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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. The word diverge is a big word used by scientists to describe what happens when two objects move away from each other. Thus, a divergent boundary is a boundary where two tectonic plates are moving away from one another. As we have already discussed, this most often takes place at ocean ridges. Converge is a large word that scientists use to describe two objects that come together. In the case of plate tectonics, the two objects coming together are large plate-like pieces of the Earth’s crust. As these two plates push against each other, one is ultimately forced down beneath the other. The final type of boundary is one where the two plates slide against each other in a sideways motion. These boundaries between plates is referred to as transform boundaries. As two plates slide past one another, in a transform boundary, neither plate is added to at the boundary, nor destroyed.

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Transform Boundaries
Places where plates slide past each other are called transform boundaries. Since the plates on either side of a transform boundary are merely sliding past each other and not tearing or crunching each other, transform boundaries lack the spectacular features found at convergent and divergent boundaries. Instead, transform boundaries are marked in some places by linear valleys along the boundary where rock has been ground up by the sliding. In other places, transform boundaries are marked by features like stream beds that have been split in half and the two halves have moved in opposite directions.

Perhaps the most famous transform boundary in the world is the San Andreas fault, shown in the drawing above. The slice of California to the west of the fault is slowly moving north relative to the rest of California. Since motion along the fault is sideways and not vertical, Los Angeles will not crack off and fall into the ocean as popularly thought, but it will simply creep towards San Francisco at about 6 centimeters per year. In about ten million years, the two cities will be side by side!

Although transform boundaries are not marked by spectacular surface features, their sliding motion causes lots of earthquakes. The strongest and most famous earthquake along the San Andreas fault hit San Francisco in 1906. Many buildings were shaken to pieces by the quake, and much of the rest of the city was destroyed by the fires that followed. More than 600 people died as a result of the quake and fires. Recent large quakes along the San Andreas include the Imperial Valley quake in 1940 and the Loma Prieta quake in 1989.

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Transform Boundaries Places where plates slide past each other are called transform boundaries. Since the plates on either side of a transform boundary are merely sliding past each other and not tearing or crunching each other, transform boundaries lack the spectacular features found at convergent and divergent boundaries.

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Convergent Boundaries Places where plates crash or crunch together are called convergent boundaries. Plates only move a few centimeters each year, so collisions are very slow and last millions of years. Even though plate collisions take a long time, lots of interesting things happen.

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Earthquakes are usually caused when rock underground suddenly breaks along a fault. This sudden release of energy causes the seismic waves that make the ground shake.

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Mantle

Core

Crust

Epicenter

Lithosphere

Asthenosphere

Subduction

Convection currents

S wave-

P wave- A seismic wave that causes particles of rock to move in a back-and-forth direction

Continental drift- the gradual movement of the continents across the earth's surface through geological time.

Pangea-  was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras.

Divergent- is a linear feature between several tectonic plates that are moving apart.

Convergent- also known as a destructive plate boundary, is an actively deforming region where two or more fragments of the lithosphere move toward another and collide.

Transform- is where two tectonic plates slide along side each other.

Boundaries- a line that marks the limits of an area; a dividing line