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Plate Tectonics Definition What are Tectonic Plates and What Causes Them to Move
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The Earth is divided into an inner core, made mostly of iron, and an outer part, made largely of silicates. The outer part is further divided in the mantle, and the skin like cover called the crust. The mantle is solid, but because the inside of the Earth is so hot, it is forced to moved in a process caused convection. Much like thick tomato soup sitting on a hot plate, the lowest soup next to the hotplate will rise upward until is gets near the surface. As it cools near the surface it begins to settled back toward the bottom, developing a circular motion called convection. Just like soup forms a crust on the top after a while, so did the Earth. The convection of the mantle creates cracks in the Earth surface crust, and the cracks forms the edges of what we call tectonic plates. The plate tectonics definition in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: • a theory in geology: the lithosphere of the earth is divided into a small number of plates which float on and travel independently over the mantle and much of the earth's seismic activity occurs at the boundaries of these plates. • the process and dynamics of tectonic plate movement; also : a similar process on a body other than earth. • The tectonic plates are islands sitting on hot rock. The movement of these plates is caused by the force of gravity dragging them back downward. The areas where this occurs are called subduction zones. While tectonic plates may move, they do so only at the same rate as your fingernails grow. Despite this snail-like pace the forces generated result in devastating earthquakes. Regions at the edges of tectonic plates are more prone to earthquake activity. The regions involving the Asia Pacific is known as the ring of fire. These plates have certain directions of movement. • But why does the convection happen? What is the reason behind these earthquakes. Well, things have to cool. Heat must always be lost from an object. Your hot tea must always turn cold. And the Earth is seriously hot - its core is 6000 degrees celsius or 10800 degrees fahrenheit, and this has to go somewhere. This heat comes from radioactive decay and also from primordial heat - the heat energy left over from when Earth was first formed - 4.5 billions year ago. Instead of radiating the heat outward, the best way to transfer the heat energy is through convection, the movement of hot mantle rock upward. Plate tectonics, and earthquakes, as always comes from the basic qualities of matter and energy. • Image and footage attribution by creative commons liscense: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Us..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Us..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Us..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Us... • This video is about Plate Tectonics Definition: What are Tectonic Plates and What Causes Them to Move?
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