Plate tectonics have been the reason for earthquakes and volcanoes. It has also been responsible for the movement of continents over the millennia. How plate tectonics work though is still being studied. The Earth core heat might explain for plate tectonics.
New research is showing that plate tectonics is happening because of heat coming from the Earth's core. Some areas in the Earth are also more dynamic than previously known. Mid-ocean ridges are actually very active areas because heat is transferred to them.
These conclusions are based on findings made by researchers led by David B. Rowley, a professor of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. This transfer of heat has been seen coming from the mantle and then transferred to the plates, which then generates the dynamic to move them. This heat comes all the way from the Earth's core.
As much as 50 percent of plate tectonics is because of heat coming from the Earth's core. This is most true in the East Pacific Rise. That area has not moved east to west in 50 to 80 million years. Even though it has moved asymmetrically, it still does not explain why its movement is not from east to west. Plate abduction cannot fully be the reason for that, according to UChicago News.
The stability of the East Pacific Rise is due to the heat coming from the Earth's core. This could also be the case for the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, as explained by Rowley. This could also explain convection, or the movement of mantle material by heat.
The new research might put to rest a debate that has been going on since the 1970s, as Science Daily reports. The debate has been that plate tectonics happen because of the plates cooling at the surface. However, the new theory suggests that buoyancy happens because of heat being generated from the Earth's core, which then drives the plates to move.
Much of the theory might affect how the Earth has been formed as well. Much would have to be known how the Earth works. Earth core heat might explain for plate tectonics. Science also tries to explain fairy circles.
