← Geography syllabus

SingaporeGeography

Plate Tectonics

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What happens where two plates move toward each other, and why are these boundaries so hazardous?

Describe the processes and landforms found at convergent (destructive) plate boundaries
A focused answer to the O-Level Geography outcome on convergent boundaries. Subduction at oceanic-continental and oceanic-oceanic boundaries, continental collision, and the landforms (trenches, fold mountains, volcanoes) and hazards produced, with a worked walkthrough.
9 min answer →

What happens where two plates move apart, and what landforms and activity does this create?

Describe the processes and landforms found at divergent (constructive) plate boundaries
A focused answer to the O-Level Geography outcome on divergent boundaries. How plates move apart, magma rises to form new crust, and the landforms produced (mid-ocean ridges, rift valleys, volcanoes), with a worked walkthrough and named examples.
8 min answer →

What are the layers that make up the Earth, and how do their properties allow the plates to move?

Describe the internal structure of the Earth and the properties of its layers
A focused answer to the O-Level Geography outcome on the Earth's structure. The core, mantle and crust, the difference between continental and oceanic crust, the lithosphere and asthenosphere, and how temperature drives movement, with a worked walkthrough.
8 min answer →

What is the theory of plate tectonics, what drives plate movement, and what evidence supports it?

Explain the theory of plate tectonics, the role of convection currents, and the evidence for it
A focused answer to the O-Level Geography outcome on plate tectonic theory. The plates and how convection currents move them, the evidence (the jigsaw fit of continents, matching fossils and rocks, the global pattern of earthquakes and volcanoes), with a worked walkthrough.
9 min answer →

What happens where two plates slide past each other, and why does this cause earthquakes but not volcanoes?

Describe the processes at transform (conservative) plate boundaries and why earthquakes occur there
A focused answer to the O-Level Geography outcome on transform boundaries. How plates slide past each other along a fault, why friction causes earthquakes, why no crust is created or destroyed, and why there are no volcanoes, with a worked walkthrough and named examples.
8 min answer →