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Earth Science — Plate Tectonic Boundaries

Divergent, subducting convergent, collisional convergent and transform boundaries side by side, each with its landforms, seismicity, volcanism and a named example.

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{
  "nodes": [
    {
      "id": "pb-div",
      "type": "container",
      "label": "Divergent — plates move apart",
      "x": 40,
      "y": 10,
      "width": 560,
      "height": 525,
      "fill": "rgba(241,245,249,0.55)",
      "stroke": "#94a3b8"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-d1",
      "type": "ocean-wave",
      "label": "Mid-ocean ridge — the Mid-Atlantic Ridge; on land, the East African Rift",
      "x": 60,
      "y": 235,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#e0f2fe",
      "stroke": "#0369a1"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-d2",
      "type": "arrow-right",
      "label": "Sea-floor spreading at 2–15 cm yr⁻¹, recorded as symmetric magnetic stripes",
      "x": 340,
      "y": 235,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fef3c7",
      "stroke": "#b45309"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-d3",
      "type": "gas-flame",
      "label": "Decompression melting of rising mantle → runny basaltic volcanism",
      "x": 60,
      "y": 410,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fee2e2",
      "stroke": "#b91c1c"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-d4",
      "type": "line-chart",
      "label": "Shallow earthquakes only, above ~20 km, rarely beyond magnitude 6",
      "x": 340,
      "y": 410,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fce7f3",
      "stroke": "#be185d"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-sub",
      "type": "container",
      "label": "Convergent — oceanic plate subducts beneath continental",
      "x": 600,
      "y": 10,
      "width": 560,
      "height": 525,
      "fill": "rgba(241,245,249,0.55)",
      "stroke": "#94a3b8"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-s1",
      "type": "rect",
      "label": "Ocean trench — the Peru–Chile Trench reaches 8 km deep",
      "x": 620,
      "y": 235,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#e0f2fe",
      "stroke": "#0369a1"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-s2",
      "type": "line-chart",
      "label": "Wadati–Benioff zone: earthquakes trace the slab down to 700 km",
      "x": 900,
      "y": 235,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fce7f3",
      "stroke": "#be185d"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-s3",
      "type": "volcano",
      "label": "Continental volcanic arc — the Andes; sticky andesite, explosive eruptions",
      "x": 620,
      "y": 410,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fee2e2",
      "stroke": "#b91c1c"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-s4",
      "type": "arrow-right",
      "label": "Dense old oceanic lithosphere sinks; slab pull is the strongest plate-driving force",
      "x": 900,
      "y": 410,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fef3c7",
      "stroke": "#b45309"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-col",
      "type": "container",
      "label": "Convergent — continent meets continent",
      "x": 40,
      "y": 535,
      "width": 560,
      "height": 525,
      "fill": "rgba(241,245,249,0.55)",
      "stroke": "#94a3b8"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-c1",
      "type": "rect",
      "label": "Neither plate subducts — continental crust is too buoyant to sink",
      "x": 60,
      "y": 760,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#e0f2fe",
      "stroke": "#0369a1"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-c2",
      "type": "mountain",
      "label": "Crust thickens and folds — the Himalaya, 8.8 km and still rising ~5 mm yr⁻¹",
      "x": 340,
      "y": 760,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fce7f3",
      "stroke": "#be185d"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-c3",
      "type": "line-chart",
      "label": "Shallow to intermediate earthquakes; almost no volcanism",
      "x": 60,
      "y": 935,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fce7f3",
      "stroke": "#be185d"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-c4",
      "type": "arrow-right",
      "label": "India has closed on Eurasia at ~5 cm yr⁻¹ since about 50 Ma",
      "x": 340,
      "y": 935,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fef3c7",
      "stroke": "#b45309"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-tra",
      "type": "container",
      "label": "Transform — plates slide past one another",
      "x": 600,
      "y": 535,
      "width": 560,
      "height": 525,
      "fill": "rgba(241,245,249,0.55)",
      "stroke": "#94a3b8"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-t1",
      "type": "rect",
      "label": "The San Andreas Fault; on the sea floor, transform faults offsetting ridge segments",
      "x": 620,
      "y": 760,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#e0f2fe",
      "stroke": "#0369a1"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-t2",
      "type": "rect",
      "label": "Lithosphere is neither created nor destroyed — only displaced",
      "x": 900,
      "y": 760,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fef3c7",
      "stroke": "#b45309"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-t3",
      "type": "line-chart",
      "label": "Shallow but large earthquakes — San Francisco 1906, magnitude 7.9",
      "x": 620,
      "y": 935,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fee2e2",
      "stroke": "#b91c1c"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-t4",
      "type": "rect",
      "label": "No volcanism: nothing melts, the plates simply grind past",
      "x": 900,
      "y": 935,
      "width": 240,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fce7f3",
      "stroke": "#be185d"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-drive",
      "type": "note",
      "label": "Driving forces, in order of importance: slab pull at subduction zones, ridge push from the elevated ridge crest, and basal drag from mantle convection.",
      "x": 60,
      "y": 1110,
      "width": 520,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fef9c3",
      "stroke": "#ca8a04"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-evidence",
      "type": "note",
      "label": "Evidence: matching coastlines and fossil belts, symmetric magnetic stripes either side of the ridges, the depth pattern of earthquakes, and GPS geodesy measuring the motion directly.",
      "x": 620,
      "y": 1110,
      "width": 520,
      "height": 117,
      "fill": "#fef9c3",
      "stroke": "#ca8a04"
    }
  ],
  "edges": [
    {
      "id": "pb-e1",
      "source": "pb-d1",
      "target": "pb-d2"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e2",
      "source": "pb-d1",
      "target": "pb-d3",
      "label": "melt supply"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e3",
      "source": "pb-d1",
      "target": "pb-d4",
      "label": "seismicity"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e4",
      "source": "pb-s1",
      "target": "pb-s4",
      "label": "slab descends"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e5",
      "source": "pb-s4",
      "target": "pb-s2",
      "label": "earthquakes mark the slab"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e6",
      "source": "pb-s4",
      "target": "pb-s3",
      "label": "dehydration melting feeds the arc"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e7",
      "source": "pb-c4",
      "target": "pb-c1"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e8",
      "source": "pb-c1",
      "target": "pb-c2",
      "label": "shortening goes into thickening"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e9",
      "source": "pb-c1",
      "target": "pb-c3",
      "label": "no slab, so no deep quakes"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e10",
      "source": "pb-t1",
      "target": "pb-t2"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e11",
      "source": "pb-t1",
      "target": "pb-t3",
      "label": "stick–slip on a locked fault"
    },
    {
      "id": "pb-e12",
      "source": "pb-t1",
      "target": "pb-t4"
    }
  ]
}