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The earth we live on is made up of plates. Plates are always moving but move on average only 2 centimeters a year. These plates are made up of the crust, or lithosphere. The plates fall under 3 different categories. These are the categories.
 * __Dynamic Earth__**[[image:divergentboundary1.jpg width="350" height="161" align="right" caption="divergent plate example"]]

__Divergent Plates__-Divergent plates move apart. Magma will rise and push two or more plates apart. Mountains and volcanoes will often rise along the seam.

Examples
 * 1) The Great Rift Valley in Africa formed where the South American plate and the African plate where pushed together with magma. If this continues, Africa will split from the continent.
 * 2) Mount Heka is a volcano in Iceland. It formed on the Eurasian plate against the North American Ppate. It has an eruption about every 5 years.
 * 3) The Himalayas were created when the Indian plate collided with the Eurasian Continental plate. This created the highest mountain system in the world.[[image:sanandreas3.jpg width="150" height="219" align="right" caption="San Andres fault"]]

__Transform Plates__- two plates that grind against each other. These create earthquakes. These plates are always in motion, but they only move a few centimeters a year.

__Convergent Plates__- Convergent plates have two sub categories. One is collision. Collision is when two plates move into one another. This creates mountains, and this is why mountains will grow taller. The other category is subduction. Subduction is when one plate moves under another plate. This is what creates trenches.
 * 1) The San Andres Fault formed when the North American plate and Pacific plate rubbed together.
 * 2) A server earthquake in 1906 in San Francisco happened because of the San Andres Fault breaking apart because of the main shock of the earthquake.
 * 3) The Alpine Fault is another example and it formed when the Pacific plate and the Australian plate in New Zelands south island grinded against each other. This also formed the Southern Alps.
 * 1) The Himalayas are an example of collision. The Himalayas are the tal[[image:himalaya2.jpg width="200" height="129" align="right" caption="The Himalayas"]]lest mountain system on Earth and they formed when the Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate. They formed about 60 million years ago.
 * 2) The Peru Chile trench is an example of subduction. This trench formed when the Nazca plate was pushed under the South American plate. This plate is found in the Pacific Ocean.
 * 3) The Andes Mountains where formed when the Nazca plate went beneath the South American plate. This is an example of subduction.


 * Citations**

Plate Tectonics, National Geographic. 2009. November 6th 09. []

Anissimov, Michael. Wise Geek. What is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?, conjecture corporation. November 8th 2009. []

sio.ucsd.edu, Cocos Plate. November 8th 09 []

zetatalk, Troubled Times:South American Plate. November 8th 09. http://www.zetatalk.com/info/tinfo05q.htm

What on earth, Nazaca Plate, November 8th 09. []

Himalayan Mountains, Himalayan Mountains, November 8th 09 []

[|himalaya2.jpg] elosoenpersona,. //Ghandrava Chuli //. 2007. //Flickr //. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. <[]>.

[|sanandreas3.jpg] //An Aerial View of the San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain, Central California //. //How Earthquakes Happen //. Web. 4 Nov. 2009. <[]>.

[|divergentboundary1.jpg] Michellelovespink26,. //Under a volcano //. 2009. //Flickr //. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. <[]>.