Lithosphere

Eastern African Rift Valley which is being formed as the Eastern African plate is moving away from the main Africa plate in a north-easterly direction. Plates move apart due to convection currents in the lithosphere. As the crusts move away from each other the crust thins, tension in the lithosphere causes the plate to thin as it starts to split. As sections of the crust move apart, areas of the crust drop down between parallel faults to form rift valleys. Inward facing scarp slopes that are…

thermal convection currents in the mantle. This causes hot lava to rise and cool lava to sink. The flooding magma causes the plates to move along with them. The convection currents are caused by the intence heat of the core and the cool air in the lithosphere. During this change in temperature,…

The Rio Grande Rift is a major component of the Sourthern Rocky mountain region. that extends from the center of Colorado, U.S.A., all the way down into Chihuahua, Mexico (Chapin, 1994) (figure 1). The area has long been used by humans as a north south trade route and also goes by the name “El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro” (“The Royal Road of the Interior Land”). The understanding of this rift zone is also an area of importance because it contains valuable resources such as hydrocarbons,…

Mercury's surface is similar in appearance to the appearance of the Moon, showing plains and heavy cratering, indicating that it has been inactive for billions of years. Knowledge of Mercury's geology has been based only on the 1975 Mariner flyby and terrestrial observations, it is the least understood of the terrestrial planets. As data from messenger orbiter is processed, this knowledge will increase. For example, an unusual crater with radiating troughs has been discovered that scientists…

Subject of study: The subject of study is the formation of the Hawaiian archipelago. The island chain is comprised of a string of volcanic islands, seamounts of igneous rock of which the largest, Hawaii, reaches from its base on the ocean floor to rise above the ocean to rival the height of the tallest mountain, Mt. Everest. The smaller and extinct volcanos of the Hawaiian chain are located at successively greater distances from the currently active volcano and younger, Kilauea on the largest…

Hawaii’s Kilauea versus Mount Fujiyama Ever since I was a little girl I have always been fascinated with volcanoes. How do they work? How hot is the lava exactly? Can you travel down into the funnel of a volcano, and if so how and will you survive? And do all volcanoes function the same way? As a child, we never understood that the beautiful hot magma that flows from the volcano is dangerous and burns everything in its path. Two volcanoes that have always caught my eye is Hawaii’s Kilauea and…

known for having deadly earthquakes, with a series of thirteen earthquakes 7.0 magnitude or higher since 1973. Many people may wonder what causes such fatalities and it is the tectonic plates. The Earth’s crust and upper mantle, also known as the lithosphere are made up of seventeen pieces know as Tectonic plates. Because directly below the crust is a deep liquid layer underneath the crust is which results in the plates shifting around.The boundaries of a tectonic plate are either known as…

From growing crops to destroying cities, Latin America’s geography and landforms have a large impact on the people who live there. Some examples are mountains, deserts, rainforests, and plate boundaries. Some of these contribute to science. Others merely impact where people chose to live. Either way, geography affects the people. Mountain ranges such as the Andes and Sierra Madre have vertical climate zones. Each of the five climate zones provide different resources, giving Latin America…

eastern Canada, specifically the areas near the St. Lawrence river, are affected most. This is a result of the St. Lawrence river being directly above many small fault lines, collectively called a rift fault (or rift valley). It is an area where the lithosphere is being pulled apart very slowly, in many different places at once. It is this movement that creates the quakes. How strong can…

The Little Ice Age was essentially a negative feedback loop. With reduced temperature and strong winds, there was a lot of precipitation in the form of snow. The snow helped to reflect the sunlight out of the Earth, adding to the cooling effect of the Ice Age. Furthermore, since there was a reduced amount of solar radiation during the period, the expanding glaciers were also able to further reflect out any radiation, leading to the initial decreasing in temperature as seen in negative feedback…