Tectonics Theory Essay

Understanding the plate tectonics theory is very important, especially when investigating natural disasters like earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. It is also gives scientists the ability to understand how mountains were formed between two tectonic plates. There are three types of interactions between plate boundaries: convergent, divergent and transform. Looking back at the history of these three different interactions, earthquakes, like the one in Haiti, volcanic eruptions, like at Mount St. Helens, and the creation of mountain belts, like the Mid-Atlantic Oceanic ridge, gives information on future consequences of tectonic movement, and what can happen when the plates interact with each other. Tectonic plate theory is a relatively new theory that has evolved over the last century. The history of the theory can date back all the way to the twentieth century. Before the 1960s a majority of geologists believed that ocean basins and continents had a fixed position and

The Mid- Atlantic Oceanic Ridge is the best known divergent boundaries. Divergent boundaries are when two plates move apart from one another. The Mid-Atlantic Oceanic Ridge is spreading at an average of 2.5 centimeters a year ("Understanding plate motions [This Dynamic Earth, USGS]", 2014). This underwater mountain range a prime example of seafloor spreading as well. Seafloor spreading creates new oceanic lithosphere when the two plates pull apart and magma is allowed to well up and fill the crack. This also causes underwater mountains to form if the magma flows upwards past the crust (Tarbuck & Lutgens, 2015). It is important to understand how these ranges are created, especially because they can give scientists an idea on when new islands or continents may be formed. It also allows scientists to understand what may cause other plates to diverge from one