Flashcards
The Restless Earth
Cards in this deck (4)
- 1The inner core is in the centre and is the hottest part of the Earth. It is solid and made up of iron and nickel with temperatures of up to 5,500°C. The outer core is the layer surrounding the inner core. It is a liquid layer, also made up of iron and nickel. The mantle is the widest section of the Earth. It has a thickness of approximately 2,900 km. The mantle is made up of semi-molten rock called magma. The crust is the outer layer of the earth
- 2Oceanic plates are thinner but more dense than the continental crust The oceanic crust is subducted underneath the continental crust because the oceanic crust is also heavier than the continental crustThe earths crust is broken up into different pieces called plates, they move due to convenction currents in the mantle, this movement is called plate tectonics.
- 3Plate tectonics cause earthquakes and volcanoes, the point where two plates meet is called a plate boundary.At a constructive boundary the plates move apart due to convection currents. As the plates move apart, magma erupts to the surface of the earth- causing an earthquake. The magma cools and forms a new crust of igneous rock
- 4destructive boundary- the plates are moving towards each other. This usually involves a continental plate and an oceanic plate. The oceanic plate is denser than the continental plate so, as they move together, the oceanic plate is forced underneath the continental plate. The point at which this happens is called the subduction zone.The magma collects to form a magma chamber. This magma then rises up through cracks in the continental crust. As pressure builds up, a volcanic eruption may occur
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- Geography Flashcards on The Restless Earth, created by raidaa_mirza on 24/05/2013.
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