Question

Why do the plates move?

Answer 1

Hint:The Earth consists of about seven major plates and several minor plates. The moment of plates leads to the eruption of volcanoes and even earthquakes. The change in the landforms is also due to the movement of the plates.

Complete Answer:All the continents and even the oceans are actually situated on a massive base of rocks called ‘Plates’. The seven major plates are African, North American, South American, Indo Australian, Antarctic, Eurasian and Pacific Plates and the minor ones are Nazca and Arabian Plates. These plates actually float on a mantle and are constantly being pushed. The movement of plates is due to the molten magma inside the Earth. Therefore, they keep moving slowly. We can’t feel the movement of the plates as they move very slowly. One plate pushes another neighboring plate as a result of this movement. When the two plates meet and push each other, a lot of pressure is exerted by each of them on the other. One plate is pushed under into the mantle and the other plate is pushed up to form a chain of mountains. This movement of plates is termed as ‘plate tectonics’. The Himalayas is also a result of these plate tectonics.

Note:When one plate meets another plate, often the incoming plate dips under the stable plate. It goes into the mantle of the earth and becomes molten due to the heat of the mantle. The very slow moments of the plates lead to the formation of the crust and the sudden movements can be destructive and cause much damage like the dramatic eruption of volcanoes and earthquakes.