Plate Tectonics Flashcards
What are the different layers of the Earth from the circumference to centre?
The crust, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core.
The crust is a thin layer rock that we live on.
The mantle is made of heavier rock and forms half of the planet.
The outer core is semi-liquid, mostly iron and makes a magnetic field.
The inner core is made of solid iron and nickel and is 4x denser than the crust!
Name as many world plates as possible.
The pacific plate, the N America plate, the Eurasian plate, the S American plate, the Nazca plate, the African plate, the Antarctic plate and the Indo-Australian plate.
What are the two types of plate and which is heavier?
The Oceanic crust(SIMA) is heavier and denser but thin. The Continental crust(SIAL) is light,spongey and squidgy.
SIMA - Silicon(Si) and Magnesium(Ma).
SIAL - Silicon(Si) and Aluminium(Al)
What is a collision boundary?
Two continental plates collide head-on but neither is forced under so they push up to make mountains. The Eurasian and the Indian plates do this.
What is a constructive boundary?
The plates pull apart and magma rises through gaps to make volcanoes. This boundary causes volcanoes and earthquakes. The N American and Eurasian plates do this
What is an earthquake?
2 plates lock together, causing friction. The energy released is seismic waves. Many little aftershocks happen. The focus is the creation point and the epicentre is directly above the focus
What is the Richter scale?
The Richter scale is a scale from 1-10 of how strong an earthquake is (magnitude). When it increases by 1, 30x more energy is released.
What are the primary effects of earthquakes?
Primary effects: something that happens immediately after.
- fires, explosions
- trapped people
- collapsed buildings,roads,bridges
- tsunamis
What are the secondary effects of earthquakes?
Secondary effect: something that happens days, weeks after.
- gas/radiation leaks
- famine
- looting
- homelessness
- tsunamis
