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Is heat flow the same between the continental and oceanic crust?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Apparently No, heat flow in oceanic crust is higher than continental crust
Wiki User
∙ 10y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoThe heat flow from continents is about 2/3 rd of the heat flow from oceans
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Why do trenches form when oceanic crust meets continental crust?
Oceanic crust is thinner and more dense will continental crust is thicker and less dense.
Why is continental crust deeper than oceanic crust?
The oceans flow to the places where the crust is the lowest. Gravity causes them to flow downward. The mantle, below the crust, is at the same depth everywhere, so if the crust is lower, it is because it is thinner.
Could the earth's magnetic poles be the cause of continental drift?
No, the cause of continental drifts is actually the flow of the magma below the continental plates and the oceanic plates
What does lava do to earth?
Lava either stays where it lands, or it moves as part of a flow, possibly of many miles. Solidified erupted lava then becomes part of the continental or oceanic crust.
Why do scientists need to know the different types of lava flow?
The type of lava flow lets you know the different type of volcano. Not all volcanoes are "explosive". Basalt volcano you can practically stand and watch as it explodes. Where as an andesite volcano you want to be far away. Also the different lava flow lets you know where the melting is occurring. If the flow is high in granitic composition it means the continental crust has melted. If the flow is high in basalt it is a oceanic crust melt.
What is the consistency of lava in the composite volcanoes?
Composite volcanoes are found on destructive plate margins , where the oceanic crust sinks beneath the continental crust. Composite volcanoes have the following characteristics: Acidic lava, which is very viscous (sticky). Steep sides as the lava doesn't flow very far before it solidifies
What is a result of a continental crust and oceanic crust collision?
Oceanic crust is formed primarily of basalts (density= 3.3 g/cm^3) and is therefore denser than that of continental crust, which is composed mainly of granite (density= 2.7 g/cm^3). This will result in a subduction zone, where the oceanic crust will be subducted underneath the continental crust and be recycled into the asthenosphere. At these locations its typically to see deep trenches and volcanic arcs.
What happen to oceanic crust at deep ocean trench?
At a deep oceanic trench the marine tectonic plate (oceanic crust) is carried (the word is subducted) beneath another tectonic plate (usually but not always - continental crust) and it sinks hundreds of miles into the Earth's Mantle. The cold wet oceanic crust is heated as it sinks and remelts to form magmas which come up 'landward' of the trench forming a string of volcanoes (an island arc). As all the margins of the Pacific Ocean are being subducted the volcanes formed are called the 'fiery ring of the pacific'. See the related links below.
Why heat flow high at mid oceanic ridge?
That's were the Earth's crust is pulling apart - and the gap is being filled with molton lava.
With what type of plate boundary are the following places or features associated himalayas aleutian islands red sea andes mountains san andreas fault iceland japan mount st helen's?
(1) Himalayas -- Convergent between continental-continental collision of Indo-Australian and Eurasian plates. (2) Aleutian islands -- Convergent between oceanic-oceanic collision of Pacific plate beneath North American plate. (3) Andes Mountains -- Convergent between oceanic-continental collision of Pacific plate beneath South American plate. (4) San Andreas Fault (Zone) -- Transform boundary (sometimes called a conservative boundary) between Pacific and North American plates. (5) Iceland -- Divergent boundary along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge arm of the Mid-Ocean Ridge, separating North America to the west and Eurasia to the east. *Also* a large hot spot, which is what brought Iceland to the surface, rather than remaining undersea. (6) Japan -- Convergent boundary between Pacific plate beneath North American plate (yes, Japan is on the North American plate). (7) Mount St. Helens -- Convergent boundary between Juan de Fuca beneath North Americna plate. Convergent boundaries build mountains (technically divergent do too, but no one ever thinks about them -- but they're lots and lots of small volcanoes) Continental-continental --> crust slams together like two buses, neither plate can subduct, rock squirts up and out, you get the Himalayas (Indo-Australian and Eurasia) Oceanic-oceanic --> crust meets and the older, denser, cooler one subducts. It reaches a depth that it melts, the new magma rises to the surface, pops out as a volcanic lava flow. Thousands of flows later, you have dry volcanic islands poking out of the surface. Because this is happening along a plane, you get a whole chain - an volcanic island arc like the Aleutians (Pacific plate below North American plate) Oceanic-continental --> crust meets and the oceanic will *always* subduct. Just like oceanic-oceanic, it melts and rises and pops out, but this time on a dry continental surface. Again, thousands of flows later, you have a volcano. Again, as it's on a plane, you get a whole mountain range.
What are the conditions that cause a volcanic eruption?
There needs to be a lot of pressure in the magma
Why does the oceanic crust travel underneath continental crust during subduction?
The mechanism behind the principle of tectonic plate subduction, is governed by certain laws of science (mostly in physics, chemistry and geography). This laws includes law of floatation, gravity and bouyancy . Naturally the Oceanic lithosphere which makes up the oceanic plates is composed of materials relatively denser than those of the continental lithosphere which makes up the continental plates and this is as a result of the variation in their chemistry. According to the law of flotating in physics, materials would be immersed in a fluid, according to their density and they would displace equivalent amount of that fluid as their weight/density. This generaly implies that the denser a body or material the deeper it will be emmersed in a fluid (ie, any substance that can flow eg water and molten materials), so definitely in a situation where the oceanic plate and continental plate collide the continental plate is been displaced by the oceanic plate due to difference in density, and the continental plate stays afloat because of its bouyancy. Also gravity affects the subduction of tectonic plates, by pulling the denser oceanic plate downwards and deeper into the asthenosphere than the continental plate. In summary, "the combined reactions of, bouyancy, force of gravity, effect of density, relative motion and direction of two opposite plates with different compositions" (bumping into one another), causes the circumstances surrounding plates subduction.
