Admin Table of Contents
- 1 What is the primary cause for the continental drift earthquakes and volcanic eruptions?
- 2 How can the continental drift of plates cause volcanoes?
- 3 What is the main cause of volcanic eruptions?
- 4 What is the primary force that drives plate motion?
- 5 How are volcanoes formed?
- 6 How is the theory of plate tectonics used today?
What is the primary cause for the continental drift earthquakes and volcanic eruptions?
The mantle is one of the three main layers of the Earth. They “float” on a softer mantle layer called the asthenosphere. Their very slow motion is the cause of plate tectonics, a process associated with continental drift, earthquakes, volcanoes, and the formation of mountains.
How can the continental drift of plates cause volcanoes?
As the denser plate edge moves downward, the pressure and temperature surrounding it increases, which causes changes to the plate that melt the mantle above, and the melted rock rises through the plate, sometimes reaching its surface as part of a volcano.
Which is responsible for the movement of the Earth’s lithospheric plates?
convection
The driving force behind plate tectonics is convection in the mantle. Hot material near the Earth’s core rises, and colder mantle rock sinks.
What is the main cause of volcanic eruptions?
Volcanoes erupt when molten rock called magma rises to the surface. Magma is formed when the earth’s mantle melts. Melting may happen where tectonic plates are pulling apart or where one plate is pushed down under another. If magma is thick, gas bubbles cannot easily escape and pressure builds up as the magma rises.
What is the primary force that drives plate motion?
Heat and gravity are fundamental to the process The energy source for plate tectonics is Earth’s internal heat while the forces moving the plates are the “ridge push” and “slab pull” gravity forces. It was once thought that mantle convection could drive plate motions.
What processes are involved in the process of continental drift?
The processes of seafloor spreading, rift valley formation, and subduction (where heavier tectonic plates sink beneath lighter ones) were not well-established until the 1960s. These processes were the main geologic forces behind what Wegener recognized as continental drift.
How are volcanoes formed?
On the Earth today, volcanoes are mainly formed by continental drift. As lighter continental rocks are pushed over heavier oceanic ones, friction melts the rock which rises and produces a volcano. Such volcanoes are often found near the edges of continents. As it sinks it melts and hot rock rises up, creating volcanoes along the coast.
How is the theory of plate tectonics used today?
Today the theory of plate tectonics, which includes continental drift, forms a framework for the study of geology and the Earth. For the evidence that continental drift is happening, click here. It is the heat generated by radioactive decay inside the Earth which drives this process.
Why did scientists not accept Wegener’s theory of continental drift?
Scientists did not accept Wegener’s theory of continental drift. One of the elements lacking in the theory was the mechanism for how it works—why did the continents drift and what patterns did they follow? Wegener suggested that perhaps the rotation of the Earth caused the continents to shift towards and apart from each other.