Ridge push and slab pull animation software

Ridge push or sliding plate force is a proposed mechanism for plate motion in plate tectonics. This uplifting of the ocean floor occurs when convection currents rise in. Slab pull is the pulling force exerted by a cold, dense oceanic plate plunging into the mantle due to its own weight. Slab pull and the seismotectonics of subducting lithosphere. In this model, plates move through a combination of pull from the weight of the subducting edge of the plates, and through the outward pushing of an ocean ridge where magma is rising and forming new crust figure \\pageindex2\. A midocean ridge or midoceanic ridge is an underwater mountain range, formed by plate tectonics. What causes some plates to move faster than others.

Slab pull is thought to be a more significant gravitational force acting on plates. How are subduction and seafloor spreading related to. Slab pull is the pull force exerted by a dense oceanic plate as it descends into the mantle at a. Subduction, ridge push, slab pull flashcards quizlet. Mechanisms for plate motion geosciences libretexts. It shows how the continents moved apart and, in some cases, stitched back together. Seafloor spreading takes place at midocean ridges and produces basalt, the rock that makes up the oceanic crust. Plate tectonicswhat are the forces that drive plate. Internet sites, videos, software, and demonstration aids internet sites 1.

The creationists concluded that slab pull was the primary mechanism. Ridge push is caused by the potential energy gradient from the high topography of the ridges. Dynamic earth mantle convection this page from the university of leeds gives an introduction to the drivers of plate tectonics, including links to illustrations depicting ridge push slab pull, ridge bathymetry, mantle tomographic data, plumes, and other topics. Seafloor spreading animation earthguide online classroom. Ridge push is the lifting and pushing apart of the plates at spreading zones. Earthquake data and tectonic modeling for subduction zones indicate that the slab pull force is much larger than the ridge push force. Slab pull, slab trench suction and ridge push forces drive plate motion slab resistance, continental reistance, transform fault resistance and basal drag oppose plate motion when resisting forces become greater than the driving forces, collision between the plates will eventually cease. This is because it cools as it moves away from the ridge and the boundary between the solid lithosphere and slightly molten asthenosphere becomes deeper the. Plate motion by alham ahmadzai transform a transform fault or transform boundary, is a type of fault whose relative motion is. This force is regarded as a secondary force and is referred to by some as ridge push. This synthesis links many seismic and tectonic processes at subduction zones, including great subduction earthquakes, to the sinking of subducted plate. There have been two main models of ridge push proposed by geologists. This has been the case since the failure of wegeners ideas about polflucht to explain continental drift to the seminal papers by elsasser, solomon and sleep, and forsyth and uyeda on slab pull and ridge push. Lima explains how mantle convection and gravity through ridge push and slab pull help move tectonic plates.

The energy source for plate tectonics is earths internal heat while the forces moving the plates are the ridge push and slab pull. What is the differences between slab pull and ridge push. Ridge push, also known as gravitational sliding, is the gravity pull on the lithosphere due to the higher elevation of the midocean ridges. Plates are extremely heavy so gravity acts upon them, pulling them apart. The history of the development of plate tectonics is centrally tied to the question of what drives plate motions. The tectonic plates that make up the earths crust are in constant motion. How have slab pull and ridge push, both mainly gravity driven.

When two overlapping plates form a subduction fault, slab pull contributes to the movement of the lower plate as it descends into the mantle. Slab pull happens at subduction zones where one plate is pulled down into the mantle. Click the picture to see an animation that shows both seafloor spreading and magnetic reversals. The midatlantic ridge and east pacific rise are examples of midocean ridges. At midocean ridges buoyant upwelling mantle comes close to the surface and partially melts to create new oceanic lithosphere. Interactions between the forces that drive and resist plate motions cause spatially and temporally localized. Slab pull demo how tectonic plates can pull on each other to speed subduction using paper clips duration. In this lesson, we explore the causes of plate movement, including thermal convection, ridge push and slab pull. Several mechanisms have been proposed, mainly ridge push, mantle drag, and slab pull see this page from the british geological survey. They are the shallowest major features of the seafloor. Slap pull, on the other hand, is the gravitational force acting on plates due tho the increased weight of the cold and old plate material. K ey v ocabulary mantle convection ridge push slab pull 8. Which of the following is a result of gravity in relation. In 1975 forsyth and uyeda used the inverse theory method to show that, of the many forces likely to be driving plate motion, slab pull was the strongest.

Forces that cause what drives plate motion several mechanisms contribute to plate motion that include slab pull, ridge push, and slab suction. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Midocean ridges reach a typical summit elevation of 2,700 meters below sealevel. It means that it is the subducting plate which controls the velocity of the plates movement. As the slab subducts under another plate either oceanic or continental gravity pulls the plate down into the mantle. Slab pull is caused by the negative buoyancy of the subducting plate. Red areas are the youngest rocks created at midocean ridges. It was once thought that mantle convection could drive plate motions. Ridge push happens at spreading centers where plates are moving apart. Alternatively, as shown in the diagram, convection currents under the. Drives motion of mantle convection through slab pull and ridge push. Because midocean ridges lie at a higher elevation than the rest of the ocean floor, gravity causes the ridge to push on the lithosphere that lies farther from the ridge.

Lithospheric plates are part of a planetary scale thermal convection system. The slab pull drives oceanic plates to move away from oceanic spreading centers. Ridgepush forces are thought to be second in importance only to the forces of slab pull. What is a ridgepush, slabpull, shearing, and convection. Slab pull is created by the motion of one tectonic plate as it moves beneath another. Slab pull is the dominant force driving plate motion, the other major one is ridge push sometimes called ridge slide. Answer the supercontinent cycle consists of fragmentation of a supercontinent from geo 111 at owens state community college.

Slab pull is essentially the wieght of the a downgoing oceanic slab in a subduction zone. Mantle convection currents, ridge push and slab pull are three of the forces that have been proposed as the main drivers of plate movement based on what drives the plates. However, ridge push is still considered to be of significance, especially where there is little or no slab pull acting on the plate eg the antarctic plate mentioned above. However, this idea has now changed with the main mechanism determined to be slab pull. The pacific ocean floor moves much quicker than the atlantic because it has both slab pull and ridge push acting on it, while the atlantic only ha ridge push probably the weaker of the two forces. Another force, that for some plates exceeds ridgepush, is slab pull, where the weight of a subducting slab pulls the plate at the surface along. The ridge push slab pull model also relies on mantle convection, but in this case it is not simply the traction from the convection cell that moves the plates.

In the current understanding of plate motion the movement is driven by the weight of cold, older, dense plate material sinking into the mantle at deep ocean trenches and. Plate motion is partly driven by the weight of cold, dense plates sinking into the mantle at oceanic trenches. Slab pull is is tectonic plate motion due to higher densities. Further developments of the theory suggested that some form of ridge push helped supplement convection in order to keep the plates moving, but in the 1990s, calculations indicated that slab pull, the force that a subducted section of plate exerts on the attached crust on the surface, was an order of magnitude stronger than ridge push. Compare and contrast ridgepush and slabpull answers. This animation of seafloor spreading and plate tectonic evolution of the planet since 200 million years ago is from noaas science on a sphere series. Use the socrative site room 68277 to take a practice test on plate tectonics. Whats the difference between slab pull and subduction. The driving forces of plate tectonics has long been debated. The sea floor slopes down from the midocean ridge to lower elevations, which are shown in blue. Slab pull is that part of the motion of a tectonic plate caused by its subduction. Anyway, if you can elaborate on your question a bit more to describe why your profs bought into slab pull, what you thought was lacking in the textbooks, and why ridge push interests you as a possibility, then ill release this. But in the pacific the mid ocean ridge is much smooth it more like hills. However, there is now a good agreement that slab pull is the main driving force of plate tectonics.