Plate Motion
What is Isostasy?
Equilibrium between continental crust and the denser mantle below it.
How are the Rocky Mountains different from the Appalachian mountains?
Rocky Mountains have high peaks while Appalachian mountains are low and gently rounded.
What are the 3 landforms created by compression?
Mountain ranges, Ocean trenches, and volcanic arcs
What processes can remove part of a mountain?
Plate collisions through the process of weathering and erosion
Give an example of a fold mountain.
Himalayas, Andres, Alps
What is a uplift?
Upward vertical motion of Earth's surface.
What can cause the Earth's surface to move up or down?
The glacier or ice melts on to the Earth's surface, in which the tension is causing the Earth to uplift.
What are the 2 land forms created by continental rifts?
Where do plates break apart?
Plates break close to the place where they first collided.
Give an exampled of fault-block mountain.
Sierra-Nevada
What is compression?
Squeezing Stress
Which types of strain permanently changes rocks?
Plastic Strain
What are the landforms created by shear stress?
Tranform faults and fault zones
How can mountains change over time?
Mountains naturally wear down over time, but the Earth has to maintain balance so it pushes up the rock and sediments beneath to maintain equilibrium.
Give an example of Dome mountain.
Black Hills, Adirondack
What is tension?
Stress that pulls something apart.
What can cause rocks to thicken or fold?
Hotter lower crust and upper mantle rocks tend to deform plastically like putty. Compression from this causes it to thicken and fold.
What are two landforms that can form where two plates converge?
Mountain Ranges and Ocean Trenches
What type of rocks are found in the Sierra Nevada?
Granite and Igneous rocks
Mt. Fuji, Stromboli
What is shear stress?
Parallel forces acting in opposite directions
How does plate motion affect the rock cycle?
Plate motion cause movement of the rocks, in which due to erosion breaks down rocks into sediments.
Where do volcanic arcs form?
Can form in oceanic plates subducts and on continents. Example: Mt. Shasta
Which way is the tension pulling?
Pull crust apart
Yellowstone, Massif Central