Tectonics 1.2 Flashcards
What speed do Earth’s tectonic plates move per year?
2-5 cm
How many main tectonic plates are there?
Seven
Other than large tectonic plates, what else is there?
Micro plates
How thick is each plate?
Approximately 100km
Who proposed Continental Drift hypothesis in 1912?
Alfred Wegener;
What year was Continental Drift hypothesis in suggested?
1912
What is the name of theory Alfred Wegener suggested?
Continental Drift Hypothesis;
What did Alfred Wegener’s Continental Drift hypothesis in 1912 postulate?
Separate continents had once been joined;
What is the name of the single landmass that was present before drifting to present locations proposed by Alfred Wegener?
Pangaea;
What notion did Arthur Holmes (1930s) suggest?
Mantle Convection moved tectonics
What does mantle convection suggest about what drives movement of plate tectonics?
Earth’s radioactive heat;
When was the asthenosphere discovered?
1960;
The asthenosphere can be described as what?
Weak; Deformable;
Where is the asthenosphere in comparison to lithosphere?
Beneath
What does the asthenosphere cause the lithosphere to do?
Move;
When was magnetic strips in the oceanic crust of the sea bed discovered?
1960s
What is the name of magnetic strips in the oceanic crust of the sea bed?
palaemagnetic signals;
Where are palaemagnetic signals from?
Past reversals; Earth’s magnetic field;
What do palaemagnetic signals prove?
New ocean crust; Sea-Floor Spreading;
At what type of ridge does Sea-Floor Spreading occur?
Mid-ocean ridges;
At what type of plate boundary do seafloor spreading and palaeomagnetism occur?
Divergent;
At what type of plate boundary do seafloor spreading and palaeomagnetism occur?
Divergent;
Who proposed transform faults which were recognised in 1965?
Tuzo Wilson;
Who suggested sea-floor spreading?
Harry Hess;
What type of plate boundary does subduction of one plate under another plate occur?
Convergent;
What is the range of focal depths in subduction zones?
10km to 400km;
What is the range of focal points at subduction zones?
10km to 400km;
What line do focal points follow?
Line of subducting plate;
What type of plate margin has gravitational sliding?
Divergent margins;
What type of altitudes do constructive margins have?
Elevated altitudes;
Why do divergent margins have elevated altitudes?
Rising heat between them;
What does rising heat between divergent margins create?
‘Slope’ down;
Which plate margin does oceanic plates slide due to gravitational sliding?
Convergent;
What is gravitational sliding also known as?
Ridge Push;