Plates...
The Lithosphere (Earth) is made up of layers, the inner and outer core, the inner and outer mantle and the crust. The crust is divided into 15 tectonic plates, these are known as the...
African Plate
Arabian Plate
Antarctic Plate
Caribbean Plate
Indo-Australian Plate
Cocos Plate
Eurasian Plate
Juan de Fuca Plate
Indian Plate
Nazca Plate
North American Plate
Philippine Sea Plate
Pacific Plate
Scotia Plate
South American Plate
These plates move because of convection currents that occur beneath them in the semi-molten layers of the Earth.
New Zealand sits on the boundary of two of these plates, known as the Indo-Australian plate and the Pacific plate. These are the two plates involved in causing the Christchurch Earthquakes.
African Plate
Arabian Plate
Antarctic Plate
Caribbean Plate
Indo-Australian Plate
Cocos Plate
Eurasian Plate
Juan de Fuca Plate
Indian Plate
Nazca Plate
North American Plate
Philippine Sea Plate
Pacific Plate
Scotia Plate
South American Plate
These plates move because of convection currents that occur beneath them in the semi-molten layers of the Earth.
New Zealand sits on the boundary of two of these plates, known as the Indo-Australian plate and the Pacific plate. These are the two plates involved in causing the Christchurch Earthquakes.
Boundaries...
Between these plates are boundaries, there are three types of tectonic plate boundaries. Transforming, Diverging and Converging.
The Transforming boundary was involved in the Christchurch earthquakes.
This boundary moves the plates side by side, which causes land forms to slide past each other, however land is not created nor destroyed, it is pressed against each other and moved. One of the plates will become higher than the other and cause the land to not only move away horizontally but vertically as well. This type of boundary is more likely to have earthquakes as a result because of the moving Earth. |
Divergent boundaries move away from each other creating a crack in the lithosphere (Earth) and allowing magma to come from the inner layers of the Earth. As the plates separate along the boundary, they create a crack in the Earth, which results in having land fall through into the Asthenosphere. Magma from the inner layers seeps upward to fill the cracks. This causes new crust to formed along the boundary.
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Convergent Boundaries are boundaries that move in toward each other but will then sub-duct, one of the plates being heavier and pushing the lighter plate back in toward the liquid magma. The sub-duction which acts as a kind of conveyor belt and causes the plate to go back toward the core of the earth and that will push more magma toward the surface creating more of the certain plate.
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Faults...
A fault is a crack in the Earth's crust which has resulted from landforms moving. They are not always visible but form around tectonic plates. Christchurch is located near the Alpine Fault which runs through the South Island of New Zealand and is about 600km long. The size of the fault also determines the size of the Earthquake because the earthquake is a result of the seismic waves moving through the fault.