Earthquakes are OK
Earthquakes are happening almost everyday all over the world. Most of the time earthquakes are not strong enough to be felt by people, but the shaking caused by an earthquake is recorded by a seismogram. These are located all over the world at different points. Only occasionally will a larger magnitude earthquake strike and cause damage to the region. Around the world there are many faults, depending where these faults are plays a major factor in determining where an earthquake will happen. It is these faults that are the reason for earthquakes. The type of fault will also determine how often an earthquake will happen.A mid-ocean ridge occurs under the sea at a divergent boundary. This is where two plates are been pulled apart because of tension. This then allows new oceanic crust to be made in the divergent boundary, as magma rises and eventually sets on the sea floor. If the plates on either side of the divergent boundary continue to spread then the ocean slowly becomes larger in width, a process called seafloor spreading. Mid-ocean ridges are characterised by a crack like valley at the divergent boundary. This crack like valley is caused by the tension pulling the plates apart, causing normal faulting to occur a number
Four major oceans make up most of the water in the world, The Atlantic (north & south), The Pacific, The Antarctic and The Indian Ocean. Within the basins of these oceans earthquakes can happen without been caused at Mid-ocean ridges, or a Subduction Zones. what caused the earthquake to happen in the first place. We understand today how earthquakes are caused, and we can record where they happen every day of the year. This has helped us to learn and understand about earthquakes in much detail. We now only miss one important factor that we all would like to know, when and where the next one will be. In truth it must be said that today we are still not close to predicting earthquakes even with all the technology that is available. The earthquakes at convergent boundaries are distributed at different points. The deep focus earthquakes occur along the already subducted plate. Shallow focus earthquakes occur just at the point where one plate starts to be thrust under the other. These earthquakes tend to be more common than the deeper earthquakes. This is shown on the diagram on the left. The red dots show the distribution of earthquakes at a convergent boundary. An example of a mid-ocean ridge is the Mid-Atlantic ridge, there the seafloor is spreading at a rate of about 3cm per year. The frequency of earthquakes at a mid-ocean ridge will depend on how much tension is happening at that point. The more tension means the more seafloor spreading, resulting in a higher frequency of earthquakes at a particular mid-ocean ridge. Divergent boundaries mostly occur on the sea floor and therefore the earthquakes that happen at these boundaries are distributed along the boundary. This means that the distributions of earthquakes at divergent boundaries are at shallow depths, where the crust is been pulled apart. The earthquakes happen at shallow depths because the normal faulting occurs near the sea floor, as a result of the tension. The normal faults are the cause of the earthquakes at these divergent boundaries.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1592
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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