What are the two forces that cause the continents to move?
Heat and gravity are fundamental to the process The energy source for plate tectonics is Earth’s internal heat while the forces moving the plates are the “ridge push” and “slab pull” gravity forces. It was once thought that mantle convection could drive plate motions.
What causes tectonic plates to drift?
Over millions of years, the continents drift into new configurations. Convection in the molten rock of Earth’s mantle drives the movement of the plates. Hotter material rises to the surface, while cooler material sinks toward the core.
What would happen if the tectonic plates continue to move?
Plate tectonics moves the continents around on a scale of 100s of millions of year. Plate tectonics also has an impact on longer-term climate patterns and these will change over time. It also changes ocean current patterns, heat distribution over the planet, and the evolution and speciation of animals.
What are the 4 types of tectonic plate movement?
There are four types of boundaries between tectonic plates that are defined by the movement of the plates: divergent and convergent boundaries, transform fault boundaries, and plate boundary zones.
What will happen if the Earth has no tectonic plates?
Without plate tectonics, Earth would not have its diverse geography, which provides a wide range of habitats. Plate tectonics is also responsible for hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor.
What causes the Earth’s plates to move?
The heat from radioactive processes within the planet’s interior causes the plates to move, sometimes toward and sometimes away from each other. This movement is called plate motion, or tectonic shift.
What three interactions can plates have?
Tectonic plates can interact in one of three ways. They can move toward one another, or converge; move away from one another, or diverge; or slide past one another, a movement known as transform motion.
When two plates meet this is called?
If two tectonic plates collide, they form a convergent plate boundary. Usually, one of the converging plates will move beneath the other, a process known as subduction.
What two interacting plates from the transform fault boundary?
The collision led to the subduction of the Farallon plate underneath the North American plate. Once the spreading center separating the Pacific and the Farallon plates was subducted beneath the North American plate, the San Andreas Continental Transform-Fault system was created.
What is the best example of transform fault boundary?
The most famous example of this is the San Andreas Fault Zone of western North America. The San Andreas connects a divergent boundary in the Gulf of California with the Cascadia subduction zone. Another example of a transform boundary on land is the Alpine Fault of New Zealand.
Do Transform boundaries cause volcanoes?
Volcanoes do not typically occur at transform boundaries. One of the reasons for this is that there is little or no magma available at the plate boundary. The most common magmas at constructive plate margins are the iron/magnesium-rich magmas that produce basalts.