EARTH'S PLATES

The Earth's rocky outer crust solidified billions of years ago, soon after the Earth formed. This crust is not a solid shell; it is broken up
into huge, thick plates that drift atop the soft, underlying mantle.

The plates are made of rock and drift all over the globe; they move both horizontally (sideways) and vertically (up and down). Over
long periods of time, the plates also change in size as their margins are added to, crushed together, or pushed back into the Earth's
mantle. These plates are from 50 to 250 miles (80 to 400 km) thick. 

The map of the Earth is always changing; not only are the underlying plates moving, but the plates change in size. Also, the sea level
changes over time (as the temperature on Earth varies and the poles melt or freeze to varied extents), covering or exposing different
amounts of crust. 

Earth's Major Plates:

The current continental and oceanic plates include: the

Eurasian plate, Australian-Indian plate, Philippine plate,
Pacific plate, Juan de Fuca plate, Nazca plate, Cocos plate,
North American plate, Caribbean plate, South American
plate, African plate, Arabian plate, the Antarctic plate, and
the Scotia plate. These plates consist of smaller sub-
plates. 

PLATE TECTONICS

The theory of plate tectonics (meaning "plate structure") was developed in the 1960's. This theory explains the movement of the
Earth's plates (which has since been documented scientifically) and also explains the cause of earthquakes, volcanoes, oceanic
trenches, mountain range formation, and many other geologic phenomenon.

The plates are moving at a speed that has been estimated at 1 to 10 cm per year. Most of the Earth's seismic activity (volcanoes and
earthquakes) occurs at the plate boundaries as they interact.

The top layer of the Earth's surface is called the crust (it lies on top of the plates). Oceanic crust(the thin crust under the oceans) is
thinner and denser than continental crust. Crust is constantly being created and destroyed; oceanic crust is more active than
continental crust.

Under the crust is the rocky mantle, which is composed of silicon, oxygen, magnesium, iron, aluminum, and calcium. The upper
mantle is rigid and is part of the lithosphere (together with the crust). The lower mantle flows slowly, at a rate of a few centimeters
per year. Theasthenosphere is a part of the upper mantle that exhibits plastic properties. It is located below the lithosphere (the
crust and upper mantle), between about 100 and 250 kilometers deep. 

TYPES OF PLATE MOVEMENT: Divergence, Convergence, and Lateral Slipping

At the boundaries of the plates, various deformations occur as the plates interact; they separate from one another (seafloor
spreading), collide (forming mountain ranges), slip past one another (subduction zones, in which plates undergo destruction and
remelting), and slip laterally. 

Divergent Plate Movement: Seafloor Spreading

Seafloor spreading is the movement of two oceanic plates away from each other (at a divergent plate
boundary), which results in the formation of new oceanic crust (from magma that comes from within the
Earth's mantle) along a a mid-ocean ridge. Where the oceanic plates are moving away from each other is
called a zone of divergence. Ocean floor spreading was first suggested by Harry Hess and Robert Dietz in the
1960's.
 Convergent Plate Movement:
When two plates collide (at a convergent plate boundary), some crust is destroyed in the impact and the plates become smaller. The
results differ, depending upon what types of plates are involved. 
   Oceanic Plate and Continental Plate - When a thin, dense oceanic plate collides with a relatively
light, thick continental plate, the oceanic plate is forced under the continental plate; this
phenomenon is called subduction. 
   Two Oceanic Plates - When two oceanic plates collide, one may be pushed under the other and
magma from the mantle rises, forming volcanoes in the vicinity. 

   Two Continental Plates - When two continental plates collide,

mountain ranges are created as the colliding crust is compressed and
pushed upwards.

Lateral Slipping Plate Movement:

When two plates move sideways against each other (at a transform plate boundary), there is a tremendous amount of friction which
makes the movement jerky. The plates slip, then stick as the friction and pressure build up to incredible levels. When the pressure is
released suddenly, and the plates suddenly jerk apart, this is an earthquake.

WORLD’S PLATE
 Major: 
1 Africa Plate,  Minor: 
2 Pacific Plate,  1 Cocos Plate, 
3 North American Plate,  2 Filipino Plate, 
4 Antarctic Placte.  3 Juan de Fuca Plate, 
5 Eurasian Plate,  4 Caribbean Plate, 
6 Austrailan Plate,  5 Scotia Plate, 
7 South American Plate, and  6 Nazca Plate, 
8 Indian Plant.  7 Arabian Plate. 

MAJOR TECTONIC PLATES

The seven major lithospheric plates are the African plate, Antarctic plate, Eurasian plate, Indo-Australian plate, North American plate, South
American plate and Pacific plate. These are also called Earth's tectonic plates, and there are actually more tectonic plates than just these seven,
including several smaller microplates such as the Philippine plate in the Pacific Ocean. Some major earthquake-prone fault lines occur at the
boundaries of these plates, such as the San Andreas Fault in California, which lies along the borders of the Pacific and North American plates. Other
hotspots for tectonic activity can be found at the boundaries of other plates that meet, such as the African and Eurasian plates. These two plates
meet underneath the Atlantic Ocean, causing a massive underwater mountain range known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

In addition to rubbing against each other and causing tectonic activity, the major lithospheric plates may also be subdivided in ways humans can't
entirely detect. For example, according to the University of Texas, there is some evidence that the Indo-Australian, or Indian, plate may actually be
two separate plates. The earth's plates have changed over time, and they are in a constant, though subtle, state of motion as the lithosphere floats
on top of the earth's liquid core, and the plates will eventually look much different than they do today.

MINOR TECTONIC PLATES

Minor Tectonic Plates There are 8 main tectonic plates. But what about the other minor plates? There are 52 plates on planet earth. We are only
going to talk about the minor but not so minor plates and there are 7 of them. Here is a map of the 15 major/minor plates. The names of the minor
plates are the Scotia plate, the Nazca plate, the Cocos plate, the Carribean plate, the Juan de Fuca, the Arabian plate and lastly the Phillipine plate.
The Scotia plate borders the South American plate to the north and to the east, it borders the South Sandwhich plate.To the south and west the
Scotia plate is bordered by the Antartic. The Nazca plate is located east of the South American plate and is west of the Pacific plate. The Nazca
plate borders the South American plate on the east, Cocos plate in the north, the Atlantic plate in the west, and the Antartic plate in the west. Does
"Nazca" sound like a word you've heard before? Well, the Nazca plate is named after the Nazca region of Peru, the country the Nazca plate borders.
Kind of obvious. The Cocos plate is bordered in the west by the Nazca plate, the north by the Carribean plate, on the west the Pacific plate. On the
northen penninsula of the Cocos plate, it borders the North american plate. why do you think they named it Cocos? Do you think because the people
who named were coocoo? If you think it was that then YOU are KOOKOO. The Cocos plate is named after and island named Cocos and the island
 is on the plate. what else could it be? With that, it leads us to the Juan De Fuca plate. (Not the word for those idiots out there!) The Juan De Fuca
plate is borderd by the North America plate and the Pacific plate. Why do you think they named it Juan De Fuca? the explorer of the same name.
That brings us to the Carribean plate. It is surrounded by the North American plate in the North, Cocos plate in the west, and the Nazca and South
American plate in the south and the South American plate in the east. Im not even going to say why it's named the Carribean plate. If you can't figure
this one out, go get youre cranium checked. Like, go get it checked right now. Like right ,right now. The Arabian plate is bordered by the Indian plate
in the east, the African plate in the south, the Eurasia plate in the north and the African and Eurasia plates in the west. The Arabian plate is named
after the country Saudi Arabia, which anyone should be able to see. That brings us to our last minor plate. The Filipino plate. It is actually called the
Philippine sea plate because the plate does cover the Philipines but the majority of the plate is in the Philipine ocean. The Filipinpo plate borders the
The Filipino plate is borderd by the Eurasian plate and the North American plate in the north, the Pacific plate in the east, Australian plate in the
south and the Eurasian plate in the west. This just about wraps it up so here is a cool map showing whitch way the plates are pressing or seperating.
Also, thanks to my table group, with Julia Chengg, Nicki Gmnier, Connor Patterson and Paige Daughters.

RING OF FIRE 

The Ring of Fire is a string of volcanoes and sites ofseismic activity, or earthquakes, around the edges of the Pacific Ocean. Roughly 90%
of all earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, and the ring is dotted with 75% of all active volcanoes on Earth.

The Ring of Fire isn’t quite a circular ring. It is shaped more like a 40,000-kilometer (25,000-mile) horseshoe. A string of 452 volcanoes
stretches from the southern tip of South America, up along the coast of North America, across the Bering Strait, down through Japan,
and into New Zealand. Several active and dormant volcanoes in Antarctica, however, “close” the ring.

Plate Boundaries
The Ring of Fire is the result of plate tectonics.Tectonic plates are huge slabs of the Earth’s crust, which fit together like pieces of a
puzzle. The plates are not fixed but are constantly moving atop a layer of solid and molten rock called the mantle. Sometimes these
plates collide, move apart, or slide next to each other. Most tectonic activity in the Ring of Fire occurs in thesegeologically active zones.

Convergent Boundaries 
A convergent plate boundary is formed by tectonic plates crashing into each other. Convergent boundaries are often subduction zones,
where the heavier plate slips under the lighter plate, creating a deep trench. This subduction changes the dense mantle material
into buoyant magma, which rises through the crust to the Earth’s surface. Over millions of years, the rising magma creates a series of
active volcanoes known as a volcanic arc.
If you were to drain the water out of the Pacific Ocean, you would see a series of deep ocean trenches that runparallel to corresponding
volcanic arcs along the Ring of Fire. These arcs create both islands and continentalmountain ranges.

The Aleutian Islands in the U.S. state of Alaska, for example, run parallel to the Aleutian Trench. Both geographic features continue to
form as the Pacific Plate subducts beneath the North American Plate. The Aleutian Trench reaches a maximum depth of 7,679 meters
(25,194 feet). The Aleutian Islands have 27 of the United States’ 65 historically active volcanoes.  
The Andes Mountains of South America run parallel to the Peru-Chile Trench, created as the Nazca Plate subducts beneath the South
American Plate. The Andes Mountains include the world’s highest active volcano, Nevados Ojos del Salado, which rises to 6,879 meters
(over 22,500 feet) along the Chile-Argentina border. Many volcanoes in Antarctica are so geologically linked to the South American part
of the Ring of Fire that some geologists refer to the region as the “Antarctandes.”

Divergent Boundaries
A divergent boundary is formed by tectonic plates pulling apart from each other. Divergent boundaries are the site of seafloor
spreading and rift valleys. Seafloor spreading is the process of magma welling up in the rift as the old crust pulls itself in opposite
directions. Cold seawater cools the magma, creating new crust. The upward movement and eventual cooling of this magma has created
high ridges on the ocean floor over millions of years.

The East Pacific Rise is a site of major seafloor spreading in the Ring of Fire. The East Pacific Rise is located on the divergent boundary of
the Pacific Plate and the Cocos Plate (west of Central America), the Nazca Plate (west of South America), and the Antarctic Plate. The
largest known group of volcanoes on Earth is found underwater along the portion of the East Pacific Rise between the coasts of
northern Chile and southern Peru.

Transform Boundaries 
A transform boundary is formed as tectonic plates slidehorizontally past each other. Parts of these plates get stuck at the places where
they touch. Stress builds in those areas as the rest of the plates continue to move. This stress causes the rock to break or slip,
suddenlylurching the plates forward and causing earthquakes. These areas of breakage or slippage are called faults. The majority of
Earth’s faults can be found along transform boundaries in the Ring of Fire. 
The San Andreas Fault, stretching along the central west coast of North America, is one of the most active faults on the Ring of Fire. It
lies on the transform boundary between the North American Plate, which is moving south, and the Pacific Plate, which is moving north.
Measuring about 1,287 kilometers (800 miles) long and 16 kilometers (10 miles) deep, the fault cuts through the western part of the
U.S. state of California. Movement along the fault caused the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which destroyed nearly 500 city blocks.
The earthquake and accompanying fires killed roughly 3,000 people and left half of the city’s residents homeless.  

Hot Spots
The Ring of Fire is also home to hot spots, areas deep within the Earth’s mantle from which heat rises. This heat facilitates the melting of
rock in the brittle, upper portion of the mantle. The melted rock, known as magma, often pushes through cracks in the crust to form
volcanoes. 
Hot spots are not generally associated with the interaction or movement of Earth’s tectonic plates. For this reason, many geologists do
not consider hot spot volcanoes part of the Ring of Fire.

Mount Erebus, the most southern active volcano on Earth, sits over the eruptive zone of the Erebus hot spot in Antarctica. This glacier-
covered volcano has a lava lake at its summit, and has been consistently erupting since it was first discovered in 1841.