At which type of plate boundary do the deepest parts of the ocean occur quizlet?
If two tectonic plates collide, they form a convergent plate boundary. Usually, one of the converging plates will move beneath the other, which is known as subduction. Deep trenches are often formed where tectonic plates are being subducted and earthquakes are common.
What is the continental shelf?
A continental shelf is the edge of a continent that lies under the ocean. Continents are the seven main divisions of land on Earth. A continental shelf extends from the coastline of a continent to a drop-off point called the shelf break.
How are ocean ridges and trenches related quizlet?
During sea-floor spreading, magma erupts along a mid-ocean ridge to form new oceanic lithosphere. The floor then moves away from the ridge, often toward a trench at the edge of the ocean basin.
What type of plate boundary is associated with seafloor spreading?
divergent plate boundaries Seafloor spreading occurs at divergent plate boundaries. As tectonic plates slowly move away from each other, heat from the mantle's convection currents makes the crust more plastic and less dense.
What occurs at mid-ocean ridges?
Mid-ocean ridges occur along divergent plate boundaries, where new ocean floor is created as the Earth's tectonic plates spread apart. As the plates separate, molten rock rises to the seafloor, producing enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt.
What is a divergent boundary?
A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Along these boundaries, earthquakes are common and magma (molten rock) rises from the Earth's mantle to the surface, solidifying to create new oceanic crust.
What is convergent boundary?
A convergent boundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction. The subduction zone can be defined by a plane where many earthquakes occur, called the Wadati–Benioff zone.
Where are seamounts formed?
mid-ocean ridges Seamounts are commonly found near the boundaries of Earth's tectonic plates and mid-plate near hotspots. At mid-ocean ridges, plates are spreading apart and magma rises to fill the gaps.
What is oceanic shelf?
A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island is known as an insular shelf.
How does an ocean trench formed?
In particular, ocean trenches are a feature of convergent plate boundaries, where two or more tectonic plates meet. At many convergent plate boundaries, dense lithosphere melts or slides beneath less-dense lithosphere in a process called subduction, creating a trench.
How are ocean trenches formed quizlet?
Ocean trenches are deep sections of the ocean where an oceanic plate is usually sinking below a continental plate. How are they formed? They are formed in the subduction zone as the denser oceanic plate is subjected under the continental plate.
How is ridge formed?
What causes mid-ocean ridges to form? Mid-ocean ridges form at divergent plate boundaries, where seafloor spreading leads to the production of new ocean crust. This new crust is formed due to igneous intrusions and extrusions as magma either cools beneath the Earth's surface or erupts as lava above the Earth's surface.
What forms occurs at a convergent boundary?
At convergent plate boundaries, oceanic crust is often forced down into the mantle where it begins to melt. Magma rises into and through the other plate, solidifying into granite, the rock that makes up the continents. Thus, at convergent boundaries, continental crust is created and oceanic crust is destroyed.
What does a convergent boundary form?
Convergent boundaries can form mountains, volcanos, or subduction zones that form large trenches. When two plates collide, the crusts can push together to form mountain ranges. This is how the Himalayan mountains were formed. Convergent boundaries between oceanic and continental boundaries feature a subduction zone.
What is formed at a divergent plate boundary?
A divergent plate boundary often forms a mountain chain known as a ridge. This feature forms as magma escapes into the space between the spreading tectonic plates.
How are guyots formed?
Guyots are seamounts that have built above sea level. Erosion by waves destroyed the top of the seamount resulting in a flattened shape. Due to the movement of the ocean floor away from oceanic ridges, the sea floor gradually sinks and the flattened guyots are submerged to become undersea flat-topped peaks.
How seamount was formed?
At mid-ocean ridges, plates are spreading apart and magma rises to fill the gaps. Near subduction zones, plates collide, forcing ocean crust down toward Earth's hot interior, where this crustal material melts, forming magma that rises buoyantly back to the surface and erupts to create volcanoes and seamounts.
How was new oceanic crust formed?
Oceanic crust is constantly formed at mid-ocean ridges, where tectonic plates are tearing apart from each other. As magma that wells up from these rifts in Earth's surface cools, it becomes young oceanic crust. The age and density of oceanic crust increases with distance from mid-ocean ridges.
What is formed when two tectonic plates collide?
If two tectonic plates collide, they form a convergent plate boundary. Usually, one of the converging plates will move beneath the other, a process known as subduction. Deep trenches are features often formed where tectonic plates are being subducted and earthquakes are common at subduction zones as well.
Which feature forms when one plate is forced to bend and dive under the other?
When an ocean plate collides with another ocean plate or with a plate carrying continents, one plate will bend and slide under the other. This process is called subduction. A deep ocean trench forms at this subduction boundary.
How is a trench formed?
In particular, ocean trenches are a feature of convergent plate boundaries, where two or more tectonic plates meet. At many convergent plate boundaries, dense lithosphere melts or slides beneath less-dense lithosphere in a process called subduction, creating a trench.
What occurs at an oceanic trench quizlet?
At a converging plate boundary, the denser oceanic plate will undergo subduction at the subduction zone, resulting in a depression aka oceanic trench. The depression maybe formed by the convergence of Two oceanic plates, of which the denser plate go through subduction.
How are ridges and valleys formed?
As erosion began to shape the landscape, the hard layers of sandstone or chert resisted, while the soft areas of shale or limestone eroded more easily. This process slowly developed into the ridges and valleys we see today and greatly influenced the soil composition of the two.
What does a divergent boundary form?
When two plates are moving away from each other, we call this a divergent plate boundary. Along these boundaries, magma rises from deep within the Earth and erupts to form new crust on the lithosphere. Most divergent plate boundaries are underwater and form submarine mountain ranges called oceanic spreading ridges.
What is divergent convergent and transform?
Divergent boundaries — where new crust is generated as the plates pull away from each other. Convergent boundaries — where crust is destroyed as one plate dives under another. Transform boundaries — where crust is neither produced nor destroyed as the plates slide horizontally past each other.
What do convergent plates form?
Convergent boundaries can form mountains, volcanos, or subduction zones that form large trenches. When two plates collide, the crusts can push together to form mountain ranges. This is how the Himalayan mountains were formed. Convergent boundaries between oceanic and continental boundaries feature a subduction zone.
What is formed at a convergent plate boundary?
Typically, a convergent plate boundary—such as the one between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate—forms towering mountain ranges, like the Himalaya, as Earth's crust is crumpled and pushed upward.
Where are guyot formed?
A guyot, or seamount, is an undersea mountain. Seamounts are formed by volcanic activity and can be taller than 10,000 feet . They can be isolated or part of large mountain chains. The New England Seamount contains more than 30 peaks that stretch 994 miles from the coast of New England.
How are seamounts and islands formed?
If a seamount gets large enough to break the ocean surface, it becomes a volcanic island. Some seamounts are formed from magma rising at a divergent boundary , and as the plates move apart, the seamounts move with them, which can result in a seamount chain.
Where is new crust being formed?
Divergent boundaries. Divergent boundaries occur along spreading centers where plates are moving apart and new crust is created by magma pushing up from the mantle.