1. This plate is moving northwest towards the Australia, Filipino, and Eurasia plates. What type of plate boundaries exist in the following plate? of years as the continents have drifted away from each other. What type of plate boundary cuts across New Zealand’s south island? Magma from the mantle pushing up to fill the voids left by divergence of the two plates, Magma cooling more slowly in the lower part of the new crust and forming gabbro bodies, Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): “Plates tect2 en” by the. For example, the North American Plate includes most of North America, plus half of the northern Atlantic Ocean. - 6149615 taekook510 taekook510 03.11.2020 Science Junior High School What type of boundary exist on African plate and North American plate? This plate includes the northeastern part of the Atlantic ocean, all of Europe, all of Russia (except its most eastern part), and down through southeast Asia, including China and Indonesia. From 10 Ma to 60 Ma the Somali plate began to separate from Africa via rifting – future modelling suggests that within 1 Ma, there will be a new sea between Somalia and Africa, and within 10 Ma it will be an entirely new continent (Logatchev et al. What makes up the North American Plate? It mixes with the overlying mantle, and the addition of water to the hot mantle lowers the crust’s melting point and leads to the formation of magma (flux melting). The roots of ancient mountain belts, which are present along the eastern margin of North America, the western margin of Europe, and the northwestern margin of Africa, show that these land masses once collided with each other to form a mountain chain, possibly as big as the Himalayas. In 1966, Tuzo Wilson proposed that there has been a continuous series of cycles of continental rifting and collision; that is, break-up of supercontinents, drifting, collision, and formation of other supercontinents. This is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where divergent tectonic plates pull apart from each other. The idea of plate tectonics became widely accepted around 1965 as more and more geologists started thinking in these terms. Exercise 10.4 A different type of transform fault. This plate is moving directly east towards the South America plate. Continental drift and sea-floor spreading became widely accepted around 1965 as more and more geologists started thinking in these terms. Send keyboard focus to media. Antarctic plate, Pacfic plate, Eurasia plate, India Plate, Africa plate. This is why some of the mountain chains formed during the earlier collision can be traced from Europe to North America and from Europe to Africa. Rates of motions of the major plates range from less than 1 cm/y to over 10 cm/y. Map of the North American - Caribbean tectonic plate boundary. This plate includes all of Saudi Arabia, and much of the Levant (up to Iraq and Syria). The northern part of the plate is a convergent boundary where the African plate is subducting below the Eurasian plate. In Oregon and … The Rocky Mountains in B.C. 10.4: Plate, Plate Motions, and Plate Boundary Processes, [ "article:topic", "showtoc:no", "license:ccby", "authorname:searle" ], https://geo.libretexts.org/@app/auth/3/login?returnto=https%3A%2F%2Fgeo.libretexts.org%2FBookshelves%2FGeology%2FBook%253A_Physical_Geology_(Earle)%2F10%253A_Plate_Tectonics%2F10.04%253A_Plate_Plate_Motions_and_Plate_Boundary_Processes, 10.3: Geological Renaissance of the Mid-20th Century, 10.04: Plate Plate Motions and Plate Boundary Processes#fig10.4.1, information contact us at info@libretexts.org, status page at https://status.libretexts.org. More Plate … North American & Pacific Plates. 1 point Eurasian Plate North American Plate Eurasian Plate an African Hate Pacific Plate South American Plate Indian Australian Indian-Australian Male Naia Plate Platp Antaretk Plate Antarctic Plate KEY Transformare Ronday Complex Uncertain Aate Bonday Hapo Relative Moon … By 80 Ma, Africa had separated from South America, most of Europe had separated from North America, and India had separated from Antarctica. Similarly the South American Plate extends across the western part of the southern Atlantic Ocean, while the European and African plates each include part of the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The subducted lithosphere descends into the hot mantle at a relatively shallow angle close to the subduction zone, but at steeper angles farther down (up to about 45°). Exercise 10.5 Getting to know the plates and their boundaries. Sediment that has accumulated on the continental slope is thrust up into an accretionary wedge, and compression leads to thrusting within the continental plate (Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\)). The subducted lithosphere descends into the hot mantle at a relatively shallow angle close to the subduction zone, but at steeper angles farther down (up to about 45°). There will also be continued northerly movement of Australia and Indonesia. The boundary between the two plates is the Nootka Fault, which is the location of frequent small-to-medium earthquakes (up to magnitude ~5), as depicted by the red stars. North America plate, South America plate, Cocos plate. Exercise 10.5 Getting to Know the Plates and Their Boundaries. North American plate shattered speed records a billion years ago PhysOrg - February 4, 2015 A new study led by Michigan Technological University geophysicist Aleksey Smirnov reveals that 1.1 billion years ago, the North American tectonic plate scooted along at a blistering 24.6 centimeters - about 10 inches - per year. Tectonic plate interactions are classified into three basic types:. A subduction zone will develop, and the oceanic plate will begin to descend under the continent. This plate is small. Boundaries between the plates are of three types: divergent (i.e., moving apart), convergent (i.e., moving together), and transform (moving side by side). You ’ ve named most of North America plate at these mid-oceanic ridges slide past each other,. Geologic rocks at these mid-oceanic ridges north american plate and african plate boundary type: are a number of different types convergent. Out the world is responsible for many of California west of the map, North. 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