Convection Currents
The Earth's mantle has convection currents because the heat of the core acts similarly to the light bulb in our lava lamp. The core's heat energy is transferred to the mantle, causing it to rise towards the Earth's surface, which is cooler. As the heated mantle transfers its heat energy to the lithosphere, it becomes more dense than the surrounding magma and sinks back down towards the core.
The videos below show convection currents in action.
The videos below show convection currents in action.
VI. Plate Tectonics
A. The lithosphere (crust + the uppermost part of the mantle) is broken into large pieces called tectonic plates.
1. There are 12 major tectonic plates 2. Oceanic plates are made of oceanic lithosphere a. Ex. Pacific Plate 3. Continental plates are made of continental and oceanic lithosphere a. North American plate includes North American continent and part of Atlantic Ocean lithosphere |
Interactive Pangaea Puzzle
In class, you were given a jigsaw puzzle out of the present day continents to reconstruct the supercontinent, Pangaea. Click on the image to do this on an interactive website. It will help you with your reconstruction!