Where do convection currents in the plastic mantle believe cause divergence of lithospheric plates?

Who first noticed that the puzzle-like “fit” of the continents? When? Convection currents in the plastic mantle are believed to cause divergence of lithosphereic plates at the? The Iceland Hot spot.

Do convection currents occur in the plastic mantle?

Convection currents within the mantle provide one potential driving force for plate movement. The plastic movement of the mantle material moves like the flow of mountain glaciers, carrying the lithospheric plates along as the convection movement in the mantle moves the asthenosphere.

What do convection currents in the mantle cause?

Inside Earth, the convection of mantle material is thought to cause the movement of the overriding crustal plates, resulting in events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

How convection currents are moving in the mantle to cause a divergent boundary?

Seafloor Spreading at Mid-Ocean Ridges. Convection currents drive the movement of Earth’s rigid tectonic plates in the planet’s fluid molten mantle. In places where convection currents rise up towards the crust’s surface, tectonic plates move away from each other in a process known as seafloor spreading (Fig. 7.21).

Which two tectonic plates are separated by a mid-ocean ridge?

Seafloor spreading occurs along mid-ocean ridges—large mountain ranges rising from the ocean floor. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, for instance, separates the North American plate from the Eurasian plate, and the South American plate from the African plate.

Which two mantle hotspots are located at mid-ocean ridges?

Iceland and Axial Seamount are both examples of a hot spot located on the axis of a mid-ocean ridge.

What is the process of convection in the mantle?

The mantle is heated from below (the core), and in areas that are hotter it rises upwards (it is buoyant), whereas in areas that are cooler it sink down. This results in convection cells in the mantle, and produces horizontal motion of mantle material close to the Earth surface.

What is convection current in the mantle?

Mantle convection is the very slow creeping motion of Earth’s solid silicate mantle caused by convection currents carrying heat from the interior to the planet’s surface. This hot added material cools down by conduction and convection of heat.

What is the importance of mantle convection?

This flow, called mantle convection, is an important method of heat transport within the Earth. Mantle convection is the driving mechanism for plate tectonics, which is the process ultimately responsible for producing earthquakes, mountain ranges, and volcanos on Earth.

How fast do convection currents in the mantle move?

Estimates of the speed with which Earth’s mantle moves range from 1 to 20 cm/year with an average of about 5 cm/year in the case of plate motions to as much as 50 cm/year in hotspots such as the Hawaiian Islands (see Plates, Plumes, And Paradigms (2005) edited by Gillian R. Foulger, James H.