Plate Margins

• Plate margins


  Areas where tectonic plates meet and interact
• Destructive plate margin


  • Two tectonic plates move towards one another
  • Oceanic crust is forced to sink back into the mantle
  • Continental crust rises above
  • Volcanoes and earthquakes are found here
• Subduction

  When one crustal plate is forced beneath the other
• Constructive plate margin


  • Two tectonic plates are moving away from one another
  • Magma from the mantle rises up to make new land in the form of a shield volcano
  • Movement of plates over the mantle can cause earthquakes
• Conservative plate margin


  • Plates move past each other or are side by side moving at different speeds
  • Friction occurs and plates become stuck
  • Pressure builds up and is then released, causing an earthquake
  • No volcanoes at a conservative plate margin