2. Objective
1
At the end
of the
lesson, you
should be
able to:
learn the process of land
formation along plate
boundaries.
3. Learn about It!
• Most tectonic processes
occur along the three types
of plate boundaries,
namely:
• Divergent plate boundary
• Convergent plate
boundary
• Transform plate boundary
Types of Plate Boundaries
Continental Plate Boundaries
4. Learn about It!
• Continental rifting occurs
within a continent and is
caused by opposing
tensional forces that stretch
and thin the lithosphere,
causing the outermost
crustal rocks to break
through normal faulting,
thus forming a continental
rift.
Divergent Plate Boundaries
Continental Rifting
5. Learn about It!
• New ocean basins may
form between two rifted
continents once the
lithosphere thins
sufficiently for magma to
erupt along an axis.
Divergent Plate Boundaries
Formation of Oceanic Basin
6. Learn about It!
• Convergent plate
boundaries form different
landforms and involve
different processes
depending on the type of
plates involved in the
collision.
Convergent Plate Boundaries
Convergent Plate Boundaries
7. Learn about It!
• In oceanic-continental
convergent margins, the
denser oceanic crust
subducts under the lighter
continental crust. This
process forms continental
volcanic arcs.
Types of the Convergent Plate Boundaries
Oceanic plate subducting under a
lighter continental plate.
8. Learn about It!
• In oceanic-oceanic
convergent margins, the
older and much denser
plate subducts under the
younger plate. This process
forms volcanic island arcs.
Types of the Convergent
Plate Boundaries
Volcanic island arcs and associated trenches
along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
9. Learn about It!
• Convergent plate
boundaries may also
develop through the
collision of two
continental plates, by
continental-continental
convergent margin.
Types of the Convergent Plate Boundaries
Mountain range formed through the
collision of two continental plates.
10. Learn about It!
• Continental-continental
convergent margin
forms mountain ranges
with linear elevated
regions.
Types of the Convergent Plate Boundaries
Mountain range formed through the
collision of two continental plates.
11. Learn about It!
• Transform plate
boundaries which are
characterized by horizontal
motion along transform fault
systems parallel to the
boundary separating two
plates form fault systems
around the world.
Transform Plate Boundaries
Transform boundaries along mid-oceanic
ridges forming a step-like pattern.
12. Learn about It!
• Transform faults are part of
curvilinear breaks in the seafloor
known as fracture zones.
• Earthquake activity is restricted only
to the transform portion of fracture
zones that lies between offset ridge
segments or trenches.
Transform Plate Boundaries
San Andreas Fault in California,
United States (Image from USGS).
13. Key Points
In oceanic-oceanic convergence, forms volcanic island
arcs, or simply, island arcs.
Divergent plate boundaries are home to landforms
including continental rifts and oceanic ridges.
1
Convergence gives rise to landforms known as
continental volcanic arcs.
2
3
14. Key Points
Transform faults are part of curvilinear breaks in the
seafloor known as fracture zones.
Continental-continental (C-C) convergence involves a
buoyant landmass (continents, arcs) moving towards the
margin of another buoyant landmass due to the
subduction of an intervening seafloor forming orogenic
plate.
4
5
15. Check Your Understanding
1. Himalayan Mountain Range
2. San Andreas Fault
3. Andes Mountains
4. Mid-Atlantic Ridge
5. East Pacific Rise
Identify in which boundary the landforms are found. Put DB
for divergent, CB for convergent, and TB for transform.
17. Bibliography
Carlson, Diane H. and Charles C. Plummer. 2009. Physical Geology: Earth Revealed, 8th Edition. New
York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Hefferan, Kevin and John O’Brien. 2010. Earth Materials. United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
King, Hobart. “Transform Plate Boundary.” Geology.com. Accessed May 11, 2017. http://
geology.com/nsta/transform-plate-boundaries.shtml
Levin, Harold L. 2013. The Earth Through Time. United States of America: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Marshak, Stephen. 2009. Essentials of Geology 3rd Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Stephen J. Reynolds, et al. 2013. Exploring Geology, 3rd Edition. United States: McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc.
18. Bibliography
Tarbuck, Edward J. and Frederick J. Lutgens. 2015. Earth Science. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
United States Geological Survey. 1999. “J. Tuzo Wilson: Discovering transforms and hotspots” Accessed
May 11, 2017. https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/Wilson.html
United States Geological Survey. 2014. “Understanding Plate Motions” Accessed May 1, 2017.
https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/understanding.html
