Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology => Topic started by: neilep on 08/02/2010 21:32:43
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Dearest Techtonicplateologists,
As a sheepy I of course make the Earth move for ewes every day and night !...so..ewe would think I am expert in plate tectonics wouldn't ewe ?...Incredible as it seems I am not !! (shock horror !! [:o] [:o])
Now then, as ewe know Earth was invented in 1783 and comprises of water and plates!
look here and see.
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Earth and A Plate !
I've been told that Earth has many plates !..I find this hard to believe when ewe consider how big just one plate is !.. (see above piccy for proof !!)
Anyway, these so called plates are moving about very slowly..even slower than a snail or a slug and that is like..well slow !!....but over time they will eventually all collide with themselves !...then what ?
Will the plates just bounce off each other ?....What is the long term prognosis for the tectonic plates ?..endlessly rebounding off each other or eventually just sticking as one big land mass ?...lol..then someone could call it a silly name like Pangea or something !
whajafink ?
Hugs & shmishes
mwah mwah mwah !!
neil
I've Enuff On My Plate
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The short answer is no.
Plate tectonics is thought to be driven by the internal heat of the earth, which eventually will run out.
This is illustrated by observations of Mars, which show evidence of historical plate tectonic/ volcanic process, although no active processes are observed today.
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The short answer is no.
Plate tectonics is thought to be driven by the internal heat of the earth, which eventually will run out.
This is illustrated by observations of Mars, which show evidence of historical plate tectonic/ volcanic process, although no active processes are observed today.
Thank you very much Mazurka.
Until that time that the heat runs out though, I gather the plates will continue to move....Do you think they will form another single land mass and then break up again ?
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That is an intriguing question - I do not see why not, afterall, Rodina, broke up then (may have) reformed (briefly) as the Vendian super continent (which I think also has another name) which broke up then reformed as Pangea. This then broke up and the continents floated about to their current positions. In more modern times the Indian plate rammed Asia (creating the Himalaya) and Africa keeps nudging into Europe.
However the current patterns of spreading centres and subduction zones does not suggest it will happen in the foreseeable future.
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Its apparently happened more than a few times. According to wiki (and verified elsewhere) they are:
(in chronological order)
Vaalbara (this one is hypothesized for now)
Kenorland
Columbia (wait...isnt this where the coca and cocoa come from?)
Rodinia
Pangea
Give it another couple hundred million years and there may be another one. Maybe even with another intelligent species by that time (I use the term "intelligent" very loosely in reference to humans). I think Ill put it in my will to dump my body in turbidites so that I can be fossilized, dug up, and then studied by them :)
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Can I bag the next name in advance (before Neil tries to grab it)?
Bags I "Geezernia"
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Can I bag the next name in advance (before Neil tries to grab it)?
Bags I "Geezernia"
Gesundheit
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The short answer is no.
Plate tectonics is thought to be driven by the internal heat of the earth, which eventually will run out.
This is illustrated by observations of Mars, which show evidence of historical plate tectonic/ volcanic process, although no active processes are observed today.
At the present rate of cooling, and given the abundance of radioactive material in the mantle/core, the sun will probably consume the earth long before plate tectonic activity stops.