Driving Forces and Effects of Plate Tectonics Causes

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 • • 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

VIDEO LINK • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=66 Ud. Z WZgf. WY • If you cannot open the link, read the directions posted on the Flipped Notes assignment