Plate Tectonics
Hannah Krueger's Project
Layers of the Earth
There are three layers of the Earth; core, mantle, and the crust.
There are actually two called the inner and the outer core. The inner core is composed of nickel & iron and is completely solid. The outer core however is liquid and is composed of molten nickel and iron and spins creating the Earth's magnetic field!
See model below ⤵
Plate tectonics & continental drift
Plate Movement & Convection current
In the mantle of our earth there is this cool thing that occurs called convection. Whether you know it or not, it happens all around you. Have you ever wondered why it feels so much warmer on a top bunk compared to a bottom bunk? Or why you are supposed to drop to the ground if your in a burning building? Its all because of Convection! This simply means that warm air rises and cool air sinks. This is exactly what happens in the mantle. The magma closest to the inner core heats up so it rises and allows the cooler magma to sink. Then as the, once cool magma, heats up from being close to the inner core the, once hot magma, is now cool and the cycle repeats! How does this have anything to do with plate tectonics? It actually has a very large impact on them. It is what makes them move! As the warm air rises and cool air sinks, it is creating a circular motion which allows the plates floating on top of them begin to float around and move in the direction that the convection currents are moving.
Refer to diagram below⤵
Plate Boindries
Because of all of this plate movement, the different plates tend to come across each other! They basically have 3 options: to collide, separate from each other going in opposite directions, or slide by each other. when they collide it is called a convergent boundary. There are two kinds of convergent boundaries; just plain convergent which creates folding mountain ranges, or subduction which creates trenches and volcanoes. There is a special place, the Andes Mountains were created by convergent by subduction which is not usual. It has also created something which is known as the ring of fire.
The Ring of Fire is an area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. The ring of fire is located all around the pacific tectonic plate. When the two plates go in opposite directions it is called a divergent boundary. Divergent boundary's cause volcanoes, earthquakes, and mid Atlantic ridges (seafloor spreading) if they are two oceanic plates or else rift valleys if they are two continental plates. The last one is called a transform boundary which is when the two tectonic plates just slide right passed each other. As these two plates grind along one another they create major earthquakes, falt lines, and tsunamis which are underwater earthquakes.
the three diferent types of plate boundries:
Seafloor Spreading
Mentioned earlier was sea floor spreading. This is an effect of a divergent boundary discovered by Harry Hess. When two oceanic tectonics plates pull away from each other there becomes a gap, but magma soon explodes out of that gap. It then immediately cool creating new rocks and material. Scientist have proven and carried out tests confirming that rock on the east and went of an ocean were old material but in the middle there was new material. This can only be explained by sea floor spreading. This also proves the theory of continental drift! For all of this to occur there has to be a divergent boundary which would confirm the theory of continental drift!
The Natural History Museum
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