Why and what do we know? Flashcards
Why are we interested in plate motion?
We are interested in plate motion because the previous position of the plates and their margins would have controlled the climate, life and landform evolution at the time
What forms at plate margins?
A range of distinctly different valuable metals and other resources form at different plate margins, and to guide out prospecting it helps a lot to know where these were in the past
What do we want to know?
How the plates were positioned relative to one another at given times in the past
How fast and in what direction they were moving at the time
How can this be measured?
We can get a good idea of both of these goals by measuring and analysing the inclination and declination of the magnetic field frozen in the seafloor basalts and gabbros
