Restless Earth Flashcards
What are the four layers of the earth?
Inner core, outer core, mantle and crust
How thick is the crust?
10-25miles
What is the crust made up of?
Soil, water and rock
What are features of oceanic crust?
Can subduct Can be renewed and destroyed Newer-200million years old at most Denser Made of silicone and magnesium (sima)
What are features of continental crust?
Cannot sink Connot be renewed or destroyed Older, mostly over 1500million years old Less dense Made of silicone and aliminium (sial)
How thick is the mantle?
1800 miles
What is the temperature of the mantle?
500-2000°c
What are the two layers of the mantle?
Lithosphere and Asthenosphere
What is the mantle made of?
Partly melted and partly solid iron and magnesium
What is the outer core made of?
Liquid nickel and iron
How hot is the outercore?
5000°c
How thick is the outercore?
1430miles
What is the radius of the inner core?
750 miles
What is the inner core made of?
Solid nickel and iron
What causes plates to move? And what causes these?
Convection currents in the mantle which is caused by nuclear decay in the core. Hot material rises and cools at the top which drags the plates
What are the three types of plate margin?
Constructive, destructive, conservative
What occurs at constructive plate boundaries?
The plates moving away which allows magma to rise SHEILD VOLCANOES
Where are most constructive plate boundaries?
Usually under the sea
What is an example of a constructive plate boundary?
Mid atlantic ridge in Iceland
What happens at a destructive plate boundary?
2 plates move towards eachother, lighter continental crust stays on the top whilst the oceanic crust subducts into the mantle where it melts
What sort of volcanoes are featured at a destructive boundary?
Composite
What four things are features of a destructive plate boundary?
Composite volcanoes
Violent earthquakes
Ocean trenches
Fold mountains
Which plate margin doesnt feature volcanoes?
Conservative
What is an example of a conservative plate margin?
The San Andreas fault line, north american plate and pacific plates
What are three examples of fold mountains?
The Himalayas
The Andes
The Alps
Explain the formation of fold mountains
Rivers carry sediment into a geosyncline The sediments build up Convection current drive plates together Sediments begin to up lift Fol mountains are formed with sinclines and anticlines
What is the anticline?
The uplcline of fold mountains/folded rocks
What is a sincline?
The down fold of folded rocks
What is an overfold?
Where a fold has been pushed over on one side