Does the movement of Earth’s plates affect all living things

Does the movement of Earth’s plates affect all living things

How Plates Movem :

  • If seafloor spreading drives the plates, what drives seafloor spreading? Picture two convection cells side-by-side in the mantle, similar to the illustration in Figure below.
  •  Hot mantle from the two adjacent cells rises at the ridge axis, creating a new ocean crust.
  •  The top limb of the convection cell moves horizontally away from the ridge crest, as does the new seafloor.
  • The outer limbs of the convection cells plunge down into the deeper mantle, dragging oceanic crust as well. This takes place in the deep-sea trenches.
  • The material sinks to the core and moves horizontally.
  • The material heats up and reaches the zone where it rises again.

Plate Boundaries

Plate boundaries are the edges where two plates meet. Most geologic activities, including volcanoes, earthquakes, and mountain building, take place at plate boundaries. How can two plates move relative to each other?

  • Divergent plate boundaries: the two plates move away from each other.
  • Convergent plate boundaries: the two plates move towards each other.
  • Transform plate boundaries: the two plates slip past each other.

The type of plate boundary and the type of crust found on each side of the boundary determines what sort of geologic activity will be found there.

Divergent Plate Boundaries

Plates move apart at mid-ocean ridges where new seafloor forms. Between the two plates is a rift valley. Lava flows at the surface cool rapidly to become basalt, but deeper in the crust, the magma cools more slowly to form gabbro. So the entire ridge system is made up of igneous rock that is either extrusive or intrusive.

Earthquakes are common at mid-ocean ridges since the movement of magma and oceanic crust results in crustal shaking. The vast majority of mid-ocean ridges are located deep below the sea (Figure below).

Conclusion:

Can divergent plate boundaries occur within a continent? What is the result? In continental rifting (Figure right), magma rises beneath the continent, causing it to become thinner, break, and ultimately split apart. New ocean crust erupts in the void, creating an ocean between continents

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