Table of Contents
- 1 What is the importance in knowing about the plate movement?
- 2 What is the importance of plate movements in the changing earth?
- 3 In what way is the plate tectonic theory helpful in explaining the occurrence of volcanoes and Earth?
- 4 What happens when plates move away from each other?
- 5 What would happen if plate tectonics stopped moving?
- 6 What would happen if Earth had no plate tectonics?
What is the importance in knowing about the plate movement?
Plate boundaries are important because they are often associated with earthquakes and volcanoes. When Earth’s tectonic plates grind past one another, enormous amounts of energy can be released in the form of earthquakes.
What is the importance of plate movements in the changing earth?
Plate motions cause mountains to rise where plates push together, or converge, and continents to fracture and oceans to form where plates pull apart, or diverge. The continents are embedded in the plates and drift passively with them, which over millions of years results in significant changes in Earth’s geography.
What is the main idea of the plate tectonic theory?
The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth’s solid outer crust, the lithosphere, is separated into plates that move over the asthenosphere, the molten upper portion of the mantle. Oceanic and continental plates come together, spread apart, and interact at boundaries all over the planet.
In what way is the plate tectonic theory helpful in explaining the occurrence of volcanoes and Earth?
Most of the world’s volcanoes are found around the edges of tectonic plates, both on land and in the oceans. On land, volcanoes form when one tectonic plate moves under another. In the ocean, volcanoes erupt along cracks that are opened in the ocean floor by the spreading of two plates called a mid-ocean ridge .
What happens when plates move away from each other?
A divergent boundary occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Along these boundaries, earthquakes are common and magma (molten rock) rises from the Earth’s mantle to the surface, solidifying to create new oceanic crust. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of divergent plate boundaries.
How can you relate the movement of the plates result to the formation of folds and fault?
Such an example of a fault line is the San Andreas Fault Line in America. In conclusion, the movement of the Earth’s plates results in the folding and faulting of the Earth’s surface due to processes such as compression, tension and shearing, and in doing so, deform and rearrange the Earth’s crust.
What would happen if plate tectonics stopped moving?
If all plate motion stopped, Earth would be a very different place. Erosion would continue to wear the mountains down, but with no tectonic activity to refresh them, over a few million years they would erode down to low rolling hills.
What would happen if Earth had no plate tectonics?
No mountains will emerge, and the mountains that are on our planet now might disappear completely. This will happen due to erosion by winds and waves since the planet will continue to have an atmosphere. In the end, our continents will be completely flattened and might end up underwater.