June 2011 plate tectonics and associated hazards Comment on the extent to which the features shown in the image support the theory of plate tectonics. To begin with we can see that many of the landmasses appear as separated jigsaw pieces with their complementary shaped coastlines. One example of this is how the North Western coastline of Africa could quite easily ‘slot into’ the North Eastern Coastline of America. This suggests that in the history of the Earth‚ these two land masses were once connected
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pieces separated by jagged cracks. These are called the tectonic plates. They are in slow‚ constant motion pushed by the convection currents in Earth’s asthenosphere. This theory explains the process of sea floor spreading at mid-ocean ridges‚ and subduction at deep ocean trenches. It was proposed by J. Tuzo Wilson in 1965. He combined the discoveries of Harry Hess and Alfred Wegner to support this theory. One of the tectonic plates is the Scotia plate. It is an oceanic plate which stretches from the
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There are many different layers within the Earth. The core is at center of the Earth. The Earth’s core takes up sixteen percent of Earth’s volume‚ containing thirty-three percent of its Mass ..Pressure rises steadily inside the earth because of the weight of overlying rock. Therefore ‚the Pressure at the outer boundary of the core reaches 1.37 million atmospheres‚ 3.7 million Atmospheres. The core is made mostly of iron and nickel and possibly smaller amounts of lighter elements including sulfur
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the two plates takes place very slowly over millions of years in earth’s history. Due to the heavier density of the oceanic crust‚ the Nazca Plate is subducted into the mantle at the plate boundary. An ocean trench is formed along this point of subduction. The Peru-Chile Trench is located in the northwest coast of South America. As continuous weathering and erosion by agents like wind‚ water and ice take place on the earth surface of the South American continent‚ all eroded materials are transported
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Indo-Gangetic Plain. Three of the world’s major rivers‚ the Indus‚ the Ganges‚ and the Tsangpo-Brahmaputra all rise near Mount Kailash to cross and encircle the Himalayas. Their combined drainage basin is home to some 600 million people. Lifted by the subduction of the Indian tectonic plate under the Eurasian Plate‚ the Himalayan range runs‚ west-northwest to east-southeast‚ in an arc 2‚400 kilometres (1‚500 mi) long. Its western anchor‚ Nanga Parbat‚ lies just south of the northernmost bend of Indus river
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Background: • Nevado Del Ruiz is an active stratovolcano located in Colombia. • The volcano lies on the Andean Volcanic Belt which is produced by the subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American continental plate. • The volcano has been active for 150‚000 years – the eruption in 1985 is the most recent after being dormant for 69 years. • Eruption: • A rise in seismic activity was first noticed in late 1984‚ and by September 1985 people were warned an eruption was likely‚ with
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to Indonesia and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It occurred the 26 of December 2004‚ the magnitude was 9.2 for 5 minutes. It has been said to be one of the most powerful earthquakes for 100 years. It was caused by the a fault rupture on the subduction zone of the Indian (Eurasian) plate and the Sunda plate (Indonesian plate). It has been recorded that the epicentre was 20km under the sea‚ and 250km off the the coast if Indonesia‚ near the city of Banda Ache. Primary Effects: The tsunami
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Afghanistan from Kalat‚ in the northern Makran range‚ past Quetta and then on to Kabul‚ Afghanistan. A fault also runs along the Makran coast and is believed to be of the same nature as the West Coast fault along the coast of Maharashtra‚ India. An active subduction zone exists off the Makran coast. The great 1945 earthquake was centred in this region. This zone forms the boundary between the Arabian and the Iranian micro-plate‚ where the former subducts or dives beneath the latter. Thrust zones run along
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The Pangaea Theory The Pangea theory describes that all continents were joined together in one enormous land mass millions of years ago. Later on the continents broke apart and start drifting in opposite directions and still continued to make another arrangement. In 1912‚ Alfred Wegner‚ a German meteorologist and geologist gave the hypothesis the all the continents were joined together in a single continental land mass surrounded by a single ocean (Panthalassa) Late Paleozoic times. The Wegner
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The subduction zone is defined as an area where one plate tectonic with higher density overlays the plate with the lowest density. As the underlying plate descends into the magma‚ pressure accumulates and the magma is then pushed upwards towards the surface where
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