Gravity is the primary driving factor in plate tectonics. When an oceanic lithosphere plate collides with another, the thick oceanic lithosphere dives beneath the other plate and descends into the mantle. Subduction is the name given to this process. The sinking oceanic lithosphere tugs the remaining tectonic plate, which is the primary driver of plate motion. Oceanic lithosphere is therefore pulled apart in several directions: that process creates the mid-ocean ridges where new, hot and light oceanic crust is created.
Reason Two
The plates can be compared to fractured shell pieces that lie on the heated, molten rock of Earth's mantle and fit tightly against one another. The heat generated by radioactive processes within the planet's center drives the plates to move in opposite directions, sometimes toward and sometimes away from each other.
Reason Three
The movement of the plates causes three types of tectonic borders: convergent boundaries, where plates move into one another, divergent boundaries, where plates move apart, and transform boundaries, where plates shift sideways in regard to one another. They migrate one to two inches (three to five cm) every year.
Answers & Comments
Answer:
Reason One
Gravity is the primary driving factor in plate tectonics. When an oceanic lithosphere plate collides with another, the thick oceanic lithosphere dives beneath the other plate and descends into the mantle. Subduction is the name given to this process. The sinking oceanic lithosphere tugs the remaining tectonic plate, which is the primary driver of plate motion. Oceanic lithosphere is therefore pulled apart in several directions: that process creates the mid-ocean ridges where new, hot and light oceanic crust is created.
Reason Two
The plates can be compared to fractured shell pieces that lie on the heated, molten rock of Earth's mantle and fit tightly against one another. The heat generated by radioactive processes within the planet's center drives the plates to move in opposite directions, sometimes toward and sometimes away from each other.
Reason Three
The movement of the plates causes three types of tectonic borders: convergent boundaries, where plates move into one another, divergent boundaries, where plates move apart, and transform boundaries, where plates shift sideways in regard to one another. They migrate one to two inches (three to five cm) every year.
Explanation: