Question

Describe the three types of plate movements. Illustrate with suitable diagrams.

Answer 1

The extreme heat of the core causes the melting of the rocks of the magma. The expansion of these molten rocks pushes the lithospheric plates towards or away from each other. This is known as plate tectonics.

The three types of plate movements are as follows:

1. Divergent plate movement: This occurs when two lithospheric plates move away from each other. This causes gaps and cracks at the plate boundaries. Magma from the mantle of the Earth rises through these cracks, cools and solidifies to form a new crust.

2. Convergent plate movement: This occurs when two plates move towards each other and collide due to forces of compression. The collision of two plates causes the formation of mountains.
For example, the convergent movement of the Eurasian and Indian Plates had caused the formation of the Himalayas.

3. Transform plate movement: This occurs when two plates slide past each other. The tremendous friction caused leads to devastating earthquakes.

The diagram of the three movements is given below: