On January the 12th 2010, there was a
devastating earthquake in Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world. The
devastating earthquake was caused by the North American plate sliding past the
Caribbean plate at a conservative plate margin. The pressure built up by the
plate’s friction between each other eventually released causing an earthquake. The Caribbean and the North American plate boundary moves past each other 0.8 inches every year.
The Haiti earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter Scale. The type of
earthquake that occurred was a transform earthquake which is when the two plates slide past one another.
The fracture zone that forms a transform
plate boundary is known as a transform
fault. Most transform faults are
found in the ocean basin. The depth of the Haiti earthquake was very shallow,
6.2 miles below sea level. This meant that that the energy that was released was
very close to the Earth’s surface which caused such violent ground shaking. The
Haiti earthquake took scientist by surprise as this system of faults hadn’t
triggered a major temblor in years. This earthquake was the strongest to ever
hit this region. The reason why Haiti was hit by such a strong earthquake is
because Haiti lies on the boundary of the Caribbean plate and the North
American plate boundary. MAIN TYPES OF PLATE BOUNDARYS: The lithosphere, which is the rigid
outermost shell of a planet (on Earth, the crust and upper mantle), is broken
up into tectonic plates. On Earth, there aresevenor eight major plates (depending on
how they are defined) and many minor plates. Like an egg, the Earth’s
lithosphere/ the Earth’s crust is cracked into a number of large and minor
plate. These tectonic plates ‘float’ on the mantle, moving in different
directions and at different rates. The continents lying on the border of the
plate boundaries are usually affected by earthquake’s the most as that's where there is usually a large concentration of
faults.
The lithosphere, which is the rigid
outermost shell of a planet (on Earth, the crust and upper mantle), is broken
up into tectonic plates. On Earth, there aresevenor eight major plates (depending on
how they are defined) and many minor plates. Like an egg, the Earth’s
lithosphere/ the Earth’s crust is cracked into a number of large and minor
plate. These tectonic plates ‘float’ on the mantle, moving in different
directions and at different rates. The continents lying on the border of the
plate boundaries are usually affected by earthquake’s the most as that's where there is usually a large concentration of
faults. A plate movement is how the plate tectonicsmove-over the
mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core. Theplatesact like a
hard and rigid shell compared to Earth's mantle. This strong outer layer is
called the lithosphere. There are three main types of plate movement,
Divergent, convergent and transform.
A divergent
boundaryoccurs
when two tectonic plates move away from each other. Along these boundaries,
lava spews from long crevices and geysers spurt superheated water. Frequent
earthquakes strike along the rift. Beneath the rift, magma/molten rock, rises
from the mantle. It oozes up into the gap and hardens into solid rock, forming
new crust on the torn edges of the plates. Magma from the mantle solidifies
into basalt, a dark, dense rock that underlies the ocean floor. Therefore at
divergent boundaries, oceanic crust, made of basalt, is created. When two
plates come together, it is known as a convergent boundary. The impact of the two colliding
plates secures the edge of one or both plates up into a rugged mountain range,
and sometimes bends the other down into a deep seafloor trench. A chain of
volcanoes often form parallel to the boundary, to the mountain range, and to
the trench. Powerful earthquakes shake a wide area on both sides of the
boundary. If one of
the colliding plates is topped with oceanic crust, it is forced down into the
mantle where it begins to melt. Magma rises into and through the other plate,
solidifying into new crust. Magma formed from melting plates solidifies into
granite, a light coloured, low-density rock that makes up the continents. Thus
at convergent boundaries, continental crust, made of granite, is created, and
oceanic crust is destroyed.
Two
plates sliding past each other forms atransform plate boundary.
Natural or human-made structures that cross a transform boundary are
offset—split into pieces and carried in opposite directions. Rocks that line
the boundary are crushed as the plates grind along, creating a undersea rift.
As the plates alternately jam and jump against each other, earthquakes rattle
through a wide boundary zone. In contrast to convergent and divergent boundaries,
no magma is formed. Therefore, crust is cracked and broken at transform
margins, but is not created or destroyed.