GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Tectonic plates are made of continental crust, oceanic crust, or a combination of the two. Besides their locations, how else are these two kinds of crust different? Continental crust is thicker than oceanic plates.

Detailed explanation-2: -The fact that the plates include both crustal material and lithospheric mantle material makes it possible for a single plate to be made up of both oceanic and continental crust. For example, the North American Plate includes most of North America, plus half of the northern Atlantic Ocean.

Detailed explanation-3: -In plate tectonics, Earth’s outermost layer, or lithosphere-made up of the crust and upper mantle-is broken into large rocky plates. These plates lie on top of a partially molten layer of rock called the asthenosphere.

Detailed explanation-4: -When an oceanic plate converges with a continental plate, the oceanic crust will always subduct under the continental crust; this is because oceanic crust is naturally denser. Convergent boundaries are commonly associated with larger earthquakes and higher volcanic activity.

Detailed explanation-5: -Oceanic crust is generally composed of dark-colored rocks called basalt and gabbro. It is thinner and denser than continental crust, which is made of light-colored rocks called andesite and granite. The low density of continental crust causes it to “float” high atop the viscous mantle, forming dry land.