Plate Tectonics

All of the continentes sit on tectonic plates. Each year they move a tiny but. They move just as fast as fingernails grow. (Which by the way, is not fast). They mostly move in a range of 2-6 centimeters per year. Have you ever wondered why there are so many earthquakes here in California? This is because we sit on a fault line. Which is the outcome of a transform boundary, where two plates slide past each other. We have this faultline because parts of california sit on a plate boundary. This is the boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate.

S&EP
SP3:Conducting Investigations

I found out about the different plate boundaries and where they were when I investigated where each one was. I also was able to figure out how fast each plate moves. I also figured out what direction each of them were going. This is useful to predict things like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

XCC
Cross-Cutting Concepts: System and System Models

Tectonic plate movement is like a system. Caused by the convection currents in the mantle, the plates move and collide or diverge. If one thing in the system goes wrong, the whole things could stop. It the plates did not hit each other, they would eventually have to stop diverging. Then what would they do? If the convection currents stopped flowing the plates just wouldn't move. Tectonic plates is an intricately woven system.