Question

Volcanoes and Earthquakes are caused by:
(A) plate convection
(B) plate contraction
(C) plate tectonics
(D) plate boundary

Answer 1

Hint: We shall first understand how these come into being. Volcanoes erupt through vents on the surface of Earth due to the violent nature of Earth’s crust. And earthquakes are caused due to vibrations deep inside the surface of Earth which travel through the earth’s upper crust to finally reach the surface. We shall analyze the cause of these devastations more and try to answer our problem.

Complete answer:
A volcano is a vent or an opening on the Earth’s surface, that is, the earth’s upper crust. When they erupt they release a huge amount of hot gas, ashes and very hot rocks (in molten state) called lava into the air and area surrounding these regions. These eruptions are a result of plate tectonics. When these plates separate from each other at the sight of their joint, hot magma from beneath them violently comes out of these vents, thus giving us a volcanic eruption.
Now, an Earthquake is generated by the exact opposite process of a volcano. When two plate tectonics come crashing towards each other with very high intensity, the vibrations produced at the point of their origin travels through the Earth’s crust to its surface at speed comparable to speed of sound thus producing Earthquakes.
Hence, from our above analysis, we can say both the Volcanoes and the Earthquakes are caused by plate tectonics.

So, the correct answer is “Option C”.

Note: The after effects of these devastatingly powerful disasters is Tsunami. A Tsunami is formed deep within the ocean surface due to any of these activities. It is a giant wave of water, sometimes as high as thirty meters that takes down anything in its path, be it an island or a coastal region.