What is the difference between oceanic and continental tectonic plates?
Table of Contents
What is the difference between oceanic and continental tectonic plates?
Oceanic plates are much thinner than the continental plates. At the convergent boundaries the continental plates are pushed upward and gain thickness. The rocks and geological layers are much older on continental plates than in the oceanic plates. The Continental plates are much less dense than the Oceanic plates.
What is a continental tectonic plate?
A tectonic plate (also called lithospheric plate) is a massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere. Continental crust is composed of granitic rocks which are made up of relatively lightweight minerals such as quartz and feldspar.
Why are tectonic plates oceanic and continental?
The ocean floors are underlain by oceanic crust. These material have different compositions. The continental crust is lighter, similar to granite, and the oceanic crust is denser like basalt, another igneous rock. Continental and oceanic crust can both be part of the same plate.
What is the difference between oceanic plates?
Upwelling magma produces fresh oceanic crust in these areas, which are found around mid-ocean ridges….What are the main differences between Oceanic and continental plates?
| Oceanic Plates | Continental Plates |
|---|---|
| Oceanic plates are much thinner than continental plates. | continental plates. are much thicker than Oceanic plates. |
What are the 8 oceanic plates?
- African.
- Antarctic.
- Eurasian.
- Indo-Australian. Australian. Indian.
- North American.
- Pacific.
- South American.
What are tectonic plates 7?
The crust of the earth is completely made of rocks and hence it is called the lithosphere. The lithosphere is broken into several rocky plates which are called tectonic plates. They form the continents and the beds of the oceans. They are called continental and oceanic plates respectively.
When an oceanic and a continental plate meet?
Subduction zones occur where an oceanic plate meets a continental plate and is pushed underneath it. Subduction zones are marked by oceanic trenches. The descending end of the oceanic plate melts and creates pressure in the mantle, causing volcanoes to form.
What are 3 differences between oceanic and continental crust?
Continental crust is low in density whereas oceanic crust has a higher density. Continental crust is thicker, on the contrary, the oceanic crust is thinner. Continental crust floats on magma freely but oceanic crust floats on magma scarcely. Continental crust cannot recycle whereas oceanic crust can recycle it.
Which are the oceanic plates?
An example of an oceanic plate is the Pacific Plate, which extends from the East Pacific Rise to the deep-sea trenches bordering the western part of the Pacific basin. A continental plate is exemplified by the North American Plate, which includes North America as well as the oceanic crust…
Is Antarctic plate oceanic or continental?
The Antarctic Plate includes continental crust making up Antarctica and its continental shelf, along with oceanic crust beneath the seas surrounding Antarctica.
What is a divergent plate?
[ dĭ-vûr′jənt ] A tectonic boundary where two plates are moving away from each other and new crust is forming from magma that rises to the Earth’s surface between the two plates.
Which tectonic plates are continental and which are oceanic?
There are actually two main types of tectonic plates, which are oceanic and continental. Oceanic – oceanic plates are made of an oceanic crust called ‘sima’. Continental – continental plates are made up of a continental crust called ‘sial’.
What are the names of the oceanic plates?
The current continental and oceanic plates include: the Eurasian plate , Australian-Indian plate, Philippine plate , Pacific plate , Juan de Fuca plate , Nazca plate , Cocos plate , North American plate , Caribbean plate , South American plate , African plate, Arabian plate , the Antarctic plate , and the Scotia plate.
What are the 12 major tectonic plates?
African Plate.
What are the main difference between the Oceanic and continental plates?
Oceanic plates are much thinner than the continental plates. When an oceanic plate meets a continental plate at a convergent boundary the oceanic plate is forced under the continental plate and destroyed. The convergent boundaries between ocean and continental plates create subduction zones.