A short slideshow that uses some simple animations to demonstrate what happens when tectonic plates interact.

1. MUST BE DOWNLOADED TO OBSERVE THE RATHER SIMPLE ANIMATIONS.
When Plates Meet
By Moira Whitehouse PhD

2. Sometimes two continental plates
meet.
When two continental plates
collide, the rock in the
continental crust where the two
plates meet is pushed up and
folded into huge mountains.

4. Sometimes two oceanic plates
move apart.
When two oceanic plates separate,
magma oozes up in the crack, cools
and becomes solid rock.
After thousands and thousands
and thousands of years. a range
of underwater mountains called
a midocean ridge is built.

6. Sometimes an oceanic plate
moves into a continental plate.
When a oceanic plate collides with
an continental plate it moves under
the continental plate.
As the oceanic plate “subducts”,
the oceanic crust melts. The
melted rock builds up pressure and
after a very long time, it erupts as
a volcano.

8. Sometimes two plates slide by
one another
When two plates move side by side,
the jagged pieces of rock get stuck.
When enough pressure, builds up
one of the plates “break loose”.
The sudden jolt is felt as an
earthquake.