Tectonic Plates

A plate are large slabs of broken rock.

Plates move in several ways. Some move toward each other (Convergent).When two land plates meet, the edges crush and fold as one is pushed down under the other. Some plates travel away from each other (Divergent). Large cracks  can form where the two plates are moving apart. Magma from the mantle oozes up through these cracks. It hardens and make new crust. Plates can also slide past each other (Transform). Where this happens, huge cracks appear at Earth's surface.