Structure of the Earth, Plate Tectonics The Earth consists of four concentric layers: inner core, outer core,

mantle and crust. The crust is made up of tectonic plates, which are in constant motion. Earthquakes and volcanoes are most likely to occur at plate boundaries. The structure of the Earth The Earth is made up of four distinct layers: The inner core is in the centre and is the hottest part of the Earth. It is solid and made up of iron and nickel with temperatures of up to 5,500C. With its immense heat energy, the inner core is like the engine room of the Earth. The outer core is the layer surrounding the inner core. It is a liquid layer, also made up of iron and nickel. It is still extremely hot, with temperatures similar to the inner core. The mantle is the widest section of the Earth. It has a diameter of approximately 2,900 km. The mantle is made up of semi-molten rock called magma. In the upper parts of the mantle the rock is hard, but lower down the rock is soft and beginning to melt. The crust is the outer layer of the earth. It is a thin layer between 0-60 km thick. The crust is the solid rock layer upon which we live. There are two different types of crust: continental crust, which carries land, and oceanic crust, which carries water. The diagram below shows the structure of the earth. In geography, taking a slice through a structure to see inside is called a cross section.

Distribution The Earth's crust is broken up into pieces called plates. Heat rising and falling inside the mantle creates convection currents generated by radioactive decay in the core. The convection currents move the plates. Where convection currents diverge near the Earth's crust, plates move apart. Where convection currents converge, plates move towards each other. The movement of the plates, and the activity inside the Earth, is called plate tectonics. Plate tectonics cause earthquakes and volcanoes. The point where two plates meet is called a plate boundary. Earthquakes and volcanoes are most likely to occur either on or near plate boundaries.

The Earth's plates move in different directions. Different plate boundaries 1. At a tensional, constructive or divergent boundary the plates move apart. 2. At a compressional, destructive or convergent boundary the plates move towards each other. 3. At a conservative or transform boundary the plates slide past each other. Tensional margins

At a tensional or constructive boundary the plates are moving apart. The plates move apart due to convection currents inside the Earth. As the plates move apart (very slowly), magma rises from the mantle. The magma erupts to the surface of the Earth. This is also accompanied by earthquakes. When the magma reaches the surface, it cools and solidifies to form a new crust of igneous rock. This process is repeated many times, over a long period of time.

Eventually the new rock builds up to form a volcano. Constructive boundaries tend to be found under the sea, eg the Mid Atlantic Ridge. Here, chains of underwater volcanoes have formed along the plate boundary. One of these volcanoes may become so large that it erupts out of the sea to form a volcanic island, eg Surtsey and the Westman Islands near Iceland. Compressional boundary Oceanic-Continental Convergence When an oceanic plate pushes into and subducts under a continental plate, the overriding continental plate is lifted up and a mountain range is created. Even though the oceanic plate as a whole sinks smoothly and continuously into the subduction trench, the deepest part of the subducting plate breaks into smaller pieces. These smaller pieces become locked in place for long periods of time before moving suddenly and generating large earthquakes. Such earthquakes are often accompanied by uplift of the land by as much as a few meters. Oceanic-Oceanic Convergence When two oceanic plates converge one is usually subducted under the other and in the process a deep oceanic trench is formed. The Marianas Trench, for example, is a deep trench created as the result of the Phillipine Plate subducting under the Pacific Plate. Oceanic-oceanic plate convergence also results in the formation of undersea volcanoes. Over millions of years, however, the erupted lava and volcanic debris pile up on the ocean floor until a submarine volcano rises above sea level to form an island volcano. Such volcanoes are typically strung out in chains called island arcs. Continental-Continental Convergence When two continents meet head-on, neither is subducted because the continental rocks are relatively light and, like two colliding icebergs, resist downward motion. Instead, the crust tends to buckle and be pushed upward or sideways. The collision of India into Asia 50 million years ago caused the Eurasian Plate to crumple up and override the Indian Plate. After the collision, the slow continuous convergence of the two plates over millions of years pushed up the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau to their present heights. Most of this growth occurred during the past 10 million years. Conservative (transform faults) plate boundaries

Conservative plate boundaries occur when two plates slide past each other without creating or destroying lithosphere. Most transform faults are found on the ocean floor. They commonly offset active spreading ridges, producing zig-zag plate margins, and are generally defined by shallow earthquakes. A few, however, occur on land. The San Andreas fault zone in California is a transform fault that connects the East Pacific Rise, a divergent boundary to the south, with the South Gorda -- Juan de Fuca -- Explorer Ridge, another divergent boundary to the north. The San Andreas is one of the few transform faults exposed on land. The San Andreas fault zone, which is about 1,300 km long and in places tens of kilometers wide, slices through two thirds of the length of California. Along it, the Pacific Plate has been grinding horizontally past the North American Plate for 10 million years, at an average rate of about 5 cm/yr. Land on the west side of the fault zone (on the Pacific Plate) is moving in a northwesterly direction relative to the land on the east side of the fault zone (on the North American Plate)