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= = = Plate Tectonics = Plate tectonics is what happens to plates into the earth when volcanoes, mountains, earthquakes, and tsunamis are formed. There are thee types of boundaries they are; convergent boundaries, divergent boundaries, and transform boundaries. Im going to tell you examples and show you how plate tectonics effect the earth.

= __Convergent Boundaries__ =

Convergent boundaries is when plates in the earth overlap, one goes under and the other rises over to form mountain ranges. An example of a mountain range is the Himalayas. They are the tallest mountain range in the world. They were created when asias and indias plates collided, they were yong yet the tallest in the world. They are located in between india and asia. Another example of convergent bondaries is the Marina trench. The marina trench is located in the North Pacific. The oceanic crust is much heavier than the continental crust, so when the plates crash into each other, the ocean plate plunges down toward the mantle, while the continental plate rides up over the top. The forces driving the two plates together are really intense, so the underlying oceanic plate creates a trench.

 The last example of a convergent Boundary is The Andes Mountains they are located in South America. They run north to south along the western coast of the continent. The Andes Mountains are the longest and one of the highest mountain ranges in the world. The American plate and the Nazca plate are the two plates creating this mountain.

__**Divergent Boundaries** __ Divergent Boundaries are locations where plates are moving away from one another. This occurs above rising currents. The rising current pushes up on the bottom of the lithosphere, lifting it and flowing laterally beneath it. Divergent boundaries mostly cause volcanoes. The East Africa Rift Valley is a great example of this type of plate boundary.The East Africa Rift v is in a very early stage of development. Another divergent boundary is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, found at the bottom of the Atlantic and is the longest mountain range in the world. This ridge is an oceanic rift that separates the North American Plate from the Eurasian Plate in the North Atlantic and the South American Plate from the African Plate in the South Atlantic. __Transform Boundaries__ ** Transform Plate Boundaries are locations where two plates slide past one another.Most transform faults are found in the ocean basin and connect offsets in the mid-ocean ridges. San Andreas Fault is an example. If a person stood on one side of the fault and looked across it, the block on the opposite side would appear to have moved to the right. Another example of a transform boundary on land is the Alpine Fault of New Zealand. New Zealand lies at the edge of both the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates. To the northeast of New Zealand, and underneath North Island, the Pacific Plate is moving towards, and being pushed below the Australian Plate. The last example of a transform boundary is
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**bibliography:** World Book Inc. 2000. p.453-454. "The Year of the Mountains," http://www.mountains2002.org.
 * 11/16/09 http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/ (nettrekker)
 * http://www.teachersdomain.org/reasourse/
 * 11/16/09 title- we all have boundaries url: http://schools.utah.gov/curr/science/core/earth
 * 11/13/09 National geographic, plate tectonics http://science.nationalgeographic.com
 * 11/12/09 National geographic, plate tectonics http://science.nationalgeographic.com
 * Wildlife of the High Andes," Wildlife Explorer, International Masters Publishers Inc., 1999, printed in the U.S. Knapp Gregory. "Andes Mountains" World Book Encyclopedia Vol. 1A Chicago.