News tagged with tectonic plates
German scientists launch quest to remote Tristan da Cunha
A team of German scientists on Tuesday launched an expedition to the remote British archipelago of Tristan da Cunha, in a bid to uncover secrets linked to the ancient supercontinent Gondwana.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 17, 2012 |
3 / 5 (1) |
0
Quakes unearth Australia's underground past
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from The Australian National University have used the latest earthquake-measuring technology to image the tectonic plate beneath southeast Australia and reveal for the first time ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 10, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
Flipped from head to toe: 100 years of continental drift theory
Exactly 100 years ago, on 6 January 1912, Alfred Wegener presented his theory of continental drift to the public for the first time. At a meeting of the Geological Association in Frankfurt's Senckenberg Museum, he revealed ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jan 04, 2012 |
3.3 / 5 (3) |
2
Plate tectonics coming of age
(PhysOrg.com) -- Plate tectonics in its current form is believed to have started one billion years ago. A study of two billion year old rocks from African gold mines has now shown that the same process of ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2011 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
|
Earth's past gives clues to future changes
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are a step closer to predicting when and where earthquakes will occur after taking a fresh look at the formation of the Andes, which began 45 million years ago.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
4
Taiwan deploys undersea quake warning system
Taiwan said Monday it had put into service its first undersea seismic observation system, giving the island life-saving extra seconds or even minutes to brace for earthquakes and tsunamis.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 14, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
NASA captures new images of large asteroid passing Earth
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif. has captured new radar images of Asteroid 2005 YU55 passing close to Earth.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 08, 2011 |
5 / 5 (9) |
14
|
Probability of powerful quake rises for N. Z. city
Scientists warned Friday of an increased probability that another powerful earthquake will hit the earthquake-stricken New Zealand city of Christchurch in the next year.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 04, 2011 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
NASA in final preparations for Nov. 8 asteroid flyby
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA scientists will be tracking asteroid 2005 YU55 with antennas of the agency's Deep Space Network at Goldstone, Calif., as the space rock safely flies past Earth slightly closer than the ...
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 27, 2011 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
0
|
Turkey, a country at seismic crossroads
The 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Van province in eastern Turkey on Sunday, causing hundreds of fatalities, underscores the country's fate to be straddling one of the world's most active seismic zones.
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 24, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
Plate tectonics may control reversals in the Earth's magnetic field
The Earth's magnetic field has reversed many times at an irregular rate throughout its history. Long periods without reversal have been interspersed with eras of frequent reversals. What is the reason for these reversals ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 24, 2011 |
4 / 5 (1) |
19
Scientists reveal Southern California's tectonic plates in detail
Rifting is one of the fundamental geological forces that have shaped our planet. Were it not for the stretching of continents and the oceans that filled those newly created basins, Earth would be a far different ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 06, 2011 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
|
Earthquake prediction still stymies scientists
(AP) -- The East Coast earthquake left more than just residents unaccustomed to feeling the ground shake and sway in a daze. It also surprised some scientists who spend their careers trying to untangle the ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 05, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
7
Earthquakes to the core -- Researchers drill down at the epicenter
"What do I remember about an earthquake? I was in the 7th grade. All of a sudden the floor just started shaking. Desks were falling over. Kids were falling on the ground. It was so scary. It happened so quickly!"
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 30, 2011 |
not rated yet |
1
Live, from the bottom of the sea
Lamont-Doherty scientist Timothy Crone is at sea off the Northwest U.S. coast, dropping sensors into the deep ocean as part of a major initiative to better understand oceans, climate and plate tectonics. You ...
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Aug 26, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics (from the Greek τέκτων; tektōn, meaning "builder" or "mason") describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere. The theory encompasses the older concepts of continental drift, developed during the first decades of the 20th century by Alfred Wegener, and seafloor spreading, understood during the 1960s.
The lithosphere is broken up into what are called tectonic plates. In the case of Earth, there are currently eight major and many minor plates (see list below). The lithospheric plates ride on the asthenosphere. These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent, or collisional boundaries; divergent boundaries, also called spreading centers; and transform boundaries. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries. The lateral movement of the plates is typically at speeds of 50–100 mm annually.
For more information about Plate tectonics, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
