Plate Tectonics
The topic
of this blog is Plate
Tectonics. The definition of plate tectonics is the theory of explaining the structure of the earth's crust and
the interaction of rigid plates that move slowly over the underlying mantle.
But what does this mean really. It means that the surface of our planet is
changing constantly. Tectonics causes the planetary material to be recycled.
This recycling process also causes volcanic eruptions. As ocean plates are
pushed into the planet, the carbon from plant life is melted and it releases
CO2 which rises back to the surface causing eruptions. I know a lot about this
topic but like any subject, there is always more to learn. All the land on our
planet was once one big mass called a supercontinent.
The oldest of
those supercontinents is called Rodinia which
was formed during Precambrian time some one billion years ago. Another, and
probably the most famous is Pangea, which
happened some 600 million years ago, at the end of the Precambrian. What i find
most interesting is that the plates are still moving about as fast as your
fingernail grows, or about 3 mm or .12 in./month, and
we will eventually have another supercontinent.
Current thinking says that tectonics
is driven by convection, which is generated by radioactive decay heating the
mantle, making it like taffy. But how can that be the only way the plates move
when the lithosphere or crust is thinner under the oceans and significantly
thicker under the continents? This is just one of the questions i'd like
answered and i'm sure others would too. Another question you might be asking
yourself is, "Can Earth be the only planet with tectonics?" the answer
to this is no we are not. Scientists have found evidence
of tectonics on Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn's moon Titan. Although
these Jovian moons have tectonics, the way it happens on Earth is unique.
Resources Used:
NOAA-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website
NASA-National Aeronautics and Space Administration website
Various textbooks from past classes
David DeRemer-Planetarium Director-Horowitz Planetarium, Waukesha, WI
NASA-National Aeronautics and Space Administration website
Various textbooks from past classes
David DeRemer-Planetarium Director-Horowitz Planetarium, Waukesha, WI
Nice post. I enjoyed the images. Nice job having links worked into the text as well as at the end of the post.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your subject. I get a kick out of knowing that even the ground we stand on is not as firm and fixed as you might believe.
Something I wonder about is how this affects the shape of the land itself. Do plate tectonics cause terrain to change, or is that a different phenomena?
I'm glad to learn of Rodinia too, I had only ever heard of Pangea before now.
Trevor, this is certainly an interesting topic. You mention that there are other bodies with plate tectonics, but that the way Earth's work is unique. What are the differences between them?
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