Investigating Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 PLATE TECTONICS 10 CHAPTER 2 THE NATURE OF EARTHQUAKES 26 E LA CHAPTER 3 THE STUDY OF EARTHQUAKES 40 CHAPTER 4 THE NATURE OF VOLCANOES 50 CHAPTER 5 VoLCANIC ERUPTIONS CoNCLUSION GosSARY 76 77 For MORE INFORMATION BILIOGRAPHY 83 INDEX 84
INTRODUCTION Nhe tropical island of Java Indonesia has sweeping beaches lush landscapes and majestic mountains But in late 2010 the eruption of Java's Mount Merapi volcano made parts of the island an ugly nightmare Huge gas clouds and fiery rocks spewed high into the air Glowing lava snaked down the mountainside Showers of ash draped homes and fields in ghostly gray Later search and rescue teams hunted for survivors but found mostly bodies some charred caught in mid flight In the end hundreds of peo ple were killed This powerful eruption is just one illustration of why many Earth scientists focus on the study of plate tectonics Plate tectonics is the modern theory of the movement of Earth s outer shell or lithosphere The lithosphere consists of the planet s rocky surface layer called the crust and the solid outermost layer of the mantle beneath The lithosphere is broken into about a dozen large plates and several smaller ones The plates float on a much hotter layer of par tially molten rock called the asthenosphere which is also part of the mantle The asthenosphere slowly churns driven to movement by radioactive heating of the planet s core This churning causes the plates of the lithosphere to move at a rate of about 2 to 4 inches 5 to 10 centimeters a year
Investigating Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes
Some of the planet’s most destructive forces are caused by the same factors that helped shape much of the Earth as it is today.
About This Book
By: Michael Anderson
Illustrated by:
Published by: Rosen Publishing provided by Britannica
