Divergent boundary

The U.S. Geological Survey’s article, “Plate Tectonics in a Nutshell,” describes how convection currents can cause hot magma to reach the surface along divergent plate boundaries. Iceland, in fact, is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is exactly that type of divergent plate boundary. This is the beginning of the rock cycle where brand new rocks on the Earth’s surface form to replace other rocks that are lost because of the subduction of sinking plates at convergent boundaries, as also described in the “Nutshell” article. What is unique about the process as it appears in McPhee’s story is the speed and violence with which the changes happen. McPhee describes how the fishing island of Heimaey had to be evacuated with little warning due to a gigantic volcanic eruption in 1973. Although the people of Heimaey managed to save the fishing harbor by spraying the hot lava with massive amounts of seawater, almost all of the houses in the village were destroyed. Of course, houses that burn down can always be rebuilt. But the eruption left the village with something…

Millions of years ago our Earth was called Pangea. This was the name for the Earth as it was when basically all the land/continents were attached as one giant portion of land surrounded by sea. As millions of years passed, the portion of land known as Pangea began to spread apart into several portions of land until it could no longer be called Pangea. Finally today, we know Earth as being a vast planet with several continents that are a result of the spread of Pangea. This is understood to be…

In an open family many people are allowed to go in and out of the home and it is open to everyone. In a closed family only the members are allowed to be with each other. For example, a closed family would only allow for the children to be each other’s friends and not have anyone else be involved in family functions such as birthday parties. Only family members would be allowed to attend. According to Anderson and Sabatelli most families fall somewhere in between a closed and open family. “These…

The Inner Core, Outer Core, Mantle, Asthenosphere, and Lithosphere, or, as more colloquially known, the five layers of the Earth. Although each layer is important, each living thing resides on the Lithosphere, which happens to rest on the Asthenosphere, the upper part of the Mantle. Forces caused by these two layers both contribute to the theory of Plate Tectonics, which happens to be interconnected to Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Without Plate Tectonics, the other two occurrences simply cannot…

Volcanoes are generally found in three locations: constructive and destructive plate boundaries, as well as hotspots. The most explosive and potentially the most hazardous volcanoes are found on destructive, convergent plate boundaries. Here, one plate subducts beneath the other generating intense heat and pressure, melting the rock and sediment to form an acidic magma chamber. This viscous magma is resistant to flow and therefore results in violent, dangerous eruptions involving pyroclastic…

Sciencia is a world analogous to Eath. Based on the present day plate boundaries and similarities on multiple continents, It’s believed that the continents of Sciencia were once together as a supercontinent called Edisonia. The supercontinent held 6 of the 8 modern continents, which broke apart due to tectonic forces in the Lithosphere. Also, the 7th and 8th continents were believed to have formed from volcanic eruptions on convergent plate boundaries. The edges on the modern- day Sciencian…

purpose of this paper is the explain a natural phenomena, Axial Seamount. Even if the reader has no knowledge of Axial Seamount, they will be able to fully understand the content of this paper. They will learn facts about Axial Seamount such as what it is, on what plates it is located on, what landforms are around it, etc. Axial Seamount is an underwater volcano located in the Northeastern Pacific Ocean, about 483 kilometers (300 miles) off the coast of Oregon. Because its frequent volcanic…

The topic of this discussion is to explain why Africa and South America are moving apart. The drifting apart of Africa and South America has to do with the theory known as the theory of plate tectonics. Based on this model, the crust the coolest part of the mantle, make up Earth’s strong outer layer, known as the lithosphere. Right beneath the lithosphere is the asthenosphere, the hottest part of the mantle. Rocks at this depth are very near the melting temperature, and respond to forces by…

Japan is associated with so many natural disasters. This is because the island, Japan is located where the North American, Pacific, Eurasian, and Philippine plate meet, also known as plate boundaries. Japan is also located where the Pacific plate and the Philippine plate are subducting. This results in the stress building up where the two plates are subducting. How do plates move? Well, plates move when uneven heating in the mantle creates currents. This current is a convection current, and…

Question: Describe in detail the three theories that were the predecessors to plate tectonic theory. Provide evidence of how features of the surface support the current, theory of plate tectonics describing the ways the tectonic plates interact and the result of their interactions. The Continental Drift Theory The Continental Drift can help the surface support the current by plowing through ocean basins. It also did not include seafloor spreading or subduction. So, that did not cause an…