DONE BY: NICOLE PHAGOO KRISTANNA RAMBHARATH

Plate Tectonics

What are Plate Tectonics?

It is the study of how the Earth's crust is shaped by geological forces. It relies on the understanding that the crust is divided into large pieces, or plates, that sit on the molten interior of the planet. Currents within the interior cause the plates to move, which causes many different geological events, including earthquakes and the forming of mountains and volcanoes.

Plate tectonics is cracked into several large pieces and they are an average of about 50 miles (80 km) thick. Underneath the plates is the molten layer of the Earth’s core, called the mantel. The mantel is in a constant state of movement, driven by heat from the Earth’s inner core.

The Main PlatesThere are 14 main plates: Pacific Plate Juan de Fuca Plate North American Plate South American Plate Caribbean Plate Cocos Plate Nazca Plate

Scotia Plate Antarctica Plate African Plate Arabian Plate Eurasian Plate Indian- Australian Plate Philippine Plate

Image showing major Plates of the Earth

Location of the Caribbean Plate

The Caribbean Plate is a mostly oceanic tectonic plate underlying Central America and the Caribbean Sea off the north coast of South America. It is roughly 3.2 million square kilometers in area, the Caribbean Plate borders the North American Plate, the South American Plate, and the Cocos Plate.

Map showing the Location and Movement of the Caribbean Plate

KEY: represents direction of movement of plate.

The Caribbean Plate borders are regions of intense unstable activities, including frequent earthquakes, occasional tsunamis and volcanic eruptions.

Earthquakes

Instead of colliding, some plates rub past one another. Since the rocks on the edges of the plates cannot slide smoothly past each other, the very slow movement causes friction to build gradually until the plates slip, causing an earthquake.

Example: the 2010 earthquake that hit Haiti with a magnitude of 7.0 leaving a devastating destruction.

Haiti after the Earthquake

Volcanoes

A volcano is an opening, or rupture in the Earth’s surface or crust which allows hot magma, volcanic ash and gases to escape from below the surface.

It is generally found where tectonic plates are converging.

Example the Soufriere Hills Volcano located in Montserrat was active in July 1995, destroying the island’s capital Plymouth, in more than 12 meters (39 ft.) of mud.

Volcanic Eruption in Chile 2011

Social Displacement

This occurs when the population becomes separated during a natural disaster due to evacuation and migration.

Families are broken up Emotional stress Refuges have difficulty settling in new

territories (jobs, new culture etc.) Destruction of buildings Loss of life Floods from collapsed dams