2007-10-28 09:45:56 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Yes. Investigate 'plate tectonics'. Our landmasses are floating on our planet's liquid inner core. The edges of these plates are where earthquakes and mountains and volcanoes form.
2007-10-28 09:49:33 · answer #1 · answered by swimeveryday 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's not a division between a solid crust and a liquid interior. The part that flows is called the aesthenosphere, and the part that doesn't is called the lithosphere. All of the crust is in the lithosphere, but so is part of the mantle. And all of the lithosphere is solid, in that it consists of crystals rather than consisting of a jumble of atoms with no crystalline structure. But with billions of tons of rock above it, the stresses are enough to slowly deform the crystals -- and with millions of years for it to happen in, that's enough for the rock to flow.
The reason the continents move is that the plates they're on are moving. The ultimate source of the energy is the heat flow from the inside of the earth to the surface. Last I knew, some of the details were not entirely clear: how much does the plate get pulled by the part that's sinking at a subduction zone, and how much does it get pushed from a spreading ridge, and so on. But basically, it's convection: hot rock rises and cold rock sinks. Then the rigid plates on top get moved along with it.
2007-10-28 17:25:57 · answer #2 · answered by dsw_s 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
The continents are lighter than the molten center of the earth and they are floating on top like wood floats in water.
There are many dynamics to all this that is not fully understood, but you can find out more information by using a search engine (Yahoo or Google) and searching for information on plate tetonics.
2007-10-28 16:51:44 · answer #3 · answered by TheProfessor 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The surface of the earth is constantly moving. It is a hard crust covering a liquid center. It just moves so slow you cant tell unless there is an earthquake or volcano...
Watch the discovery channel for a while or go back to 5th grade science class
2007-10-28 16:49:11 · answer #4 · answered by ffej420x 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The continents are constantly moving and adjusting, they're just not moving very fast.
2007-10-28 16:48:26 · answer #5 · answered by cfbjr4486 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes they are moving very slowly and the motive force s are things like the Atlantic line of volcanic emissions pushing on the adjacent plates.
2007-10-28 17:50:37 · answer #6 · answered by Loren S 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋