Inner Earth Flashcards
What was the super continent millions of years ago called
Pangea
Name the structure of the earth
Crust,mantle,outer core,inner core
What are the plates that carry land on them and that don’t
Continental plates =land in them. Oceanic plates = carry sea on them
How do plates move
Magma in the earths mantle moves in big circles called convection currents moving the plates
What happens when plates collide
At some palate boundaries the crust is destroyed(destructive plate boundary)
If two continental plates collide the crust crumples upwards (fold mountains)
If an oceanic and continental plate collide the oceanic plate gets dragged down into the mantle (subduction)
What are the impacts of plate collision
.earthquakes
.fold mountains
.destruction of plate
.volcanoes
.Subduction
What happens when plates separate (constructive plate boundary)
Magma comes to the surface to fill the gap it hardens into basalt rock(new crust is formed)
This usually happens on ocean floors making undersea volcanoes e.g the mid Atlantic ridge
Impacts of plate separation
Volcanoes
New crust
Earthquakes
What happens when plates slide past eachother
They should slide smoothly causing small, harmless earthquakes. Sometimes the plates get stuck and build of great pressure until they slip releasing this pressure. This causes a destructive earthquake example 1994 Northridge quake
What are the impacts of plates sliding past each other
Earthquakes
Tsunamis
What is a volcano
A volcano is formed by the eruption of magma on the earths surface through a vent in the earths crust
What is silica and what does it do ?
How explosive a volcano is depends on silica the mineral that traps gas within it making the magma sticky and thick like honey which makes a cone shaped mountain
What happens if the eruption is too strong
It can blow the mountain to pieces turning it into a superheated mix of rock dust ash and gas called pyroclasts which moves down a volcano (pyroclastic flow)
Where is the location of volcanoes
. Where plates collide separate and hot spots
name the life cycle of a volcano
Active =continuously erupting
Dormant =the volcano hasn’t erupted in a long time
Extinct =the volcano won’t erupt ever again
What is the name of a person who studies volcanoes?
A volcanologist