Since you have placed your question in Earth Science & Geology section, I think you are talking about plate boundaries. In Plate tectonics, there are three types of boundaries : Convergent, Divergent and Transform.
The nature of a convergent boundary depends on the type of lithosphere in the plates that are colliding. Where a dense oceanic plate collides with a less-dense continental plate, the oceanic plate is typically thrust underneath because of the greater buoyancy of the continental lithosphere, forming a subduction zone. At the surface, the topographic expression is commonly an oceanic trench on the ocean side and a mountain range on the continental side. An example of a continental-oceanic subduction zone is the area along the western coast of South America where the oceanic Nazca Plate is being subducted beneath the continental South American Plate.
At divergent boundaries, two plates move apart from each other and the space that this creates is filled with new crustal material sourced from molten magma that forms below. The origin of new divergent boundaries at triple junctions is sometimes thought to be associated with the phenomenon known as hotspots. Here, exceedingly large convective cells bring very large quantities of hot asthenospheric material near the surface and the kinetic energy is thought to be sufficient to break apart the lithosphere. The hot spot which may have initiated the Mid-Atlantic Ridge system currently underlies Iceland which is widening at a rate of a few centimeters per century.
The left- or right-lateral motion of one plate against another along transform faults can cause highly visible surface effects. Because of friction, the plates cannot simply glide past each other. Rather, stress builds up in both plates and when it reaches a level that exceeds the strain threshold of rocks on either side of the fault the accumulated potential energy is released as strain. Earthquakes are a common phenomenon along transform boundaries. A good example of this type of plate boundary is the San Andreas Fault
2007-01-25 03:17:36
·
answer #1
·
answered by saudipta c 5
·
1⤊
0⤋
I assume you're talking about system boundaries in the thermodynamic sense.
Open -- permeable to both heat and mass transfer
Closed - permeable to heat transfer but not mass transfer
Isolated - not permeable to either
2007-01-22 03:41:18
·
answer #2
·
answered by . 4
·
0⤊
0⤋