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https://sites.google.com/site/volcanoesandtheringoffireurja/what-is-the-ring/countries-in-the-ring-of-fire

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA8D8e34LZc

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Plate Boundaries - The Different Types of Plate Boundaries - GCSE Geography

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https://sites.google.com/site/myoceanexploration/information

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There are a few handfuls of major plates and dozens of smaller, or minor, plates. Six of the majors are named for the continents embedded within them, such as the North American, African, and Antarctic plates. Though smaller in size, the minors are no less important when it comes to shaping the Earth. The tiny Juan de Fuca plate is largely responsible for the volcanoes that dot the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

The plates make up Earth's outer shell, called the lithosphere. (This includes the crust and uppermost part of the mantle.) Churning currents in the molten rocks below propel them along like a jumble of conveyor belts in disrepair. Most geologic activity stems from the interplay where the plates meet or divide.

The movement of the plates creates three types of tectonic boundaries: convergent, where plates move into one another; divergent, where plates move apart; and transform, where plates move sideways in relation to each other.

They move at a rate of one to two inches (three to five centimeters) per year.

Convergent Boundaries

Where plates serving landmasses collide, the crust crumples and buckles into mountain ranges. India and Asia crashed about 55 million years ago, slowly giving rise to the Himalaya, the highest mountain system on Earth. As the mash-up continues, the mountains get higher. Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, may be a tiny bit taller tomorrow than it is today.

These convergent boundaries also occur where a plate of ocean dives, in a process called subduction, under a landmass. As the overlying plate lifts up, it also forms mountain ranges. In addition, the diving plate melts and is often spewed out in volcanic eruptions such as those that formed some of the mountains in the Andes of South America.

At ocean-ocean convergences, one plate usually dives beneath the other, forming deep trenches like the Mariana Trench in the North Pacific Ocean, the deepest point on Earth. These types of collisions can also lead to underwater volcanoes that eventually build up into island arcs like Japan.

At divergent boundaries in the oceans, magma from deep in the Earth's mantle rises toward the surface and pushes apart two or more plates. Mountains and volcanoes rise along the seam. The process renews the ocean floor and widens the giant basins. A single mid-ocean ridge system connects the world's oceans, making the ridge the longest mountain range in the world.

On land, giant troughs such as the Great Rift Valley in Africa form where plates are tugged apart. If the plates there continue to diverge, millions of years from now eastern Africa will split from the continent to form a new landmass. A mid-ocean ridge would then mark the boundary between the plates.

The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform boundary, where two plates grind past each other along what are called strike-slip faults. These boundaries don't produce spectacular features like mountains or oceans, but the halting motion often triggers large earthquakes, such as the 1906 one that devastated San Francisco.

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There are a few handfuls of major plates and dozens of smaller, or minor, plates. Six of the majors are named for the continents embedded within them, such as the North American, African, and Antarctic plates. Though smaller in size, the minors are no less important when it comes to shaping the Earth.

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The plates have moved across Earth's surface for hundreds of millions of years. As the plates move, the continents on them move, too. This movement is called continental drift.

Scientists think that it takes about 500 million years for all the continents to join together into one big continent-or supercontinent-and then break apart again. A number of supercontinents have formed and broken apart on Earth over time. The most recent supercontinent, called Pangea (or Pangaea), had formed by about 270 million years ago. Pangea lay across a plate boundary. Slowly, Pangea broke apart at this boundary. Rising magma filled in the space, which eventually became the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.

One piece of Pangea included parts of what are now North America, Europe, and Asia. This piece, called Laurasia, drifted north. The other piece of Pangea included parts of what are now Antarctica, Africa, South America, and Australia. This part, called Gondwanaland, drifted south. Eventually Laurasia and Gondwanaland broke apart, too. The continents then slowly moved to the places they are now.

The continents continue to move today. Scientists believe that in about 250 million years they will join together again.

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The theory, or idea, of plate tectonics says that Earth's outer layer is made up of large, moving pieces called plates. All of Earth's land and water sit on these plates. The...

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The earth beneath our feet is constantly moving but it is too slow for us to notice. It moves anywhere from 1 to 6 inches in a year. These movements are caused by forces deep in the core of Earth. It is believed that earth's outer crust is not a single piece and made up of huge fragments. These fragments are known as plate tectonics. All these plates fit together like a cracked shell. These plates make up the outer shell of Earth called lithosphere. Edges of these plates are known as boundaries or margins. Tectonic plates are around 62 miles thick.
Quick Facts: -

The movement of plate tectonics is responsible for all different phenomena like earthquakes, mountain formation, volcanoes etc.

There are two main types of tectonic plates which are Oceanic and Continental.

Oceanic crust is formed at sea-floor spreading centers and Continental crust is formed through arc volcanism.

There are total seven major plates and twelve minor plates.

Convection cells are believed to be what keeps these plates moving.

The entire concept of plate tectonics was developed in the 1960s from an earlier concept of continental drift.

A German scientist, Alfred Wegener is referred to as the father of plate tectonics.

At the edges of tectonic plate boundaries, there are cracks known as faults.

There are three different types of plate boundaries which are convergent, divergent, and transform.

Convergent boundaries are where plates move apart; divergent boundaries are where plates move into one another and transform boundaries are where plates move sideways to each other.

The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of transform boundaries.

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All Facts for Kids about Plate Tectonics

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The earth beneath our feet is constantly moving but it is too slow for us to notice. It moves anywhere from 1 to 6 inches in a year. These movements are caused by forces deep in the core of Earth. It is believed that earth's outer crust is not a single piece and made up of huge fragments.

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Introduction
Tectonic plate boundaries have been discovered using seismographs. Scientists discovered crustal plates because numerous earthquakes occur as plates move around and the rocks break.

Seismic waves
P waves and s waves are created by large and small earthquakes as the tectonic plates move around on the Earth's surface showing the outline of crustal plates when scientists plot the location of the earthquakes.

Boundaries of tectonic plates, USGS

Divergent plate boundaries
A divergent boundary forms where plates are separating. Deep in the oceans at spreading ridges lava flows out on the ocean floor in rift valleys. The basalt lava is derived from melted rock in the upper mantle that collects in pockets called magma chambers.

Global mid-ocean ridge system
The mountain chain that has formed at divergent plate boundaries is the global mid-ocean ridge system. It is the longest mountain chain on Earth. The lava flowing out of the rift valleys forms new oceanic crust. This is the newest land on the Earth's surface.

Mid-Atlantic Ridge
The Mid Atlantic Ridge is a divergent boundary that runs from the North Atlantic to the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about 10,000 miles (16,000 km) long and runs through the Iceland.

Convergent plate boundaries
There are two types of convergent plate boundaries. Collision boundaries are areas where two continental plates collide. Continental plates smash together forming great mountain chains like the Himalaya Mountains. The continental crust thickens at these tectonic plate boundaries.

Subduction zones
Subduction zones are places where two plates collide. At least one of the plates is an ocean crust. Oceanic crust is heavier and denser than continental crust. When these two types of crust collide the heavier denser oceanic crust is forced downward into the crust and upper mantle where it melts and the rocks are recycled.

Transform fault boundaries
Two tectonic plates can slip past each other horizontally. This type of movement creates a transform fault. The San Andreas Fault is a transform fault. It runs from the Mendocino Triangle in the North to the East Pacific Rise in the south. The San Andreas Fault separates the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate. The fault if 810 miles (1300 km) long.

More Planet Earth Links

Earths Atmosphere Find out which layer meteors burn up, where the International Space station is located and more.

Lithosphere Find out if you know the two types of crusts that make up this layer of the Earth and which one is younger?

What are Northern Lights? Find out how the solar wind powered, by great storms on the Sun, create the Northern Lights.

Asthenosphere Find out why scientists say the rocks in the asthenosphere has properties like silly putty.

Polar Front Find out what happens when a cold air mass from the poles meets a warm tropical air mass!

Tectonic Plate Boundaries Find out about the major types of crustal plates and the boundaries around them.

Planet Earth Find out about our planet from the Earth's core to the outer reaches of our atmosphere.

Kids Fun Science The links on our home page include information about volcanoes, science activities, plate tectonics, the rock cycle and much more.

Ring of Fire Science Bookstore

Check out Myrna Martin's award winning textbooks, e-books, videos and rock sets. The Ring of Fire Science Bookstore covers a wide range of earth science topics. Click here to browse.

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Introduction Tectonic plate boundaries have been discovered using seismographs. Scientists discovered crustal plates because numerous earthquakes occur as plates move around and the rocks break. Seismic waves P waves and s waves are created by large and small earthquakes as the tectonic plates move around on the Earth's surface showing the outline of crustal plates when scientists plot the location of the earthquakes.

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At the locations where two tectonic plates interact, a boundary between these plates exist. There are three types of boundaries that geologist observe. These boundaries are divergent boundaries, convergent boundaries, and transform boundaries.

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At the locations where two tectonic plates interact, a boundary between these plates exist. There are three types of boundaries that geologist observe. These boundaries are divergent boundaries, convergent boundaries, and transform boundaries.

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At the boundary, the western edge of the Pacific Plate is subducted beneath the small Mariana Plate. Because the Pacific plate is the largest of all the tectonic plates on Earth, crustal material at its western edge has had up to 170 million years to compact and become very dense; hence its great height-difference relative to the higher-riding Mariana Plate, at the point where the Pacific Plate crust is subducted.

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A topographic map is a kind of map which uses contour lines or other ways to show elevation and topography. Topo maps are usually very detailed, with a large scale, though some are not. These maps are prepared based on a detailed survey of the areas concerned.

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Bill Nye Plate Tectonics, Volcanoes and Earthquakes

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Topographic Maps: Lesson for Kids - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

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Topographic maps are physical maps that focus on geographical features. Explore and learn how to read topographic maps, which provide a visual…

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The Ring of Fire | Nat Geo Kids Volcano Playlist

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Discover the very best volcano videos YouTube has to offer - brought to you by National Geographic Kids! ➡ Subscribe for more National Geographic Kids videos: http://bit.ly/SubscribeToNatGeoKids ➡ Watch more Volcanoes: http://bit.ly/NGKVolcanoPlaylist More National Geographic Kids: Check out "Weird But True!" during Xploration Station on most FOX broadcast stations!

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Ruff Ruffman's Ring of Fire Travel Guide

Learn about volcanoes in the Ring of Fire and their relationship to earthquakes and mountain ranges with this game featuring PBS Kids character Ruff Ruffman produced by WGBH. Students help Ruff verify information about volcanoes that he has presented in a travel guide for his grandmother's vacation. The game includes visual and text-based reference materials that students use as they progress through the game and learn about the relationships between volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain ranges.

To view the Background Essay and Teaching Tips for this game, go to Support Materials below. This resource was developed through WGBH's Bringing the Universe to America's Classrooms project, in collaboration with NASA. Click here for the full collection of resources.

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Ruff Ruffman's Ring of Fire Travel Guide

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Learn about volcanoes in the Ring of Fire and their relationship to earthquakes and mountain ranges with this game featuring PBS Kids character Ruff Ruffman produced by WGBH. Students help Ruff verify information about volcanoes that he has presented in a travel guide for his grandmother's vacation.

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Kids learn about the Earth science subject of topography including features such as landforms, elevation, latitude, longitude, and topographical maps.

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What Is An Earthquake? | The Dr. Binocs Show | Educational Videos For Kids

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0:00 / 1:49•Watch full video

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Geography Explorer: Mountains - Educational Videos & Lessons for Children

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Plate Tectonics for Kids - from www.makemegenius.com

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Earth Science for Kids: Mountain Geology

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Kids learn about the Earth science subject of mountains including how they are formed, types of mountains, geological features, definition, and fun facts.

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Kid's learn about the science of earthquakes. What causes them and where they happen.

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Kids learn about the science of volcanoes including how they form mountains, lava, and magma; types such as cinder cone, composite, and shield; watch a video about volcanoes.

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Kids learn about the Earth science subject of plate tectonics including major and minor plates, convergent, divergent, and transform boundaries.

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In the ocean, there are mountains and valleys just like on land, including an especially deep type of valley called a trench. Learn about how ocean trenches are formed and what mysterious creatures live there.

Underwater Mountains and Valleys

Did you know that most of the surface of our planet is under the ocean, not above it? In fact, Earth is about 70% water, and that is mostly the ocean. Do you know how deep the ocean goes? If you were to put the tallest mountain on Earth into the deepest part of the sea, it wouldn't even stick out of the water. It would still be more than one mile below the surface of the ocean!

In the ocean, just like on the land, there are mountains and valleys. We call deep valleys under the sea trenches. These trenches are found all throughout the ocean, but they are mainly around the Ring of Fire.

What is the Ring of Fire?

The Ring of Fire is the ring-like shape that would be made if you drew a circular line going around the Pacific Ocean. It is called that because there are many volcanoes and earthquakes in those areas. Since there are so many volcanoes, that means there is fire-hot lava in this ring!

Earth's land sits on what are called tectonic plates, which are like huge puzzle pieces of land (both above and below water). As these plates shift and shuffle, earthquakes happen and volcanoes become active. This generally happens at the Ring of Fire. As the plates move, one plate may go under another. This is called a subduction zone. Where two plates meet at a subduction zone, there is usually an extremely deep ocean trench.

How Deep are Trenches?

The best-known trench is the Mariana Trench, and for some good reasons. The Mariana Trench is over 1,580 miles long, and almost seven miles deep! It is the deepest trench in the world. The next deepest trench is the Tonga Trench, which is also almost seven miles deep. There are many other trenches in the ocean, and several of them are over six miles deep.

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ocean trench lesson for kids: definition & facts | study.com

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Ocean Trench Lesson for Kids: Definition & Facts | Study.com

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In the ocean, there are mountains and valleys just like on land, including an especially deep type of valley called a trench. Learn about how ocean trenches are formed and what mysterious creatures live there. Did you know that most of the surface of our planet is under the ocean, not above it?

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Ocean trenches are very deep, narrow valleys found on the ocean floor. Imagine a giant crack in the Earth's crust at the bottom of the sea! These trenches have steep sides that drop down to incredible depths.

Most ocean trenches form when one of Earth's huge tectonic plates slides under another. This process is called subduction. It usually happens when a heavier oceanic crust plate sinks beneath a lighter continental plate or another oceanic plate. The sinking plate creates a long, deep ditch called a "subduction zone," which is where ocean trenches are found. These trenches can be very long, sometimes over 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles), and several kilometers deep. They can also be up to 112 kilometers (70 miles) wide.

Deepest Ocean Trenches

Some ocean trenches are incredibly deep. At least five trenches are more than 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep! The deepest known spot in any ocean is the Mariana Trench, located near the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Inside the Mariana Trench is an even deeper spot called the Challenger Deep. It reaches an astonishing depth of 11,034 m (36,201 ft) below sea level. To give you an idea, that's deeper than Mount Everest is tall!

In 1960, two brave explorers in a special submarine called the Trieste managed to reach the very bottom of the Challenger Deep. This was a huge achievement, showing how much we can explore our planet.

Active Zones and Island Arcs

Ocean trenches are very active places. They are often areas where earthquakes happen frequently. These powerful underwater earthquakes can sometimes cause giant waves called tsunamis, which can travel across entire oceans.

While most volcanoes linked to trenches are found on continents, many of the ocean's volcanic islands and underwater mountains (called seamounts) are found in "island arcs." These are curved chains of islands that rise from the sea floor, usually running parallel to the edge of an ocean trench. For example, the western Pacific Ocean has many island arcs, like the Aleutian Islands. These islands are formed by volcanic activity as one plate slides beneath another.

Other major ocean trenches around the world include the Peru- Chile Trench along the coast of South America, the South Sandwich Trench between South America and Antarctica, and the Aleutian Trench near Alaska.

Images for kids

In Spanish: Fosa oceánica para niños

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Ocean trenches are natural boundaries between crustal plates. When a continental plate converges with an ocean plate a subduction zone forms with a trench between the plates.

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Plate tectonics is a theory of geology. It explains movement of the Earth's lithosphere: this is the earth's crust and the upper part of the mantle. The lithosphere is divided into plates, some of which are very large and can be entire continents.

Heat from the mantle is the source of energy driving plate tectonics. Exactly how this works is still a matter of debate.

Earth's crust

The outermost part of the Earth's interior is made up of two layers. The lithosphere, above, includes the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle.

Below the lithosphere is the asthenosphere. The asthenosphere is like a solid or a hot viscous liquid. It can flow like a liquid on long time scales. Large convection currents in the asthenosphere transfer heat to the surface, where plumes of less dense magma break apart the plates at the spreading centers. The deeper mantle below the asthenosphere is more rigid again. This is caused by extremely high pressure.

Continental and oceanic plates

There are two types of tectonic plates: oceanic and continental.

An oceanic plate is a tectonic plate at the bottom of the oceans. It is primarily made of mafic rocks, rich in iron and magnesium. It is thinner than the continental crust (generally less than 10 kilometers thick) and denser. It is also younger than continental crust. When they collide, the oceanic plate moves underneath the continental plate because of its density. As a result, it melts in the mantle and reforms. The oldest oceanic rocks are less than 200 million years old.

Continental plate is the thick part of the earth's crust which forms the large land masses. Continental rock has lower density than oceanic rock. They are mostly made of felsic rocks. These have granite, with its abundant silica, aluminum, sodium and potassium. Continental plates are rarely destroyed. Their oldest rocks seem to be 4 billion years old. Oceanic plates cover about 71 percent of Earth's surface, while continental plates cover 29 percent.

Thickness of plates

Ocean lithosphere varies in thickness. Because it is formed at mid-ocean ridges and spreads outwards, it gets thicker as it moves further away from the mid-ocean ridge. Typically, the thickness varies from about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) thick at mid-ocean ridges to greater than 100 kilometres (62 mi) at subduction zones.

Continental lithosphere is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) thick. It varies between basins, mountain ranges, and the stable cratonic interiors of continents. The two types of crust differ in thickness, with continental crust being much thicker than oceanic: 35 kilometres (22 mi) vs. 6 kilometres (3.7 mi).

Movement of plates

The lithosphere consists of tectonic plates. There are seven major and many minor plates. The lithospheric plates ride on the asthenosphere ( aesthenosphere). The plate boundary is where two plates meet. When movement occurs, the plates may create mountains, earthquakes, volcanoes, mid-oceanic ridges and oceanic trenches, depending on which way the plates are moving.

1. Convergent boundaries: two plates move towards each other. Sometimes one plate will move under the other. This is called subduction. When an oceanic plate collides with a continental, the oceanic plate will move underneath the continental because it is denser. Convergent boundaries can make mountains and volcanoes. The Andes mountain range in South America and the Japanese island arc are examples. Also the Pacific Ring of Fire.

2. Divergent boundaries: two plate move apart. As shown in the diagram, the place where the boundary occurs is called a rift. Magma from the mantle pushes up and cools off forming new land. They make earthquakes and trenches. The Mid-ocean ridges and Africa's Great Rift Valley are examples.

3. Transform fault boundaries: two plates move side to side. They make earthquakes. The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform boundary. New Zealand is another, more complex, example.

Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries. The lateral movement of the plates varies from:

1-4 centimetres (0.39-1.57 in) per year (Mid-Atlantic Ridge). This is as fast as fingernails grow.

10 centimetres (3.9 in) per year (Nazca Plate). This is as fast as hair grows.

Major plates

Depending on how they are defined, seven or eight major plates are usually listed:

Related pages

McKnight, Tom 2004. Geographica: the complete illustrated atlas of the world, Barnes and Noble; New York. ISBN: 0-7607-5974-X

Stanley, Steven M. 1999. Earth system history. Freeman, p211-228. ISBN: 0-7167-2882-6

Thompson, Graham R. & Turk, Jonathan 1991. Modern physical geology. Saunders. ISBN: 0-03-025398-5

Turcotte D.L. & Schubert G. 2002. Geodynamics. 2nd ed, Wiley, New York. ISBN: 0-521-66624-4

Images for kids

Alfred Wegener in Greenland in the winter of 1912-13.

A demonstration of magnetic striping. (The darker the color is, the closer it is to normal polarity)

In Spanish: Tectónica de placas para niños

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Interactives. Dynamic Earth. Slip, Slide, & Collide

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