Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets Earthquakes

Passing Plates II - Who's Fault? Earthquakes

---

Passing Plates II - Who's Fault?
Print Passing Plates II - Who's Fault? Reading Comprehension with Fifth Grade Work

Print Passing Plates II - Who's Fault? Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Passing Plates II - Who's Fault? Reading Comprehension

Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 5 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.82

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		divergent, lithospheric, mid-ocean, reabsorbed, reoccur, seafloor, subducting, subduction, subducts, upswelling, lithosphere, oceanic, tectonic, asthenosphere, relation, compression
	content words:		Passing Plates, United States, Aleutian Islands, San Andreas Fault, Alfred Wegener, Arthur Holmes

---

Passing Plates II - Who's Fault? By Trista L. Pollard

---

¹     In Passing Plates I, we took a trip back through history to see where the plate tectonic theory was born. Let's journey deeper into the earth to learn about these plates. Most of the plate "action" occurs within the lithosphere, which includes the crust and upper mantle. The crust is the solid outermost layer of the earth, and the mantle is the layer under the crust where the plate movement occurs. All of this makes the lithosphere one restless place. The places where the plates meet in the lithosphere are called plate boundaries. Earthquakes usually occur in plate boundaries. There are three types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform.
 
²     Divergent boundaries or "spreading zones" are found where two plates are moving away from each other. Most divergent boundaries are found in oceans where seafloor spreading occurs. The ocean floor has mid-ocean ridges and underwater mountain chains. In the centers of these mid-ocean ridges lie underwater volcanoes and other "hot spots." These hot spots are areas where magma rises from the asthenosphere. This rising mantle is referred to as an upswelling of magma. As the magma rises, plates in the mid-ocean ridges are forced apart. New earth material is added to the edges which means new oceanic lithosphere is born.
 
³     Convergent boundaries are found where lithospheric plates move toward each other. Eventually as these plates move toward each other, one plate subducts or overrides the other. This boundary is usually referred to as a subduction zone. As the subducting plate continues to move, the other plate is pushed downward toward the mantle where it will start to melt. The melting causes the plate to be reabsorbed into the earth. It is also the cause of some of the world's most destructive earthquakes. The northwest coasts of the United States, western Canada, and southern Alaska and Aleutian Islands have a subduction zone plate boundary.

Paragraphs 4 to 6:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Feedback on Passing Plates II - Who's Fault?

Leave your feedback on Passing Plates II - Who's Fault?   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

Earthquakes

Earthquakes

---

Science

Science

Careers in Science         Caring for Earth         Clouds         Dinosaurs         Earth's Land         Earth         Earthquakes         Electricity         Energy         Erosion         Food Pyramid         Food Webs and Food Chain         Forces and Motion         Fossils         Health and Nutrition         How Things Work         Landforms         Life Science         Light         Magnets         Matter

Moon         Natural Disasters         Photosynthesis         Plant and Animal Cells         Plants         Rocks and Minerals         Science Process Skills         Scientific Notation         Seasons         Simple Machines         Soil         Solar System         Sound         Space and Stars         Sun         Tsunami         Volcanoes         Water Cycle         Water         Weather

Copyright © 2025 edHelper