What are the 3 main regions of continental margins?
The continental rise, continental slope, and continental shelf are the three basic components that actually make the entire structure of continental margins. The continental slopes and the continental shelves are structural constituents of continents even though they are below the surface of sea.
On which coast of the U.S. Can an active margin be found?
The West Coast The West Coast of the United States is an active margin that is characterized by rugged coastlines with narrow beaches and steep sea cliffs. Passive continental margins occur where the transition between oceanic and continental crust which is not an active plate boundary.
Where are passive continental margins located?
Passive margins define the region around the Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and western Indian Ocean, and define the entire coasts of Africa, Australia, Greenland, and the Indian Subcontinent. They are also found on the east coast of North America and South America, in Western Europe and most of Antarctica.
What are active and passive continental margins?
The North American plate also serves to illustrate this difference. The west coast is the active margin, and is the location of earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains. The Eastern Seaboard is a passive margin, as is the Gulf Coast.
Are the continental margins surrounding the Atlantic ocean primarily active or passive?
The Atlantic and Gulf coasts are passive continental margins because they lack the high levels of earthquake, volcanic, and mountain-building forces characteristic of active continental margins (such as the current U. S. West Coast) that are right at plate boundaries.
Why are there active margins along western North America?
The other type of margin is modeled after the U.S. West Coast. This margin is sometimes characterized as an “active” margin because it is on the leading edge of the North American plate. Margins along plate boundaries are mountainous with narrow shelves, steep slopes and rugged topography.
Which coast represents an active continental margin quizlet?
Which coast represents an active continental margin? (Due to the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the west coast of South America and the resultant growth of the Andes, this region is considered an active continental margin.)
Are the continental margins surrounding the Pacific ocean primarily active or passive?
The continental margins surrounding the Atlantic Ocean are primarily passive while the margins surrounding the Pacific Ocean are primarily active.
Where are passive continental margins located quizlet?
Passive Continental Margins- Found along most coastal areas that surround the Atlantic Ocean.
Is North America surrounded by active margins?
Both sides of the continent have continental margins, but each is very different. One continental margin of North America is an active margin.
Which feature is associated with an active continental margin?
Active margins are marked by earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain belts. Unlike passive margins, they lack a continental rise and abyssal plain. Instead, the continental slope ends in an oceanic trench, and beyond the trench, the topography is hilly and irregular, often dotted with rugged volcanic seamounts.
Which feature is typically found along Pacific type active margins?
Along the margins of the Pacific are found most of Earth's: oceanic trenches.
What is an active continental margin quizlet?
Active Continental Margins- where the oceanic lithosphere is being sub ducted beneath the continent. Often associated with deep ocean trenches. Located primarily around the Pacific Ocean. Sediments and rocks can be scraped from the descending plate and accumulate on the continental plate as an accretionary wedge.