Plate Tectonics

This last section of classes I have learned a lot about plate tectonics and how our earth moves. Earth is obviously continually moving. However, not only is the earth rotating, the ground underneath us is also moving. At one point all of the continents fit together in a giant mass called Pangaea. Plate tectonics and gravitational forces have caused the continents to shift and spread apart. There are three difference types of boundaries that are seen next to the borders of the continents. There are divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries. Each are different and apply to the crust differently. Divergent boundaries creat tension for the plates and in return cause earthquakes. The tension is so great that the plates can no longer take it and they begin to shake and move. This is going to become something that I will be dealing with very soon in my life. Next year I am moving to LA where the San Andreas fault is. Los Angeles is a city that gets hit by earthquakes a lot more often than Sacramento ever will. It's going to take a lot of years but, Southern California will one day be all the way where Alaska is currently. The plates continue to move, although slowly, and in millions of years our continents will look very different than they do today.