Download Driving Forces and Effects of Plate Tectonics

Driving Forces and Effects
of Plate Tectonics
Causes of Plate Movement
• Mantle convection: The process in which heat
from Earth’s inner and outer cores is
transferred through the mantle
• Energy source for convection: heat of Earth’s
interior
• Gravity pulls down the cooler, more dense
region of the mantle
Hot Spots
• Hot spots: regions of volcanic activity in
the interior parts of plates away from plate
boundaries
• Examples: Hawaii and Yellowstone
Hot Spots
• Hot spots occur where rising magma from
the lower mantle remains stationary for
millions of years.
• As a plate moves over the rising magma,
melting of the plate occurs.
• Hot spots are regions of intrusive and
extrusive volcanic activity that can build
volcanoes and lava flows put up regions of
the crust to form mountains
KEY IDEA: The hot spot is
stationary… the plate moves
creating an island chain
Other Effects of Plate Tectonics
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Environmental hazards (ex. Earthquakes)
Changes in Earths’ climate and weather
The rock cycle
Major landscape feature of Earth (ex. Mountains,
plains, oceans)
• Exposing rocks to weathering and erosion
providing new information