5.4Unit 6: Sound, the Earth and eclipses

Changes in the Earth — Cambridge Checkpoint Earth & Space 0893 Revision Notes & Topical Questions

5 min read 10 parts Lesson 4 of 5 1 quiz

📚 Cambridge Checkpoint Earth & Space 0893 Hub / Topical Revision

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Lesson summary

5.4 Changes in the Earth — CHECKPOINT EARTH AND SPACE 0893 notes: Explain how plate movement forms fold mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes.Plate boundary = the place where tectonic plates meetCause — plates are always moving, so geological change happens at their boundariesSpee…

Ring of Fire
Subduction
Violent eruptions
What decides magnitude
Speed — some changes take millions of years and some are sudden and violent
Melting — the rocks of the crust melt as they move into the mantle

Part 1 of 8Geological change at plate boundaries

Plate boundary

Plate boundary the place where tectonic plates meet

Cause

Cause plates are always moving, so geological change happens at their boundaries

Speed

Speed some changes take millions of years and some are sudden and violent

Ring of Fire

Ring of Fire the boundaries around the Pacific Ocean have many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes

Part 2 of 8Three kinds of plate movement

Movement	What happens	Result
Plates moving together	One plate slides under the other (subduction) or the rocks crumple and fold	Fold mountains, volcanoes
Plates moving apart	The thin crust cracks and lava erupts and hardens into new crust	Volcano, new crust
Plates sliding past	Friction makes the plates stick and pressure builds until violent movement	Earthquake

Part 3 of 8Subduction

Subduction

Subduction one plate sliding underneath another

Melting

Melting the rocks of the crust melt as they move into the mantle

Result

Result they become part of the mantle

Part 4 of 8Fold mountains

Formation

Formation when tectonic plates move together the rocks crumple and fold upwards

Location

Location they can form under the ocean or on land

Newest

Newest the Himalayas and Rocky Mountains are between 10 and 25 million years old

Oldest

Oldest the Ural Mountains are more than 200 million years old

Part 5 of 8Volcanoes

Formation

Formation magma from the mantle rises through cracks in the crust, usually at plate boundaries

Magma

Magma liquid rock underground

Lava

Lava liquid rock on the surface

Growth

Growth lava and ash harden as they cool and form new rock, so the volcano gets bigger with each eruption

Violent eruptions

Violent eruptions thick magma with dissolved gas builds pressure and shoots gas and rock out

Hazards

Hazards violent eruptions can cause avalanches, earthquakes and tsunamis near the sea

Part 6 of 8Types of volcano

Types of volcano

Active

Active it may erupt at any time

Dormant

Dormant it has not erupted for a very long time

Extinct

Extinct it will not erupt again

Part 7 of 8Earthquakes

Cause

Cause large heavy plates sliding past each other have a lot of friction, so they stick and pressure builds up until violent movement happens

Magnitude

Magnitude the size of an earthquake

What decides magnitude

What decides magnitude the size of the faults and how far the rocks move

Largest

Largest rocks can move tens of metres in seconds

Smallest

Smallest slight earthquakes register only on scientific instruments

Part 8 of 8More from the specification

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Plate boundary	Place where tectonic plates meet.
Subduction	One plate sliding under another.
Fold mountains	Mountains formed when rock layers crumple.
Volcano	Opening where magma erupts as lava and ash.
Lava	Liquid rock on the surface.
Earthquake	Violent shaking of the ground.
Magnitude	Size of an earthquake.

Avoid these mistakes

Thinking all plates move together — plates can move together, apart or past each other.

Mixing up magma and lava — magma is underground and lava is on the surface.

Thinking earthquakes and volcanoes happen anywhere — most happen at plate boundaries.

Thinking an earthquake is measured by its destruction — its size is called magnitude.

Last updated: 15 October 2026