Plates, Crest and so on...?

Question

In reference to the surface of the earth, what is a plate???
Please? Thank you so much!

Answer 1

Think of it as large pieces like a jigsaw puzzle which makes up the crust of the earth. If you go to this website:
http://geology.er.usgs.gov/eastern/plates.html
you can see how they fit together.

As they move around, some get pushed down under the edges of others (this is called a subduction zone). Along this zone is usually an island arc where most earthquakes and volcanoes occur. Around the Pacific Ocean the large number of volcanoes has resulted in the term "Ring of Fire" to describe that area.

In other areas the plates run into each other "head on" like two rams and the result is a mountain chain such as the Himalayan Mountains. It results in crumpled terrain like a rug thats bunched up.

In other areas (such as the San Andreas Fault in California) the plates are sliding past each other. The resulting friction results in the movements being a series of earthquakes as the plates jerk along instead of sliding smoothly.

Look at the website and it will help you understand...

Answer 2

The Earth is made of tectonic plates. People may think that the Earth is a solid sphere, the truth is far from that. There are two types of plate...Oceanic and Continental. Oceanic plates are plates that are under the sea and are thinner than the continental plates which form land. These plates move slowly but it is these movements that cause disasters like earthquakes and volcanoes. Also it is the movement of these plates that has moved the continents into the positions they sit today, many millenia in the past there was only one large continent.

Answer 3

A plate is a piece of land in the crust and under the Earth that moves around the astenosphere which moves the land above it. For example, there is a plate under North America. If that plate moves it takes the North America with it.

Answer 4

A plate is what makes earthquakes. It is underground and when two plates pass each other they scrape each other and that makes a earthquake. The plates are also called plate techtonics
hope this helps!