In this video we will describe the relative plate motions associated with plate boundaries and explain why some plates move faster than others. We will recognize that plate motions carry plates away from oceanic ridges and toward oceanic trenches. We will learn which individual plates have motions that could be described as pokey (~1 centimeter per year) and which are relatively speedy (~7 cm/yr). As a consequence, some ocean basins are expanding more rapidly than others. We will explain that the rate of motion varies depending on the nature of the associated plate boundary processes (ridge push, slab pull) tied to mantle convection.
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