[Earth Sciences 1089F/G] - Final Exam Guide - Everything you need to know! (77 pages long)
29 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
Earth"s changing faces: the basis of plate tectonics. The material in the mesosphere (lower part of the mantle) can flow to some degree; even though it is a solid. Hot material flow upwards in plumes, whereas cold materials flow downward. This produces large convection currents in the mesosphere this process is crucial in the delivery of heat to the shallower layers of the earth. The asthenosphere flows most readily it is possible that the asthenosphere has smaller convection cells within the larger convection patterns of the mantle as a whole. The asthenosphere is not a liquid, but flows like one over long periods of time. The lithosphere is a series of broken floating plates that shift and interact with one another. Convection currents in the asthenosphere drag the lithospheric plates. Plates are pushed from sites of spreading as magma is injected and plates slide down flank of mid-ocean ridges under the influence of gravity.
