“Volcanic and seismic events are major pieces of evidence towards proving that plate tectonics theory is valid’ Discuss the extent to which you agree with this statement (40 marks)
The plate tectonics theory was made by a German named Alfred Wegener. He stated that a single continent existed about 300 million years ago named Pangaea and that it split into two continents of Laurasia in the north and Gondwanaland in the south. Today’s continents were formed by further splitting of the two masses.
Evidence to support this theory is that there is that there have been fossils found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean of land animals which gives us the idea that they must have been together originally. There is also climate evidence for
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It is believed that this volcanic area was caused by a localised hot spot within the Pacific plate. A concentration of radioactive elements inside of the mantle may have caused this hot spot to develop. The hot spot is stationary so as the Pacific plate moves over it a line of volcanoes are made. This is more proof that the Earth’s crust is moving as suggested by Wegener.
Although there are other volcanic events that don’t prove that the tectonic theory is valid. For example The "Ring of Fire" is an arc stretching from New Zealand, along the eastern edge of Asia, north across the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and south along the coast of North and South America. The Ring of Fire is composed over 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes. This huge ring of volcanic and seismic (earthquake) activity was noticed and described before the invention of the theory of plate tectonics theory. Also without movement at the boundaries around the Pacific, volcanoes such as Mt St Helens would simply not exist, as they would have no fuel caused by the subduction of an oceanic plate under a continental plate.
Overall the plate tectonics theory does seem valid as there is lots of evidence to prove it right. For example fossils on either side of the ocean, climates being the same in different continents and hot spots. But there are some stronger pieces of evidence like the ring of
The creation of the Ring of Fire is very interesting too, it is the result of plate tectonics. These are huge slabs of Earth’s crust that fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. These plates can collide, stay apart, or move up right next to each other. The convergent plate boundaries are formed by plates colliding into each other. The heavier plates slide under the lighter plates causing a deep trench in the ocean floor, as we talked about earlier. If you went down into the ocean you’d be able to see a bunch of trenches in the ocean floor running parallel to corresponding volcanic arcs like the Ring of Fire. This allows islands and continental mountain ranges to be created. A divergent boundary is formed by
Magma can also push up under the middle of a lithosphere plate, though this is much less common than magma production around plate boundaries. This interplate volcanic activity is caused by unusually hot mantle material forming in the lower mantle and pushing up into the upper mantle. The mantle material, which forms a plume shape that is from 500 to 1000 km wide, wells up to create a hot spot under a particular point on the earth. Because of the unusual heat of this mantle material, it melts, forming magma just under the earth's crust. The hot spot itself is stationary; but as a continental plate moves over the spot, the magma will create a string of volcanoes, which die out once they move past the hot spot. The Hawaii volcanoes were created
A piece of evidence we have for plate tectonics is when the continents separated from one another. We have evidence this happened because there have been fossils found in two different areas of the world and we know that they couldn't have physically gotten there endless at one time the continents were together. Another piece of evidence is mountain ranges because in order for a mountain range to exist there has to be two plates colliding causing the ground push up to form the mountains.
The Earth is constantly moving and this causes both earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to take place. As the plates drift and collide into each other, pressure builds beneath the surface of the earth. If it occurs near a fault, then an earthquake results. If the pressure is near a volcano, then the volcano will erupt. Sometimes the surface near a volcano will experience many small earthquakes before an eruption. The amount of pressure that is built up from the plates moving causes damage to the Earth’s surface. This can be seen at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The seafloor is spreading apart in the Atlantic Ocean which is pushing the plates apart. The surface that is experiencing volcanoes from this is Iceland.
Here, two plates meet and the denser oceanic lithosphere of the Nazca plate is forced down under the more buoyant continental lithosphere of the South American plate, descending at an angle into the mantle in a process called subduction. This is marked on the ocean surface by the presence of the Peru-Chilie trench. The friction between the plates prevents the subducting oceanic plate from sliding smoothly. As it descends it drags against the overlying plate causing both fracture and deform. This results in frequent shallow focus earthquakes The subduction of the Nazca plate under southern Chile produced the largest earthquake ever recorded, with a magnitude of 9.5 in 1960. Volcanoes are also created here as one plate subducts and partially melts; the magma rises up through fissures and can reach the surface. The type of lava here is andesitic, very high in silica and not very hot resulting in a composite volcano being formed out of layers of ash and lava. The cascade mountain range is an example of where a destructive plate boundary has caused the Juan de Fuca plate to subduct under the North American plate. This resulted in 15 composite volcanoes being formed, one of them, Mount St. Helens.
First, I'm going to talk about earthquakes. "Earthquakes and volcanoes are closely related." Their home is the ring of fire. In 1980 a small earthquake happened in Mt. St. Helens. That small earthquake caused the northern mountain to slide down a hill. If tectonic plates bump into each other an earthquake can happen. Nearly all the world's earthquakes happen in the ring of fire.
There is a bunch of evidence supporting the continental drift, like all the continents look as if they could fit together, just like a puzzle. Similar fossils were found on the edge of separated continents, meaning the animals were all together and roaming on an unusual land mass. The northern continents and Antarctica of the present day were found near the equator, proving the theory of plate tectonics.
The plate tectonic theory was conceived through the initial concept of continental drift. Plate tectonic theory suggests that the Earth’s lithosphere is divided into a number of different ‘plates’. The lithosphere is the outer part of the Earth which consists of the crust and upper mantle. The lithosphere is made up of 10 major plates as
A plate tectonic is defined as a solid rock mass that builds up the Earth’s surface. The plate tectonic theory is a theory that geologists use to help explain the surface processes and events. The word plate means large pieces of the earth that are always in motion, lithosphere plates. Tectonics means how the continents formed and move over time. This is the theory that most geologists accept as to what happened to our continents. It states that Earth is made up of two layers, the lithosphere, outer, and the inner asthenosphere.
The second theory was Alfred Wegener’s theory. He thought that the continents were moving. He based his argument on the observation that the coast lines matched up like puzzle pieces. He also observed that similar fossils were found oceans apart. He tried to explain this by something called continental drift. So, Alfred Wegener’s theory was that during some point in history, the plates moved from one giant supercontinent to where they are now.
Plate Tectonics is a scientific theory which study how the Earth’s plates are driven and shaped by geological forces to keep them in constant movement. The theory explains the present-day tectonic behavior of the Earth, particularly the global distribution of mountain building, earthquake activity, and volcanism in a series of linear belt. (Pitman, W.C., 2007)
Plate tectonics should sound familiar and also sound like something that is a definitive piece of earth, however, it is just a theory. It is thought that the earth is broken into sections and is slowly moving. There are many pieces of evidence stating why the theory of plate tectonics are valid. Continental drift is the most valid evidence to the plate tectonics theory.
The theory of plate tectonics suggests that the surface of the earth is broken into massive plates and these plates slowly drift towards and away from each other. When the edges of these plates meet, they produce intense activity, marked by earthquakes and other geological events. The plate tectonics theory is a combination of two other theories: continental drift and sea-floor spreading.
The basic theory of plate tectonics says that all volcanic activity should occur between lithosphere plates (Physical Geology). However, the Hawaiian Islands bend this rule by being located directly in the middle of the Pacific plate. The Hawaiian volcanoes are known as intraplate volcanoes. This may not seem possible because it disrupts the rule of plate tectonics, but there’s the exception of a hot spot. T. Wilson suggested that the Pacific plate moved in the northwestward direction over a melting spot deep within the mantle, and this hot spot remained relatively stationary and supplied magma to the moving Pacific plate to form the Hawaiian Island chain (Volcanoes in the Sea). In order to prove this suggestion, the structure of the Hawaiian Islands must be in line with a hot spot origin. This will be
The Ring of Fire is an area in the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes happen the most. Roughly 90% of all earthquakes happen in this area, and 75% of the world’s active volcanos are within The Ring of Fire as well. The Ring of Fire isn’t exactly a ring. It’s more of a crooked horseshoe but “The Crooked Horseshoe of Fire” doesn’t have the same charm to it. The Ring of Fire is a result of the tectonic plate boundaries. Tectonic plates are huge slabs of the earth’s crust which fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Because the pieces move around, them rubbing together and scraping about causes the earthquakes, and when the plates pull apart magma with potential slowly push up towards the surface. This makes a volcano. The process