Metamorphic Rock Process III Written for the KidsKnowIt Network
by: Scientists call the third way metamorphic rocks form a
tectonic process. Sometimes I think scientists like to use long
words to make it harder for non-scientists to figure out what
they are talking about. Here's what they are talking about: The
large plates that make up the crust of the earth are always
moving. Sometimes they slam into each other. Sometimes they
grind past each other. Sometimes the plates are pulling apart
forming large cracks called rifts. When plates pull apart it is
called a divergent boundary. On some boundaries one plate dives
under another plate. Geologists call this type of boundary a
convergent boundary. When the plates bump and grind past each
other, the geologists call this boundary a transform fault
boundary. A famous example of this type of fault in the United
States is called the San Andres Fault. At that plate boundary,
the North American plate is moving mostly south and the Pacific
plate is moving mostly north,